As a result of that trip, I try to stay informed on solar energy and wind energy, so I can someday harness my own renewable energy and become less dependent on oil and coal. The morning started out with the bus ride to the farm. My classmates were all talking or doing homework. I remember I sat with my best friend playing a card game to help pass the time for the two hour trip. When we pulled up to the farm all you could see for at least two miles in each direction were these huge windmill looking towers.
The farm was just a big open field with the wind towers scattered all over. My class and I were able to get off the bus and go stand out next to one of the towers. Now when I say these towers were huge I mean they were just massive. Standing out by the tower was a crazy experience, it was the first time I’d seen anything like it. The tour guide said the bases were over two hundred feet high and the blades on the towers were around one hundred feet long. There are three blades on each tower and they do make it a bit breezy.
I remember looking up at the spinning blades and thinking, “Holy, I’m going to get hit if I stand any closer! ” The blades weren’t spinning fast, they were moving at a slow pace. The tower was so tall that looking up at it felt like you were trying to stare into the sun. I wondered what the inside looked like. Unfortunately the class couldn’t tour the inside of the towers but we did learn a little bit about how they generate electricity. The guide said wind turbines use wind to make electricity.
The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft that connects to a generator and makes electricity. Wind energy is a renewable energy source so it’s much better for our environment. The towers don’t put out any pollution or greenhouse gases that can harm the ozone. We learned the power produced from one tower can power up to five hundred homes and they will last at least twenty years. They don’t take up a lot of space either so a person could still farm the land around the towers or remove them and let nature regrow. At that point I was thinking, “Sounds great, let’s put more towers up! The guide then went on to mention the negative side of the wind towers. Some people complain that the farms are eyesores to the land and are noisy, but while we were at the farm it wasn’t louder than any other windy day in South Dakota. The turbines do kill birds but they spin at low speeds so bird fatalities are relatively low. That I believed was true because I didn’t see any dead birds. I had to ask my friend next to me if she thought they picked up the birds before we got there, she didn’t think it was very funny and just put a disgusted look on her face.
The guide went on to say building the wind towers is pretty costly and another issue with the towers was that the wind doesn’t blow all the time. The wind not blowing all of the time isn’t an issue in my eyes, seems to me like the wind blows every day. These minor flaws weren’t enough to change my mind on wind energy and I’ve given renewable energy sources some more thought since that field trip. I realized there are other resources out there than what we are currently using, like solar and wind power.
These other resources are better for the environment and minus the start-up costs, produce plentiful power from a free resource like the wind or sunlight. The adult I am today is all for renewable energy resources. In fact, I’ve watched videos on how to build your own solar panels and I’ve looked up a little bit on having your own wind turbine as well. I really hope to have these features implemented into my daily life within fifteen years. So thank you to my eighth grade science teacher for taking me to the wind farm. I’m going to do as much as I can to promote renewable energy resources.
