In the Wednesday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune, an exciting announcement was made concerning a new alternative energy installation. The Grand Rapids Water Filtration plant has contacted the Grand Haven Township administration about installing two 1.5-2 MW wind turbines at their facility about 5 miles south of the city of Grand Haven. Their intention is to use these machines to provide an alternative energy source of power for the filtration plant.
Grand Rapids owns approximately 48 acres of land on the south east corner of Lakeshore Drive and Lake Michigan Drive. The installation of the two turbines would be about a half mile from either of these roads. The area is one of forested rolling land with a small creek on the southern border. The visual impact of the turbines, which would stand about 300 feet tall would be minimal in this location. The turbines would be visible from either road but the overall impact would be minimal as far as sound and shadow from the operation of the machines.
Unfortunately, there will be resistance to this project. In the recent past there have already been letters to the Tribune editors, expressing reluctance to having this type of activity going on "in their backyard", and questioning the effectiveness of alternative energy in general.
Wind turbines do not run at full capacity 365 days a year. But neither do conventional energy plants. In countries like Denmark, wind already meets one-fifth of the population’s total energy needs – and Denmark has achieved this using less than 20 percent of its actual wind resources. On very windy days, Denmark gets all of its electricity from the country’s 5,000 wind turbines.
If this type of application of alternative energy can be used to reduce the need for additional fossil fuel power plants, the amount of greenhouse gases and effluents put into the air can be reduced. We have three huge coal-fired plants within 10 miles of Grand Haven. The Campbell plant, to the south, burns 5 million tons of coal per year, the Cobb plant, to the north, burns 1 million tons of coal per year and additional natural gas, and the Grand Haven plant burns about 200,000 tons of coal per year. That is an amazing amount of effluent and CO2 into the air just in this immediate area. We have all noticed the huge stacks that are associated with this activity. Another impact on this immediate area is the water from Lake Michigan, the Grand River and Muskegon Lake that is used to cool these facilities. What ultimate impact this has on our supply of drinking water can only be guessed.
The question is not if CO2 emissions should be reduced, but how. Fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas produce CO2, while other technologies leave behind hazardous waste for future generations. Coal and nuclear power plants require large amounts of clean water – already a diminishing resource.
Do we want more of this?
Wind is clean. It doesn’t produce CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. And it doesn’t use up our already scarce drinking water. It just produces energy.
We have an opportunity to participate in the reduction of our dependence on fossil fuels. The wind is everywhere. There is an unlimited supply – and it’s free.
Wind power is a sustainable, predictable and clean source of energy. Michigan has a base of manufacturing that can easily participate in this modern energy market. Our demand for energy is greater every day.
Will we embrace this concept or fight against it? I hope we fully embrace and encourage the growth of alternative energy!
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