Environmental issues associated with wind energy – A review

Abstract

a b s t r a c tRecognized as one of the most mature renewable energy technologies, wind energy has been developing rapidly in recent years. Many countries have shown interest in utilizing wind power, but they are concerned about the environmental impacts of the wind farms. The continuous growth of the wind energy industry in many parts of the world, especially in some developing countries and ecologically vulnerable regions, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of wind farm induced environmental impacts. The environmental issues caused by wind farms were reviewed in this paper by summarizing existing studies. Available mitigation measures to minimize these adverse environmental impacts were discussed in this document. The intention of this paper is to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about environmental issues associated with wind energy development as well as strategies to mitigate environmental impacts to wind energy planners and developers.

Aproximación metodológica al análisis de contenidos a partir del discurso de los actores. Un ensayo de investigación social de procesos de desarrollo local (Loja, Ecuador)

“…El resultado es un modelo de entrevista semiestructurada cuyo fin es la recogida de información primaria, que permita a su vez, por un lado, obtener descripciones, explicaciones y posicionamientos respecto a los procesos de desarrollo local vinculados con la central eólica; y, por otro, valorar cualitativamente su potencial, limitaciones y beneficios para la comunidad local, siempre conocer qué sucede a nivel local, y aquí suele señalarse que las necesidades constructivas y las características tecnológicas de los parques eólicos pueden tener impactos negativos en el ambiente y en el paisaje del territorio en el que se asientan (Frolova y Pérez Pérez, 2008;Groth y Vogt, 2014;Dai et al, 2015). Por tanto, interesa la valoración y posicionamiento de los actores locales respecto de la presencia de la central y de sus efectos en la zona de influencia, positivos y negativos.…”

Public Participation in the Process of EIA Intentions of Wind Power Plants in the Czech Republic

“…Wind energy has become more and more attractive as one of clean renewable source (Dabbaghiyan et al, 2015;Dincer, 2011;Dai et al, 2014). The reason is due to growing uncertainty about the future of the oil and natural gases as well as raising awareness of anthropogenic impacts of fossil fuels on climate change (Karytsas, Theodoropoulou, 2014;Emejeamara, Tomlin, Millward-Hopkins, 2015;Zheng et al, 2015).…”

Aesthetic Local Search of Wind Farm Layouts

“…In particular, it has been noted for some time that wind turbines have considerable impact on local wildlife populations, such as birds, bats and, for offshore farms, various marine wildlife [4]. Therefore, there have been recent calls for entirely new research programs to be developed solely to study the effects of wind generation on wildlife and how to mitigate [5].…”

“…On clear days, turbines can be seen up to 30 km away depending on the turbine height and terrain conditions [4]. Moreover, the human impact can range in severity from a "mere" belief (strong or otherwise) that wind turbines detract from the visual value of the landscape, to shadow flicker, a phenomenon caused by the interaction of a wind turbine's blades with direct sunlight.…”

“…To partially mitigate the negative visual impacts of wind farms, it has been noted that farms with a regular layout of turbines tend to be perceived as blending into the visual landscape in a better way than farms with an irregular layout [4]. More precisely, research by Tsoutsos et al [7] discusses the aesthetic principles of wind farm layout design: farms have a higher aesthetic appeal either when turbines are arranged clearly into rows or when they are arranged into uniform density small clusters of 2-8 turbines, which are separated by obvious landmarks.…”