What are The Environment Impacts of Wind Energy. Winds are caused by the earth rotation, the
irregularities of the earth's surface and uneven heating of the atmosphere by
the sun. The wind flow patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, vegetative
cover and bodies of water. This wind flow can be used to produce electricity by
utilize the modern wind turbines.
Wind power or wind energy describes the process by which the wind is
used to produce electricity or generate mechanical power. Wind turbines convert
the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanical power. Then, this mechanical power
can be used for grinding grain or water pumping. By using generator, mechanical
power can be used to produce the electricity to power businesses, school and homes.
What are The Environment Impacts of Wind Energy
Land Use
Wind farms are typically designed on land
that has already been impacted
by land clearing. Ground disturbance and the vegetation clearing needed for wind farms is minimal compared with coal-fired power
stations and coal mines. The landscape will
be returned to its previous condition when wind farms are decommissioned.
The land use impact of wind energy facilities varies depending on
the site. Wind turbines placed in hilly areas typically use less land than
those located in flat areas place. The surrounding infrastructure included
transmission lines and roads and the turbines themselves occupy a small portion
of the total wind facility area.
A survey by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of wind
facilities in the US found that they use from 30 to 141 acres per megawatt
power capacity output. And, less than one acre per megawatt is permanently disturbed
and less than 3.5 acres per megawatt are temporarily disturbed during facility construction.
The rest of land should be used for another productive purposes such as livestock grazing, highways, agriculture and
hiking trails. As an alternative, wind energy
facilities can be sited on brownfields or other industrial and commercial locations
that has low concerns about land use.
Generally, the turbines are not installed in urban areas. The turbines
have to be sited a safe distance from residences in case of failure, also the value
of land is high. In end of 2002,
the wind turbine project WindShare ExPlace was erected in Toronto, Canada. It absolutely was the primary wind turbine facility in
North American. Meanwhile, the Steel Winds has a 20 MW urban project
south of Buffalo-New York. The WindShare ExPlace and Steel Winds projects are
in urban locations.
Meanwhile, offshore wind facilities which currently are not in operation
in the US may become more common, need larger amounts of space due to the
turbines and blades are bigger than its land-based counterparts. Based on their
location, such offshore installations can compete with a variety of other ocean
activities like recreational activities, gravel and sand extraction, oil and
gas extraction, aquaculture, navigation and fishing. The best practices in designing
will help to minimize land use impacts of land and offshore-based wind projects.
Habitat and Wildlife
The environment impact of wind turbines on habitat and wildlife, on bats
and birds, has been widely studied and documented. The National Wind
Coordinating Committee review of peer-reviewed research found evidence of bat
and bird deaths from collisions with the turbines and due to changes in atmospheric
pressure caused by the spinning turbines, also from habitat disruption. They
concluded that these wildlife impacts are relatively low and do not cause a
threat to species populations.
Additionally, analysis in wildlife behavior and advances in the
technology of wind turbine have helped to reduce deaths of bat and bird. The
biologists have found that when wind speeds are low, bats are most active. Refer
to this information, the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative said that by keep
wind turbines motionless during times of low wind speeds can reduce bat deaths
by more than half without affecting power production significantly. Other habitat
and wildlife impacts can be mitigated by better siting of wind turbines.
The offshore wind turbines will have similar impacts on marine
birds. However, compared with onshore wind energy facilities, the bird deaths
associated with offshore wind energy facilities are minimal. Also, the wind
farms that located offshore will impact fish and other marine wildlife. Meanwhile,
some researches suggest that turbines can increase fish populations actually by
acting as artificial reefs. The environment impact of wind energy will vary
from site to site, and thus proper monitoring and research systems are required
for each offshore wind facility.
Public Health and Community
Visual and sound impacts are two main public health and community
concerns related with wind turbines operation. The sound produce by wind
turbines is aerodynamic, due to wind turbine blades movement through the air. Meanwhile
the mechanical sound produce by the turbine itself. The sound levels depend on wind
speed and turbine design.
Many people living close to wind energy facilities have complained
about the vibration and sound, but both government and industry sponsored
studies in Canada and Australia have found that these problems don’t adversely
impact public health. However, it is important to take these community concerns
seriously by following “good neighbor” best practices for siting turbines and also
initiating open dialogue with community members. Technological advances like using
sound-absorbent materials and minimizing blade surface imperfections are needed
to reduce wind turbine noise.
Under any lighting conditions, wind turbines can produce an effect
known as shadow flicker. This shadow flicker should be minimized with planting
trees, careful siting, installing window awnings, or by curtailing wind turbine
operations when certain lighting conditions happen.
The Federal Aviation Administration needs that giant wind turbines,
like all structures over two hundred feet high, have red or white lights for
aviation safety. However, the Federal Aviation Administration recently
determined that as long as there aren’t any gaps in lighting larger than a
half-mile, it is not need to light every tower in multi-turbine wind power project.
The daytime lighting isn’t necessary when the turbines are painted with white
color.
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