Wind power: questionable benefits, concealed impacts

Not really green after all:

... if a life-cycle study is warranted for hydraulic fracturing, because drilling might pass through subsurface formations containing fresh water, similar studies are certainly called for elsewhere: wind turbine manufacturing, installation and operation, for instance.

Turbines require enormous quantities of concrete, steel, copper, fiberglass and rare earth minerals – all of which involve substantial resource extraction, refining, smelting, manufacturing and shipping. Land and habitat impacts, rock removal and pulverizing, solid waste disposal, burning fossil fuels, air and water pollution, and carbon dioxide emissions occur on large scales during every step of the process.

Over 95% of global rare earth production occurs in China and Mongolia, using their technology, coal-fired electricity generation facilities and environmental rules. Extracting neodymium, praseodymium and other rare earths for wind turbine magnets and rotors involves pumping acid down boreholes, to dissolve and retrieve the minerals. Other acids, chemicals and high heat further process the materials. Millions of tons of toxic waste are generated annually and sent to enormous ponds, rimmed by earthen dams.

Leaks, seepage and noxious air emissions have killed trees, grasses, crops and cattle, polluted lakes and streams, and given thousands of people respiratory and intestinal problems, osteoporosis and cancer.

In 2009, China produced 150,000 tons of rare earth metals – and over 15,000,000 tons of waste. To double current global installed wind capacity, and produce rare earths for photovoltaic solar panels and hybrid and electric cars, China will have to increase those totals significantly – unless Molycorp and other companies can rejuvenate rare earth production in the US and elsewhere, using more modern methods.

Made in China turbines are shipped to the USA, trucked to their final destinations, and installed on huge concrete platforms; new backup gas generating plants are built; and hundreds of miles of new transmission lines are constructed. That means still more steel, copper, concrete, fuel and land. Moreover, the backup power plants generate more pollution and carbon dioxide than if they could simply run at full capacity, because as backups for turbines they must operate constantly but ramp up to full power, and back down, numerous times daily, in response to shifting wind speeds.

Wind farms require roads and 700-1000 ton concrete-and-rebar foundations, which affect water drainage patterns in farm country. The 300-500 foot tall turbines affect scenery, interfere with or prevent crop dusting over hundreds of acres, and kill countless birds and bats. Farmers who lease their land for wind turbines receive substantial royalty payments; neighbors are impacted, but receive no compensation.

Despite these ecological costs, wind farm projects are often fast-tracked through NEPA and other environmental review processes, and are exempted from endangered species and migratory bird laws that can result in multi-million-dollar fines for oil, gas and coal operators, for a fraction of the carnage.

Perhaps worst, all this is supported generously by renewable energy mandates, tax breaks, feed-in tariffs, “prioritized loading orders,” and other subsidies, courtesy of state and federal governments and taxpayers. In fact, wind power gets 90 times more in federal subsidies than do coal and natural gas, per megawatt-hour of electricity actually generated, according to US Energy Information Administration data. And wind-based electricity costs consumers several times more per kilowatt-hour than far more reliable electricity from coal, gas and nuclear power plants.

Simply put, the wind might be free, when it blows. But the rest of the “renewable, green, eco-friendly” wind energy system is anything but.

It might be far better all around to simply build the most efficient, lowest-polluting coal, gas and nuclear generating plants possible, let them run at full capacity 24/7/365 – and just skip the wind power.

Life-cycle studies would be a positive development – for all energy sources. In fact …

“Think globally, act locally” might be a very good motto for EPA and wind energy advocates.

- Paul Driessen  2/28/11 Paul Driessen is a senior fellow with the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, nonprofit public policy institutes that focus on energy, the environment, economic development and international affairs.

Wind Farms Make Bad Neighbors

Wind Turbines....

--Are not economical.  They are enormously subsidized by the state and federal government (your tax dollars).  In 2010 the EIA reported that Federal subsidies for wind energy alone exceeded the combined subsidies for all other conventional power sources.. 

--Increase electricity rates.  Denmark has the highest wind implementation in the world. The average residential US cost for electricity is 10¢ per kilowatt. In Denmark it is 35¢.    

--Will not make the U.S. energy independent.  Only about 1% of the electricity in the U.S. comes from oil. 

--Will not cause coal powered plants to be shut down.  Since wind is neither steady nor reliable, ALL wind energy developments require augmented power sources, typically from fossil fuel such as coal and natural gas, and in some areas from nuclear or hydroelectric energy. 

--Can cause value of property within sight of a turbine to decrease by 30%±.

--Are a visual blight on rural landscapes.  The turbines are up to 450 feet tall.  That’s like having 40-story buildings all across the county’s rural and undeveloped areas, much of which is prime farmland.

--Kill bats and birds--including the Indiana bat, an endangered species. Bats migrate and their deaths alone are estimated by independent experts to cause national agricultural losses in the tens of millions of dollars.

--Cause health problems from noise and shadow flicker.  Worldwide, people consistently report disturbed sleep, headaches, sleeplessness, ringing in ears, dizziness and vertigo, memory and concentration problems, irritability, and depression.  Cases are well documented and the governments of other countries are now seriously taking health effects from wind turbines into account when legislating. Animals reportedly suffer from health effects as well. Wild animals leave areas near wind turbines.

--Prevent use of crop dusters and lifeline helicopters.  Turbulence from the turbines makes it too dangerous for planes and helicopters to fly in the footprint of the wind farm.  These pilots will not fly within two miles of wind turbines.

--Are a hazard to Firefighters and EMS crews. 

Fires at wind turbines cannot be fought safely. And if a blade breaks while the turbine is operating, its fragments can be thrown 1200 ft or more. With up to 500 gal. of flammable fluids in the boxes high above ground, the dangers to public safety, first responder safety,  the environment and ground water are all legitimate concerns.

This project has been adopted by the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund (LMEF).  If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution toward this defense, please send your check, made payable to LMEF, with a notation written on the check “wind turbine project.”  You can drop off or mail your check to the office at 116 N. Main St., P.O. Box 187, Culver, IN 46511

CONCERNED PROPERTY OWNERS OF SOUTHERN MARSHALL COUNTY

WWW.MARSHALLCOUNTYIN-WINDFARM.BLOGSPOT.COM