The drive from Buffalo to the South Towns, a drive that often feels gray and lonely even when the sky is blue, is a dreaded one. When the wind howls down over the corridor of the old Bethlehem Steel plant and across the treacherous elevated highway that is South Buffalo’s skyway, it’s often a struggle to keep your car pointed in the right direction on the road’s narrow lanes. For the non-commuter, the force is comparable to that of the wind you come across while walking towards Clemens.
Though we can’t eliminate the wind, BQ Energy is trying to do the next best thing—harness it. With nearly a dozen of these 410-foot windmills erected and the possibility of 32 to be built altogether, Buffalo is making a move away from its industrial past and towards a more eco-friendly—though somewhat sci-fi—future.
According to the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), the total installed capacity for wind turbines more than quadrupled internationally between 2000 and 2006. The increasingly popular method of energy production promises clean emissions and, with more developed technologies, lower production costs. After being abandoned for over twenty years, the old Bethlehem Steel land in Lackawanna is now being developed into an army of wind turbines politely termed a “wind farm.”
Wind power is certainly not new to the scene. For thousands of years, the seemingly infinite source of energy has been used to pump water, mill grain, and generate electricity. “Over the past 20 years, the wind industry has really come a very long way,” says Kate Smolski, Political Coordinator on the Global Warming Campaign for Green Peace. On the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) website, it is stated that “from 1990-2002, wind has been the fastest-growing power source worldwide on a percentage basis, with an annual average growth rate exceeding 30 percent.” Along with its technological developments over the past 20 years, the cost of wind energy has seen a significant decrease. Dropping more than 80 percent over the past two decades, the website boasts that in the ‘80s early wind energy cost as much as thirty cents per kilowatt hour, compared to modern technology that makes it possible to sell it for less than five cents per kilowatt hour.
September 15, 2006 marked the groundbreaking along the Lake Erie waterfront to develop the wind farm. Headed by Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, the event oversaw the beginning of the wind turbine project known as “Steel Winds.” Giambra said on-site that the project is “a message that we’re no longer the backwards, upside-down smokestack community that people perceive us to be.” BQ Energy, a private company involved in the development of clean sources of renewable energy, hopes to light up 6,000 Western New York homes through their construction of eight wind turbines. According to the AWEA, one megawatt of energy is enough to power 250-300 homes.
Jim Simon is Associate Environmental Educator of UB Green, an organization focusing on environmental protection. He sees the advantages of wind power as being more than just clean energy. “First,” he said, “it’s providing clean renewable energy to the community, and second, it’s getting the idea of clean, renewable energy on people’s minds.” He considers the wind farm not only a solution to a power struggle, but as a sort of social catalyst. “People are going to start thinking about these alternative energy systems a little bit more,” he said.
According to The Buffalo News, wind turbines of this size churn out approximately 30 percent of their capacity, or about 50,000 megawatts of power each year.
But with the spotlight now on wind power, what’s to come of what is already lighting up Buffalo and the rest of the country? Nuclear power plants are the largest source of man-made energy production and at the same time are at the forefront of environmental campaigns pushing for a switch to renewable energy. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) there are currently 104 operable nuclear power plants in the United States. That makes this country the worldwide leader of nuclear plants despite the fact that it is not even in the top five for percentage of electricity created by nuclear power plants. Throughout their history, nuclear plants have taken flak for waste produced and danger placed on those in surrounding communities. Bill Nowak from the Wind Action Group brings up the point that “It’s very centralized, it’s very easily attacked by terrorists and it doesn’t necessarily give local people any control over what goes on.”
Along with dominating the market for nuclear power plants, the United States is also the world’s largest consumer of coal. In 2004, the U.S. alone consumed 1.1 billion short tons of coal, just short of the amount all of Europe combusted, according to the EIA. The main argument against the use of coal as a viable energy source is its effect on global warming. After being burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, gradually weakening the ozone layer. Acid rain and polluted water, two all-too-familiar terms, are other side effects that the coal industry brings to the environment. Despite its negative effects, coal remains cheap and widely available for the time being. In 2005, the EIA recorded that just under 80,000 citizens were employed by coal industries.
Common arguments against wind power include projects lowering property value for nearby residents, the deaths of migratory birds, and noise generated by the turbines. Bill Nowak, Chairman of the Communications Committee for the Wind Action Group, suggests that, “In terms of noise, I really advocate for people to go and experience wind turbines themselves. My experience has been that there is very, very little noise, essentially the noise that happens is the wind against the blades and when the wind is blowing, the wind is also blowing all different kinds of things, like buildings and trees, all of which make noise.” The local group seeks to advocate wind energy as well as to educate those that it could benefit. Lowered property values, a fear that would seemingly tear apart the construction of turbines in urban areas, are of little concern to Nowak and others. Citing a 2003 survey performed on different areas where wind turbines were placed, the Wind Action Group firmly believes that such projects do not have a negative impact on property values.
Aside from concerns over bird deaths, which total only an average of 10,000 per year as opposed to the millions killed in collisions with cars and buildings, the Lackawanna school district has stated its dissatisfaction with the deal. Because the wind farm will offer an environmentally-safe power alternative, BQ doesn’t have to pay any local, state, or federal tax. BQ Energy has agreed to pay Lackawanna $100,000 per year as a “goodwill gesture,” according to The Buffalo News. School Superintendent Paul G. Hashem told the paper that he felt the school district was left out of the decision.
While many feel that this project will open new doors for the city of Buffalo and Western New York as a whole, others point out that it could in fact have a detrimental effect on the already financially-troubled area. The turbines being constructed are a brand new model produced by Clipper Windpower, Incorporated. Each one can potentially produce 2.5 mega watts worth of energy an hour, compared to a natural gas plant that dishes out about 720 mega watts. “The electricity generated out of these machines is a drop in the bucket. It’s barely a blip on the grid in terms of what the state of New York consumes as a state,” says Lisa Linowes, Executive Director of the Industrial Wind Action Group. The organization exists to counteract what they say is misleading information on wind energy with a library of articles and reports on their website to raise awareness about the negative effects of wind power. One report, published by Dr. Colin Keay of the University of Newcastle, says that wind energy can “contribute no more than about 20 percent without causing instabilities in a national power grid.”
Even supporters of wind power agree upon that point. According to Green Peace, the development of wind energy production is not meant to be the sole solution. “We don’t expect that we’re going to get rid of coal or nuclear tomorrow,” said Smolski. Due to the lack of emissions produced by wind turbines, Green Peace endorses wind energy as a major part of a cleaner future, the key word being part. At this time, less than one percent of the energy produced for the United States comes from wind. What wind energy advocates are pushing for is an investment in a renewable source of energy that will ease our current rate of burning fossil fuels. In a March 20 speech at a Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri, President Bush stated “I want to highlight an important initiative for the country, and that is to promote technologies so we are less reliant upon foreign sources of oil,” later adding, “I do believe wind power makes sense.” According to the American Wind Energy Association, “The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a goal of obtaining six percent of U.S. electricity from wind by 2020.” As of right now, the state of California stands at the top of the charts for generating wind power.
With everything from construction to maintenance, this wind power initiative could blow thousands of jobs into Buffalo. Nowak wrote in a Buffalo News letter that turbines are in high demand, and that many wind companies are looking for North American locations to manufacture parts. He added, “Western New York could be a new hub for making turbines and supplying the high-tech parts and services that are part of wind development.” He cites Niagara Falls at the turn of the last century, which was bringing hydroelectric power into homes to power the first light bulbs. “It fueled the rise of industry in our area, and helped make Buffalo one of the top ten American cities in population and prestige for the first half of the 20th century.”
The only clear sight for energy production is that for now and the near future; we will remain dependent upon burning fossil fuels and the use of nuclear power. Whether or not wind is going to bring about a new age of renewable energy and a clean sky is still up in the air.
