November 5, 2024

Wind energy is clean and renewable.

Not only is the breeze everywhere and endless – although variable depending on the location – it also generates power without burning anything. expensive fossil fuels or air pollution.

For some, it is an environmental elixir. For others, not so much.

Plans for a massive wind farm on **Argentina**’s Somuncura Plateau, a vast desert near the Atlantic coast, have sparked concerns.

The proposed site will be home to 66 Andean condors, a majestic bird species brought back from brink of extinction in the region, thanks to a decade-long conservation effort.

Strong, reliable winds mean the area is good for $8.4 billion (€8.5 billion) wind farm – key to the greening of Argentina’s energy supply – but it is also an important habitat, giving life to a threatened species, worshiped for its spiritual resonance.

Currently, conservation concerns prevail renewable energy needs, with the project on hold until a solution is found.

But this is far from an isolated incident.

wind farm projects around the world conflict with others environmental goals and obstacleswhich creates difficult problems as humanity strives to create a low carbon, environmentally friendly future.

Why are wind turbine blades painted black?

None of this is lost on those who design and build wind turbines.

Adam Butterworth, a designer and developer of renewables, points out that there is a decade-long effort to solve the environmental problems caused by the manufacture, installation and operation of wind turbines, avoiding zero-sum choices.

He mentioned one AI-powered technology which can detect the future birds with cameras and pivot the blades to reduce the risk of fatal collisions, while painting black turbines improve their visibility.

Estimates of the number of birds killed by wind turbines each year in the UK vary from 10,000 to 100,000. This compares to 55 million birds killed in cats per year in Britain, according to the BBC’s Science Focus.

Other solutions include simple accommodations NATUREthan tech.

“It’s basic logic,” Butterworth said. “If there are protected species in the area, we will not put any wind farm there.”

Rampion Construction wind farm in southern England, which installed 116 turbines weighing 92,800 tons (equivalent to nine Eiffel Towers), temporarily stopped to avoid disruption of the black bream spawning season between April and July.

Rampion, which powers 350,000 homes around Brightonalso created a marine life sanctuary, attractive dolphins to the place.

What effect do wind farms have on marine life?

Research is still disputed on the effect of offshore wind farms of sea life.

A 2022 report by the European Environment Agency highlights that some potential issues are due to underwater cassava during construction, which may move some fish species and interfere with their echo location.

Part of this disruption is because turbine foundations must be placed on the sea floor. A 1,000-ton crane usually lowers the foundations to the seabed, before piling them using a hydraulic hammer.

Again technology comes to the rescue, says Butterworth, pointing to the development of floating wind turbines without having to hammer the seabed.

Besides not being able to penetrate the sea life, “an additional advantage of this is that the turbines can be built in many places because they are currently fixed in shallow waters,” he explained.

How long do wind turbines work?

The decommissioning of wind farms is also a problem.

The average life of a turbine is 25 to 30 years, after which it must be removed and destroyed.

“Then you have a big problem with removing the materials,” says Butterworth, noting that the blades are particularly troublesome because they are made of non-recyclable fiberglass, carbon fiber and plastics.

“Wind turbines are increasing and bigger and bigger, as they become more and more powerful, but this only increases the number of problems waste,” he added.

Here he says that a large amount of money is spent trying to improve recyclingespecially new types of plastic that allow turbine parts to be taken apart and reused more easily.

Some say that a simple solution is to improve the shelf life of the turbines, although this itself raises other issues.

“We can make the blades for 40 years, but they are heavier which costs more and reduces the efficiency of the turbines,” said Butterworth. “It’s a balancing act”.

We need to accelerate the transition to green energy

Wind energy is growing all over Europe.

European countries are installing 17 GW of new wind capacity by 2021, according to Wind Europe.

It added: “This is not even half of what the EU needs to build to meet the Climate and Energy objectives of 2030”, referring to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels.

However, Butterworth is optimistic about the future of wind, especially given its ability to adapt.

“If you ask any knowledgeable person, they’ll tell you that, no, they are [wind turbines], isn’t the answer. They cannot meet the world’s energy needs. We need to do more than that. “

“But they are definitely part of the solution”, he added.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *