Wind energy can provide a significant amount of the nation’s electricity.

Wind energy is poised to be a significant part of America’s energy portfolio. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates America’s wind energy potential to be much larger than total U.S. electricity consumption today. Tapping only a fraction of that potential would provide a significant part of America’s electricity supply. In the U.S., wind energy currently produces approximately 48 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of powering 4.5 million American homes year-round.

With legislation to remove barriers to wind energy development, wind could provide 20 percent of the country’s electricity by 2030.

Wind turbines are extremely efficient.

Wind turbines are actually very efficient. One of the simplest ways to measure overall efficiency is to look at the “energy payback” of an energy technology, or the amount of energy it takes to produce a given amount of energy. The energy payback time for wind is, in fact, similar to or better than that of conventional power plants.

Wind turbines are reliable and do not need back-up generation.

Because of the electric grid’s inherent design, there is no need to back up every megawatt of wind energy with the equivalent amount of fossil fuel or dispatchable power. The electric grid is designed to have more generation sources than are needed at any one time because no power plant is 100 percent reliable.

Wind energy is affordable.

Wind power costs are competitive with energy generated by conventional power plants, but the up-front costs of wind energy are often more expensive than that of some traditional power technologies. Wind receives tax credits and other economic benefits, though, that make it a viable choice for renewable energy generation.

Wind turbines do not generate much noise.

Wind turbines are quiet. An operating modern wind farm at a distance of 750 to 1,000 feet is no louder than a kitchen refrigerator. The sound turbines produce is similar to a light whooshing or swishing sound and is much quieter than other types of modern-day equipment. Even in rural or low-density areas (where there is little additional sound to mask that of the turbines) the sound of the blowing wind is often louder.

The wind industry makes protecting wildlife a priority.

Despite the minimal impact wind development has on birds and bats in most areas, the industry takes potential impacts seriously. Avian studies are routinely conducted at wind sites before projects are proposed. These pre-construction wildlife surveys are common practice throughout the industry.

Wind energy development’s overall impact on birds is extremely low compared with other human-related activities. No matter how extensively wind is developed in the future, the number of bird deaths caused by wind turbines is not likely to be higher than bird deaths caused by human-related sources like household cats and buildings.