Wind energy is one of the most cost effective, fastest- growing, and underutilized energy sources currently accessible to humanity.
It's also regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly, as wind turbines emit no greenhouse gases or pollutants while in operation.
But here's the catch: they have an environmental impact even when they're not in use that is, while they're in the ground and figuring out what to do with them once they're taken down.
What are the environmental consequences of the growing use of wind power and the installation of turbines along our beaches and open spaces?
How horrible are they in the larger scheme of things, and is there anything we can do about it?
Kunal Katke is my name.
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It's easy to understand why wind power is, and has been, one of the most popular forms of energy generating for generations.
Turbines can be erected almost anyplace there's a bit of empty space from farms and mountain ranges to far out at sea — as long as there's enough wind to operate them, making them perfect for both huge economies striving to decarbonize and distant settlements requiring an easy supply of electricity.
They're easy to maintain and should last for decades; they're inexpensive to run, and despite their size, they have a modest footprint.
According to a survey of large- scale wind farms conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States, which has the world's second- largest wind power capacity after China, less than one acre per megawatt of power output capacity is permanently disturbed, and less than 3.5 acres per megawatt is temporarily disturbed during construction.
Costs are also steadily decreasing, with many governments now providing incentives to promote more use.
Although it doesn't provide as much electricity as other sources (about 5% of global electricity in 2018), wind has a lot of promise, especially when put offshore, which is where a lot of the attention is right now.
Although offshore wind contributes for just around 0.3 percent of total energy output worldwide, it has the potential to contribute far more.
According to the International Energy Agency, or IEA, if we built wind farms on all of the usable offshore sites around the world while adhering to certain conditions (i.e., no more than 60 kilometers off the coast and in waters no deeper than 60 meters), they could generate enough electricity to meet the entire world's current electricity demand.
But do we really want vast swathes of wind turbines growing up along our coastlines?
Probably not, but it does demonstrate what we might achieve with wind power if we were committed to the technology.
While a world strewn with turbines in every available location may solve our clean energy problem in the long run, we often overlook the amount of work required to get them there in the first place both offshore and onshore which is where some of the arguments against wind's green credentials come into play.
So, what exactly are we discussing?
Well, there's a lot that goes into preparing the land for the turbines, digging for the foundations, transporting all of the components to the site, a lot of concrete is often required, onshore farms will frequently require new service roads, and the list goes on.
Furthermore, many of these jobs are carried out with diesel- powered machinery.
For example, the world's largest offshore wind farm is now under construction off the coast of the United Kingdom, with the capacity to power 4.5 million households, or about 5% of the country's total electricity consumption, utilizing the world's most powerful turbines.
All of this sounds wonderful, but it also entails miles of cabling, converter stations, vegetation clearing, land drainage, roads, grid connections, and so on.
And, despite the fact that onshore farms have a very tiny footprint, there's still nothing else you can do with the area between the turbines than farming and grazing.
It's easy to see why people talk about the "industrialization of the countryside." when there's frequently little choice but to erect these massive complexes in rural regions.
The environmental impact of wind has also been questioned in various ways.
Some people who live or work near wind farms have complained about the noise the turbines generate.
Birds and bats have been seen flying into them unintentionally in other areas, which is considered to have led to a considerable reduction in the populations of some species.
Wind turbine crashes kill an estimated half a million birds in the United States each year, and with wind energy capacity expected to grow dramatically in the next years, this number might rise to about one and a half million.
Things, however, are seldom that straightforward.
While the skies may suffer, there is evidence that offshore wind farms can be beneficial to marine life.
The underwater platforms have an unexpected and favorable advantage for blue mussels, according to a study by Kaela Slavik of the Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Coastal Research in Germany.
Approximately four metric tons of shellfish may be supported by a standard wind turbine.
They also serve as a marine preservation area, as fishing and bottom trawling are prohibited due to safety concerns.
They're essentially establishing sea life sanctuaries.
Similar species is growing at the base of the turbines at the offshore wind farm on Block Island, United States.
Despite certain drawbacks, the global public favors additional renewable energy technology, such as wind power, to combat climate change, as long as the turbines are not constructed near their homes.
The problem is that with onshore farms in densely populated nations, it's tough to completely avoid humans, especially when they're not afraid to fight back.
Due to a scarcity of appropriate land and a spike in people successfully protesting against plans to place turbines in their region, installations in Germany have dropped dramatically, putting their carbon reduction objectives in jeopardy.
Another problem is deciding what to do with the turbines as they reach the end of their useful lives.
How can you get rid of these constructions, which may stand as tall as a skyscraper and number in the hundreds on a single farm?
The good news is that around 85% of a wind turbine's components, from copper wiring and electronics to gearing mechanisms, can be recycled or reused. However, the same cannot be said for the blades, which are typically made of composite materials such as fiberglass or carbon fibre, depending on their age.
These materials are strong enough to withstand the extreme weather conditions that turbines are frequently exposed to, and light enough to allow the turbines to turn, but when they need to be decommissioned, there's little else you can do but bury them in landfills or burn them through a process known as pyrolysis.
The landfill alternative is clearly not very environmentally friendly, especially because the blades may be as long as a Boeing 747 wing and weigh up to eight tons each.
As a result, they must frequently be carried one at a time, which necessitates a large number of truck trips.
There's also all the heavy equipment required to chop up the blades before they're buried.
The blades are broken up in pyrolysis as well, but they're then placed in high- temperature ovens to break down the composite fibers.
This results in a substance that may be used to manufacture paints and glues.
However, the process consumes a lot of energy, so even while it may be considered a sort of recycling, it isn't entirely green.
All of this is a major concern right now since turbines erected during the wind power boom of the 1990s and 2000s are nearing or have already reached the end of their useful lives.
It's only going to get worse in the future, since the number of wind turbines installed globally has surged more than fivefold in the last decade, implying that unless we find new ways to dispose of them, we'll face an even worse landfill problem in the future.
In that case, perhaps we should consider manufacturing turbines out of something else.
Windmills: The Origins of Wind Turbines
Constructions have traditionally been made of wood and other sustainable materials, and composites were not widely used until the 1980s.
We're already seeing fantastic things with high- strength wood in the building industry, such massive tower blocks and even some of the sites for the Tokyo Olympics, and others say we might reconsider using wood for wind power.
Sweden has recently completed the world's first wooden wind turbine tower, with intentions to scale it up in the future.
In truth, there's a lot of work being done to restore wind power's image as a green energy source.
For starters, it appears that burying or burning discarded turbine components may not be the only option.
Global Fiberglass Solutions, located in Washington, has developed a method for grinding big chunks of plastic composites into microscopic pellets that may be utilized in building and manufacturing.
For the newer blades, a business called Carbon Fibre Recycling has developed a method of recycling carbon fibre waste that was tested on wind turbines throughout their study.
The carbon fibre is separated from the epoxy resin, which is also used to create the blades, in their process.
The carbon fibre is then cut up into a form that can be utilized in a variety of sectors, while the resin is converted into a fuel that powers the company's machinery, ensuring that nothing ends up in landfills.
Recycling is done differently in the Netherlands.
Decommissioned turbine blades have been used to create slides, tunnels, and ramps for children's playgrounds, as well as bus stops and public seating, and proposals have been presented in Denmark to build a bridge out of composite materials that were formerly part of a turbine.
In other parts of Europe, a group of wind and chemical sector organizations has devised a method of converting old fiberglass blades into a substance that may be used in cement manufacture, lowering CO2 emissions by roughly 16 percent.
The blades must initially be broken down into tiny pieces, however this may be done on- site at the turbine installation location, eliminating the need for any significant shipping.
In Poland, a novel way to wind generation has been pioneered by an urban tech start- up that has built panels made up of vertical rows of miniature turbines.
They are meant to remove the primary problems of wind power by being silent, rapid, and easy to put up without posing a threat to animals or having a significant environmental effect.
They are more ideal for local applications than than powering massive networks.
It's crucial to realize that there will never be a completely green energy source.
Whatever we do, there will always be some form of environmental consequence.
Wind turbines are only beaten out by hydro power in the life cycle cost analysis (LCA) of several kinds of energy generation, notwithstanding their existing drawbacks.
Yes, perhaps wind power has more drawbacks than many of us initially realized.
However, the consequence of greater investment in this form of energy at a time when carbon emissions are desperately needed is apparent.
Consider how much better that LCA can be with the current breakthroughs and innovative ways to materials and disposal.
So, what are your thoughts on the matter?
Let me know what you think of wind power in the comments section.
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