Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Generally speaking, research indicates that the prevalence of special
interest lobby groups tends to adversely impact the fortunes of wind power
development. his is because special-interest groups require funding to be
efective, and the more funding a special interest group has, the more efec-
tive it can generally be. Given that conventional energy concerns typically
hold dominant market positions, conventional energy special interests
groups tend to enjoy higher levels of funding, and therefore hold greater
political sway.
With that said, this trend appears to be undergoing change. In Denmark and
Germany, the success of wind power irms has enabled the wind power indus-
try to muster strong special-interest support. Meanwhile, public opposition to
nuclear power and political opposition to coal-ired power have dampened the
efectiveness of conventional energy industry groups. Consequently, in both
nations, wind power advocates have exerted considerable inluence over the
evolution of energy policy. In the United States, an emergent wind power man-
ufacturing industry is beginning to generate the critical inancial mass neces-
sary to chip away at the political fortress that has been insulating conventional
energy technologies for decades. he job creation beneits of wind power are
attracting political support from both parties in the United States.
he admonition for wind power advocates is that better coordination
needs to be mustered between wind power irms and alliances between
alternative energy technologies need to be improved in order to strip away
the economic and political cloak that has insulated conventional energy
technologies from competition. It would be far more efective for irms from
various alternative energy technology sectors to band together to muster a
uniied response to conventional energy lobbyists rather than to attempt to
compete simultaneously with conventional technology irms and each other.
10.5.3 Political Factor 3: Fiscal Health
Regardless of how wind power development is initiated through government
policy (i.e., through FIT or renewable portfolio standards), there are some
inancial demands associated with wind power development that govern-
ments will be hard-pressed to avoid (or to pass on to end-consumers). For
example, in Denmark, the success of the wind power program was largely
predicated on time-consuming and costly market preparation activities. he
nation commissioned mapping exercises to ensure that wind power devel-
opment was carried out in a strategic and efective manner and established
institutions (such as the Risø Laboratories) for linking industry, academia,
and government stakeholders. In Germany, the government is now try-
ing to get to grips with the challenge of providing grid connection to wind
