By: Ashly
How do we determine if wind turbines are sustainable?
sustainability of wind turbines
Wind turbines create electricity without burning fossil fuels. They don't make any pollution and they don't need any fuel to run them. Wind turbines use renewable energy so it doesn't harm the environment. Also after a wind turbine has been built their cost of running are low. Turbines last up to 25 years before they ware out and need to get replaced. About ten years ago Canada could only generate around 300 megawatts of wind energy. Today we can generate up to 6,500 megawatts.
Cost of Turbines
Wind power is competitive with cost with other resources that create electricity. The cost for wind turbines range from approxamently $1.3 million to $2.2 million in 2012. The cost of wind turbines from just a few years ago decreased. Running cost after a turbine is built decrease. Most commercial-scale turbines that are installed today are 2 MW in the size of them and cost about $3 to $4 million. Residential or smaller farm scale wind turbines cost the least overall. But they are also the more expensive per a kilowatt of producing energy capacity. Also wind turbines under 100 kilowatts of energy capacity cost about $3,000 to $8,00.