Sweden's tumultuous relationship with wind: More love than hate

Wind energy has come a long way from a new energy source to the mature, and for the most part, accepted energy source it is now. It has found use in a lot of different countries in a very big way. Germany generates five percent of its energy through 20,000 wind turbines, with the United States and Spain completing the top three for use of wind turbines for energy. However, as it has matured, so has the criticism. From what was once mainly faulted for being an eyesore, now the turbine is being looked at in terms of its shortcomings as a practical energy source. After all, the wind isn’t constant, and the prime locations for wind farms usually place them far away from the places that need the most electricity. Already, wind-energy pioneers like Germany and Denmark are faltering in growing their wind industry; as of yet it’s just too unreliable.

This fact hasn’t seemed to phase the Swedes however, who in 2007 only received less than one percent of their overall energy from wind sources. Currently, Sweden derives all of its energy mainly from two sources: hydro and nuclear. The reasoning for expanding their wind industry comes from a want to develop a third leg of energy production, therefore strengthening the resilience of their energy network. Residents near possible wind farm sites still resist the idea to a certain point, due to the eyesore factor, but the green legislation and the more overall acceptance of wind turbines as a sign of modernity help to keep the projects on track.

But Sweden isn’t keen on simply using wind energy as a straight to the grid energy source alone. They’ve already innovated on the ways in which they can compensate for some of the faults of wind energy. One of their most prominent is using wind energy to pump water from underground into elevated reservoirs, which can then be used for hydroelectric energy production. This both minimizes the inconsistent flaw of wind energy, while strengthening the supply of hydro energy, showing that a more diversified sustainable energy grid can be used to solve many reliability issues.

Another interesting aspect of the application of wind energy, and a more recent example at that, is the advent of using wind energy to supply power to docked cargo ships. Currently the ships use a bunker fuel, which is leftover residue from refining oil, to power themselves at dock. However, the bunker fuel actually create effluent that trap heat and can accelerate the melting of arctic ice, in addition to the fact that the particulates of this substance aggravate respiratory diseases, cardiopulmonary diseases, and can even contribute to lung cancer. Also, the shipping industry is responsible for twice the amount of emissions as aviation, and yet undergoes little scrutiny and is very slow to change. The change started eight years ago however, when a Swedish company called Stora Enso collaborated with the ports and the government of Sweden to devise a way to improve their environmental profile. Switching to a wind supported power grid while at dock is a little more expensive, but in the end cuts most emissions down to near zero percent. Which is acceptable to Stora Enso, who believe their customers would like it better this way. Now isn’t that lovely policy?