Wind energy specialist speaks to students
By: Amelia Hill
Issue date: 9/12/08 Section: News
Paul Gipe spoke to a stuffed Watson Forum about renewable resources, specifically wind energy on Wednesday. Gipe is a nationally renowned wind expert and addressed renewable energy policies in the United States and in Western Europe during his hour-long presentation.
He opened his talk with a statement that many people know, but often do not put into practice.
"Energy efficiency and conservation can be achieved by simply doing with less. When you don't need the light, turn it off. When you aren't using your computer, turn it off," said Gipe.
Gipe then spoke about California, the state that has been most successful in cutting their energy consumption. He said that the people who live in California are beginning to learn that living better on less will cut costs. The Califonia government has implemented a successful campaign to promote the use of compact fluorescents lights. Californians are now using enough of these lights that the amount of energy they are saving is equivalent to that of the output from a nuclear power plant.
Germany has also been successful in promoting the expansion of renewable energy, now receiving 14 percent of their energy from renewables. People all over the country want to put solar panels on their roof to get electricity directly from the sun. Those who own farms, churches and homes have already started the transition.
This does cost more money, Gipe said. However, the money that is spent in the beginning doesn't compare to the amount of money that is saved in the long run. Gipe also said Germany's success comes from their feed-in tariff program, a plan that ensures people can sell their renewable energy to utilities and then pays people for their energy.
The U.S. does not have a policy like the feed-in tariff program and has not been successful in widely installing renewable energy resources. The U.S. only gets about 1 percent of its energy from renewables.
Wind energy, Gipe said, is the easiest way to go green. Not only can wind turbines be put up overnight and taken down in one day if desired, but they are also renewable, domestic and don't consume water for production. Wind turbines have produced 1.5 percent of the electricity for California during the last 20 years. They can be used for small and big projects - ranging from individual turbines to a whole farm of wind turbines.
He opened his talk with a statement that many people know, but often do not put into practice.
"Energy efficiency and conservation can be achieved by simply doing with less. When you don't need the light, turn it off. When you aren't using your computer, turn it off," said Gipe.
Gipe then spoke about California, the state that has been most successful in cutting their energy consumption. He said that the people who live in California are beginning to learn that living better on less will cut costs. The Califonia government has implemented a successful campaign to promote the use of compact fluorescents lights. Californians are now using enough of these lights that the amount of energy they are saving is equivalent to that of the output from a nuclear power plant.
Germany has also been successful in promoting the expansion of renewable energy, now receiving 14 percent of their energy from renewables. People all over the country want to put solar panels on their roof to get electricity directly from the sun. Those who own farms, churches and homes have already started the transition.
This does cost more money, Gipe said. However, the money that is spent in the beginning doesn't compare to the amount of money that is saved in the long run. Gipe also said Germany's success comes from their feed-in tariff program, a plan that ensures people can sell their renewable energy to utilities and then pays people for their energy.
The U.S. does not have a policy like the feed-in tariff program and has not been successful in widely installing renewable energy resources. The U.S. only gets about 1 percent of its energy from renewables.
Wind energy, Gipe said, is the easiest way to go green. Not only can wind turbines be put up overnight and taken down in one day if desired, but they are also renewable, domestic and don't consume water for production. Wind turbines have produced 1.5 percent of the electricity for California during the last 20 years. They can be used for small and big projects - ranging from individual turbines to a whole farm of wind turbines.
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