Debunking Myths

There are many myths about wind energy circulated by those opposed to renewable energy in general or wind turbines in particular. Some are so outlandish that it’s hard to imagine people believe them, others are more subtle requiring a degree of technical background to refute. Since I began my career in this field four decades ago I have tried to focus on the facts–both the promise and pitfalls of wind energy. The links below explore these myths and the topics on which some myths are built.

Featured Offshore

Jérôme Guillet on Substack

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Jérôme Guillet

Insightful analysis by an authority on wind energy and energy policy with extensive experience in the offshore wind sector.

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Latest Anti-Wind Myths Circulating on the Internet: Clean Green Hoax & Blade Waste Filling up Landfills

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Paul Gipe

I don’t do a lot of wind energy flim flam debunking these days. I leave that to the next generation. However, I will take up my cudgel reluctantly when my friends throw something egregious in my face. And that happened recently from several different sources: one a FaceBook post, and another from a chain email that’s circulating.

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No, there aren’t 14,000 abandoned wind turbines littered across the United States

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Madison Czopek

“It’s bullshit,” said Paul Gipe, who has published five books on wind energy since 1995 and who has closely studied California’s wind farms. (Now the American Wind Energy Association does that.) Gipe said there have never been 14,000 abandoned wind turbines in California, in the United States, in North America or anywhere in the world. But at one time, there were approximately 14,000 wind turbines in California, total. He says he is “the author of that number” and believes that it is the origin of the 14,000 figure used in the email chain.

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US study finds properties near wind farm enjoy huge increase in value

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Sophie Vorrath

Newly released assessments of nearly 1000 properties in the southern part of El Paso, located near a wind farm southeast of Calhan, found no decrease in property values since the wind farm’s installation – but rather a combined increase in value of $US65.3 million.

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Bird Society Leads by Example: Operates Large Wind Turbine at Headquarters

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Paul Gipe

In early 2016 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) installed a large wind turbine at their headquarters in central England. The 100-meter (330-foot) tall turbine was installed at the Society’s headquarters in Sandy midway between Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

Dave Tokes Blog

The untold story of how windfarms help keep the lights on

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Dave Toke

The UK press has been full of stories implying that wind power is to blame for the National Grid having to call in expensive demand shedding measures recently to keep the lights on. What they will not tell you is how often wind power saves the UK consumer large amounts of money because the National Grid does not have to buy in expensive reserves of power. Also they do not tell you that wind power in fact has quite a substantial contribution to effective firm power station capacity.

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