Sustainable energy is energy that meets the needs of human beings both in the present and the future. Further, sustainable energy includes energy sources that have the capacity to provide energy indefinitely, such as wind power. Sustainable energy also incorporates research and technology that works to improve the capabilities of renewable energy sources in order to improve energy efficiency. Renewable energy sources have the power to reduce the dependency on oil while also providing a safe and clean alternative for environmental protection. Technology that allows countries to incorporate sustainable energy sources continues to increase.
The Balikesir region of Turkey is one area that is increasing focus on sustainable energy; most notably wind power. The Kyoto Protocol was created in December of 1997 in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The goal was for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5. 2%. Further, the Kyoto Protocol included a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by sixty percent by the year 2040. The mechanisms put into place to help these goals become reality included job implementation, clean development mechanisms and emission trading.
These were important because the joint implementation allowed industrialized nations to pay other nations to reduce their emissions and count that as part of their own percentage requirement (Lecture, 2009). However, the Kyoto Protocol is largely unsuccessful and Turkey does not participate at this time (The Gold Standard, 2007, 4). Despite their lack of participation, Turkey does realize the importance of creating alternative fuel supplies such as wind power. Wind energy is created through the use of wind turbines that harness the power of the wind and turn that power into electricity or other forms of useful energy.
However, currently wind power is almost always converted into electricity. Wind energy is increasingly becoming a focus on alternative energy sources for environmentalists because wind power does not emit pollutants and it is completely renewable. Humans have used wind power for centuries to get from one place to another via boat. In the recent past, environmentalists and other energy experts have began to realize the potential that wind power has in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing an alternative to nonrenewable energy sources such as fossil fuels.
Wind turbines are constructed to capture the power of the wind in order to transfer it into viable electricity. When wind turbines are placed appropriately they have enormous potential for collecting the power of the wind in order to provide valuable sources of electricity. Baki Elektrik Uretim L. S. plans to install a wind power plant in the Balikesir region of Turkey in order to generate electricity and feed it into the public grid (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3).
This project is expected to contribute to climate protection and sustainable development in this region by enabling Turkey to stimulate and commercialize the use of grid connected renewable energy technology and markets (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3). This project will enable large wind farms to connect through a large grid in order to improve energy security, improve air quality, provide alternative sustainable energy futures and improve the livelihoods of the local people (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3).
The specific goals of this project are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey and to help stimulate the growth of wind power throughout Turkey. This project also intends to create jobs during the construction and operation phases of the wind farm. Finally, this wind power project aims to reduce pollutants that come from the power generation industry in Turkey while also helping to reduce Turkey’s increasing energy deficit and diversifying the electricity generation mix and reduce dependency on imports (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3).
There are several ways that this project will contribute to sustainable energy in Turkey. First, wind energy provides many environmental benefits that other energy sources are not able to provide. The use of wind energy does not result in the emission of pollutants that can harm the air, water or soil. Wind energy can be used in the present without threatening the future of other energy sources. At the same time, wind energy results in a decrease in air, water and soil pollutants over time (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3).
Second, this proposed wind power project will help contribute to sustainable energy by creating jobs. During the construction phase of the wind farm many jobs will become available to the local people (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3). This wind farm project will be the largest in Turkey and will include 30 Vestas V90 wind turbines. Each turbine will put out 3. 0 MV, will be 80 meters in height, have 90 meter rotor diameter and a 690 V turbine generator (The Gold Standard, 2007, 3).
These wind turbines will be connected through 20 kV underground cables which will transfer the wind power to the National Electricity System and produce 260,000 MWh per year (The Gold Standard, 2007, 4). The wind farm will be constructed in Marmara Region in the province of Balikesir in the Samli district. The wind farm will encompass the following towns: Halkap? nar, Karacaoren, Dombalkayatepe, Toybelen, Yapaz, Yeroluk, Kirazduzu, Ericikcatag? , Gulduz and Elmal? cokek (The Gold Standard, 2007, 4). The project site is bordered by the Marmara Sea to the north and the Ege Sea to the west.
The wind turbines constructed in this area range in height from 488 feet to 679 feet (The Gold Standard, 2007, 4). They are constructed in a partially straight line in order to maximize the collection of wind power. There are a total of thirty wind turbines included in the project. Wind turbines one through fifteen are arranged in a line, turbine sixteen stands alone, turbines seventeen through twenty-three form another line, turbines twenty-four through twenty-six yet another line and turbines twenty-seven through thirty form the final line (The Gold Standard, 2007, 4).