Wind Energy & the Environment
Wind energy works, is increasingly cost-effective, has a net positive environmental impact, and is compatible with most existing land uses. The links below touch on the topic of wind’s environmental benefits and impacts.
Dismantling a wind farm: all the details of a real case
By
External Source
The dismantling of the Muel wind farm demonstrates that circularity in wind energy is already an industrial reality. The results, with an outstanding 99.85% of materials recovered or recycled, confirm that recycling or recovering nearly 100% of a turbine is not science fiction, but the outcome of applying engineering, collaboration, and technical knowledge. The next step for the industry will be to make it faster, more cost-effective, and with greater added value in each material flow, consolidating circular economy as a standard practice in future repowering projects.
Beyond the Blade: How Wind Energy Learned from Oil & Gas Failures–Why wind recycling won’t become the next abandoned well crisis
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External Source
Oil and gas created a culture of extraction and externalization. Companies maximized short-term profits while socializing long-term environmental costs. The Texas legislation represents a belated attempt to address decades of inadequate oversight. Wind energy built sustainability into its business model. Financial assurance is standard practice. Near-complete recyclability is an industry goal, not a regulatory requirement. The Houston Chronicle’s investigative series on “zombie wells” reveals the full scope of oil and gas abandonment—wells that were supposed to be safely plugged but instead burst with toxic water, contaminating aquifers and costing taxpayers millions. Wind energy won’t have a zombie blade problem because the industry engineered responsibility into its DNA. When turbines reach end-of-life, they become raw materials for the next generation of clean energy infrastructure.
The Book Wind Energy Comes of Age Put in the Public Domain
By
Paul Gipe
Thirty years after its publication by John Wiley & Sons, I’ve put Wind Energy Comes of Age in the public domain. The digital copy of the more than 500-page book is now open access and is available for reading on line or it can be downloaded in its entirety for free. You can find the open access digital version here: Wind energy comes of age by Paul Gipe. Print copies can still be found at used bookstores or in university libraries.
Passerby Killed by Wind Turbine in Japan
By
Paul Gipe
A cyclist was killed by falling wind turbine blade in Japan. To my knowledge this is the first case of …
French court suspends wind farm after death of golden eagle
By
External Source
The Montpellier court has ordered a one-year suspension of the Bernagues wind farm, finding Énergie Renouvelable du Languedoc responsible for the death of a golden eagle, a protected species, in January 2023.
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap
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External Source
The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. That is the very simple acid test that must be applied to all climate policies. The time for wishful thinking is over.
