Download PDF Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects

Sinopsis

In recent years, the growth of capacity to generate electricity from wind energy has been extremely rapid, increasing from 1,848 megawatts (MW) in 1998 to 11,603 MW in the United States by the end of 2006 (AWEA 2006a) (Figures 1-1, 1-2). Some of that growth was fueled by state and federal tax incentives (Schleede 2003), as well as by state renewable portfolio standards and targets. Despite that rapid growth, wind energy amounted to less than 1% of U.S. electricity generation in 2006. To the degree that wind energy reduces the need for electricity generation using other sources of energy, it can reduce the adverse environmental impacts of those sources, such as production of atmospheric and water pollution, including greenhouse gases; production of nuclear wastes; degradation of landscapes due to mining activity; and damming of rivers. Generation of electricity by wind energy has the potential to reduce environmental impacts, because unlike generators that use fossil fuel, it does not result in the generation of atmospheric contaminants or thermal pollution, and it has been attractive to many governments, organizations, and individuals. But others have focused on adverse environmental impacts of wind-energy facilities, which include visual and other impacts on humans; and effects on ecosystems, including the killing of wildlife, especially birds and bats. Some environmental effects of wind-energy facilities, especially those concerning transportation (roads to and from the plant site) and transmission (roads and clearings for transmission lines), are common to all electricity-generating facilities; others, such as their specific aesthetic impacts, are unique to wind-energy facilities. This report provides analyses to understand and evaluate those environmental effects, both positive and negative.

Content

1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTEXT FOR ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF WIND-POWERED ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE MID-ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS
3. ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF WIND-ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
4. IMPACTS OF WIND-ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ON HUMANS
5. PLANNING FOR AND REGULATING WIND-ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

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