A wind turbine that produces electricity from inexhaustible winds creates no pollution. By comparison, coal, oil, and natural gas produce one to two pounds of carbon dioxide (an emission that contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming) per kilowatt-hour produced. When windenergy is used for electrical needs, dependence on fossil fuels for this purpose is reduced. The current annual production of electricity by wind turbines (3.7 billion kilowatt-hours) is equivalent to four million barrels of oil or one million tons of coal.
Wind turbines are not completely free of environmental drawbacks. Many people consider them to be unaesthetic, especially when huge wind farms are built near pristine wilderness areas. Bird kills have been documented, and the whirring blades do produce quite a bit of noise. Efforts to reduce these effects include selecting sites that do not coincide with wilderness areas or bird migration routes and researching ways to reduce noise.
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