Global assessment of the risks to biodiversity and Indigenous people’s lands from solar and wind farms

Abstract: The share of wind and solar energy in global energy mix is rising rapidly. Despite their great potential for reducing carbon emissions, poorly planned wind and solar farms may encroach on socio-ecologically sensitive areas, threatening biodiversity and Indigenous people’s traditional land uses. However, these potential risks associated with wind and solar farm development worldwide are poorly understood. Here, we evaluate the potential biodiversity and Indigenous risks from wind and solar energy development by examining the extent to which global . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/global-assessment-of-the-risks-to-biodiversity-and-indigenous-peoples-lands-from-solar-and-wind-farms/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“After ten years of operation the federal production tax credit goes away. One Kansas wind farm has reached this point and we are seeing the effect — lower production — fewer turbines operating — more turbines in disrepair.” —Forrest Knox, Kansas Senate, June 16, 2014


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=121

Impact of wind turbines on bird biodiversity #CHN

Abstract: We quantitatively assess the impacts of onshore wind turbines on bird diversity using citizen science data in China. Results show that a one-standard-deviation increase in wind turbines reduces bird abundance by 9.75% and leads to a 12.2% reduction in bird species richness at the county level. The negative impacts are more significant in migrant birds, birds in forests, urban and farmlands than others. Biodiversity protection helps to safeguard bird abundance against wind turbines. We also find that habitat loss . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/impact-of-wind-turbines-on-bird-biodiversity/

Bird and bat mortality at wind farms in South America: Lessons from monitoring and mitigation practices in Chile #CHL

Abstract: Wind energy can help mitigate global CO2 emissions; however, it also has adverse effects on biodiversity, particularly through collision-related mortality among flying vertebrates. While these impacts have been extensively studied in North America and Europe, information from South America remain limited. In this study, we assessed bird and bat mortality, along with monitoring and mitigation practices at wind farms in Chile, one of the leading countries in wind energy development in South America. We analyzed 15 years of post-operational . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/bird-and-bat-mortality-at-wind-farms-in-south-america-lessons-from-monitoring-and-mitigation-practices-in-chile-2/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Three characteristics of wind energy — variability, uncertainty and asynchronism — can cause problems for maintaining a reliable and secure power system.” —Windtech International, April/May 2014


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=56

Global assessment of the risks to biodiversity and Indigenous people’s lands from solar and wind farms

Abstract: The share of wind and solar energy in global energy mix is rising rapidly. Despite their great potential for reducing carbon emissions, poorly planned wind and solar farms may encroach on socio-ecologically sensitive areas, threatening biodiversity and Indigenous people’s traditional land uses. However, these potential risks associated with wind and solar farm development worldwide are poorly understood. Here, we evaluate the potential biodiversity and Indigenous risks from wind and solar energy development by examining the extent to which global . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/global-assessment-of-the-risks-to-biodiversity-and-indigenous-peoples-lands-from-solar-and-wind-farms/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“How can the industrialisation of water catchment areas, once protected by law, be regarded as suitable? ” —Rachel Connor, Aug. 27, 2014, letter to Ken MacIntosh MSP


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=38

Infrasonic acoustic energy produced by offshore wind turbine energy generation may interfere with bird and cetacean navigation cues

Abstract: Offshore wind turbine farms are being planned and installed throughout the coastal areas of the global ocean. Noise concerns from these activities are typically framed within frequency bands of concern defined by governmental regulatory agencies (NMFS-OPR-59, 2018). A less considered noise source are the various infrasonic noises generated by large rotating blades in a pressure-dynamic medium. These noises include the infrasonic “thumps” generated by the motion of the turbine blades as they intersect the “stagnate wind area” on the . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/infrasonic-acoustic-energy-produced-by-offshore-wind-turbine-energy-generation-may-interfere-with-bird-and-cetacean-navigation-cues/

Impact of wind turbines on bird biodiversity #CHN

Abstract: We quantitatively assess the impacts of onshore wind turbines on bird diversity using citizen science data in China. Results show that a one-standard-deviation increase in wind turbines reduces bird abundance by 9.75% and leads to a 12.2% reduction in bird species richness at the county level. The negative impacts are more significant in migrant birds, birds in forests, urban and farmlands than others. Biodiversity protection helps to safeguard bird abundance against wind turbines. We also find that habitat loss . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/impact-of-wind-turbines-on-bird-biodiversity/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“A wind farm is an industrial installation of vast proportions, and, if erected on the loftiest ridges, its industrial flavor becomes the new focal point for all view-sheds within a 15-mile radius.” —Dave Buhrman, W.Va.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=168

Sediment transport pathways and organic carbon burial impacted by offshore wind farms in shelf seas #DEU

Abstract: The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms increasingly impacts ocean environments. Little is known concerning synergistic effects of wind farms on large-scale sediment transport and seabed ecosystem functioning. Here, by using a three-dimensional hydro-morphodynamic model integrating wake effects, we assessed wind farm impacts on regional-scale sediment transport and organic carbon sedimentation in the North Sea. Results suggest that wind farms can alter net sediment transport fluxes by up to 30% locally, reduce mud accumulation in established depocenters and create . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/sediment-transport-pathways-and-organic-carbon-burial-impacted-by-offshore-wind-farms-in-shelf-seas/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Mike, we are a green energy company, but the green stands for money.” —Jeffrey Skilling, President, Enron (to reassure one of Enron’s coal executives)


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=88

Infrasonic acoustic energy produced by offshore wind turbine energy generation may interfere with bird and cetacean navigation cues

Abstract: Offshore wind turbine farms are being planned and installed throughout the coastal areas of the global ocean. Noise concerns from these activities are typically framed within frequency bands of concern defined by governmental regulatory agencies (NMFS-OPR-59, 2018). A less considered noise source are the various infrasonic noises generated by large rotating blades in a pressure-dynamic medium. These noises include the infrasonic “thumps” generated by the motion of the turbine blades as they intersect the “stagnate wind area” on the . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/infrasonic-acoustic-energy-produced-by-offshore-wind-turbine-energy-generation-may-interfere-with-bird-and-cetacean-navigation-cues/

Sediment transport pathways and organic carbon burial impacted by offshore wind farms in shelf seas #DEU

Abstract: The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms increasingly impacts ocean environments. Little is known concerning synergistic effects of wind farms on large-scale sediment transport and seabed ecosystem functioning. Here, by using a three-dimensional hydro-morphodynamic model integrating wake effects, we assessed wind farm impacts on regional-scale sediment transport and organic carbon sedimentation in the North Sea. Results suggest that wind farms can alter net sediment transport fluxes by up to 30% locally, reduce mud accumulation in established depocenters and create . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/sediment-transport-pathways-and-organic-carbon-burial-impacted-by-offshore-wind-farms-in-shelf-seas/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“When people think about the advantages and disadvantages of wind farms, as they would if a wind farm were proposed for their community, their support diminishes.” —Eric Smith & Holly Klick (2007)


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=201

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“The pursuit of large-scale, ridgeline wind power in Vermont represents a terrible error of vision and planning and a misunderstanding of what a responsible society must do to slow the warming of our planet. It also represents a profound failure to understand the value of our landscape to our souls and our economic future in Vermont.” —Steve E. Wright, “The Not So Green Mountains”, New York Times, Sept. 29, 2011


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=61

Impact of Wind Farms on Moorland Birds in the UK #GBR

KEY TAKEAWAY: Moorland turbines displace birds and harm breeding success. Global lessons In general, there are several ways in which birds can be affected by wind farms. These include: direct impacts through collision with the rotor blades. indirect impacts through habitat loss, disturbance displacement, or barrier effects. Most papers agree that wind farms can have negative effects on bird species, with different risks to different groups – for example, high-flying, larger, less manoeuvrable species are at greater risk of collision . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/impact-of-wind-farms-on-moorland-birds-in-the-uk/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“... like the giant statues on Rapa Nui, a desperate but very wrongheaded effort to fend off environmental disaster.” —Eric Rosenbloom, Sep. 21, 2006


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=57

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“The Sheffield (Vt.) voters, when they approved the project for an entirely illusory tax benefit, sold the Northeast Kingdom’s birthright for a mess of pottage.” —Caledonian-Record editorial, Aug. 10, 2007


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=247

Impact of Wind Farms on Moorland Birds in the UK #GBR

KEY TAKEAWAY: Moorland turbines displace birds and harm breeding success. Global lessons In general, there are several ways in which birds can be affected by wind farms. These include: direct impacts through collision with the rotor blades. indirect impacts through habitat loss, disturbance displacement, or barrier effects. Most papers agree that wind farms can have negative effects on bird species, with different risks to different groups – for example, high-flying, larger, less manoeuvrable species are at greater risk of collision . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/impact-of-wind-farms-on-moorland-birds-in-the-uk/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Once these units are up and running ... the citizens of Bruce County will be left to look at a wind park of industrial proportions for the rest of their lives.” —Robert Emerson, Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, Ontario


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=246

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Driving from one end of the country to the other, you see all sorts of strange things, but nothing as ominous as these wind farms that now crowd so many wide open spaces. Gesturing obscenely, they block the horizon, sneering at the very idea that a bit of sky could be sacred.” —Lafayette Lee, Sept. 25, 2024


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=183

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“In a nutshell: Perhaps renewables are not the answer.” —Eduardo Porter, The New York Times, Nov. 7, 2017


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=41

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“By embracing industrial wind, for example, Vermont is replacing corporate-controlled fossil fuels with corporate-controlled renewables. We’re allowing those corporations to exploit ­and profit from our ridgelines, while ignoring the loss of valuable non-monetized benefits that intact mountains provide. In the end, Vermont’s climate change response hasn’t really been about “saving the environment,” no matter how ardently that sentiment is expressed in press releases and annual reports: it’s about maintaining, as long as possible, the unsustainable way of life that created the problem in the first place.” —Steven Gorelick, “Renegotiating the Future”


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=40

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“It’s well past time to stop considering what wind might do and to examine what it has done. It has not reduced fossil fuel use or emissions. It has only ruined a lot of landscapes and communities, fragmented habitat, and killed birds and bats.” —Eric Rosenbloom, Vt.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=149

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“What the wind giveth, line loss taketh away.” —Carol A. Overland, Minn.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=161

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Wind power is an idea that is appealing to the imagination. It sounds like a ‘free’ source of energy that would be non-polluting and stable in cost. I am an optimist, and I love technology. If I thought for one moment that windmills would be a source of low cost energy, I would be building them. The reality is quite the contrary — wind power is wasteful of human and natural resources.” —Fergus Smith, Vt.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=196

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“If people tell the public service commission they want all-renewable energy, then we’ll give them that, but not before we warn them that it’s going to cost an arm and a leg.” —Duane Schrader, Louisville Gas & Electric trading manager, “Power Switch,” Carleton College Voice, Fall 2018


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=58

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“At this point you may have asked yourself why it is that Vestas does not just make changes to the wind turbines so that they produce less noise? The simple answer is that at the moment it is not technically possible to do so ...” —Ditlev Engel, CEO, Vestas, June 29, 2011 letter to Environment Minister, Denmark


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=84

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“What we have all thought of as an industry of benefit, may not be of much benefit. They don’t provide any jobs and now they may not provide much revenue either! ” —Judge Laura Pryor, Gilliam County, Ore.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=237

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Faith in the redemptive power of wind energy is not a substitute for analysis of its actual record.” —Eric Rosenbloom, Vt.


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=151

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“The ecological footprint is large relative to the meager environmental benefits.” —R. Dwayne Elmore, Oklahoma Chapter, The Wildlife Society, and others, letter to Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Jan. 3, 2008


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=131

Direct Testimony of Jerry Punch, Audiologist

Q: What is the purpose of your testimony? A: I intend to describe the critical weaknesses in Invenergy’s Badger Hollow Wind (BHW) application, particularly with regard to its “noise analysis.” That analysis is grossly insufficient in reflecting the actual health risks to humans, as it focuses exclusively and extensively on audible noise, while willfully ignoring the inaudible components of the acoustic energy that will be emitted from its proposed 6.2 MW industrial wind turbines (IWTs). These inaudible components are increasingly being . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/direct-testimony-of-jerry-punch-audiologist/

Direct Testimony of Richard Jinkins: Spiked Pressure Pulses #WI

Q: Has your ability to occupy and use your property been affected by wind turbines? A: Yes. Q. How? A: We have moved out of our home. And when we are at our home and wind turbines are operating, it ranges from unpleasant to insupportable. Some of the personal effects that I and other members of my family have experienced and that I associate with the wind turbines are nuisances that range from mild to significant. These are things like . . .


https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/direct-testimony-of-richard-jinkins-spiked-pressure-pulses/

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Wind energy will undoubtedly create noise, which increases stress, which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.” —Julia Gohlke, Sharon Hrynkow, and Christopher Portier, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2008


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=80

Industrial Wind Energy Quote

“Industrial wind parks might be relatively new, but the international context in which they proliferate is a familiar one of “first” and “third” world hierarchies and persistent inequalities.” —Suzanne Simon


https://www.wind-watch.org/quotes.php?t=186