Wind turbines are widely disliked by the general public in all countries where they are erected. They are a blight on the landscape, and their noise when operating is unpleasant, and even harmful, for those who live nearby. They are notorious for killing large numbers of birds, including endangered species such as eagles.
Recent research in Sweden has revealed that wind farms cause even more environmental damage than previously thought, notably through the erosion of toxic chemicals from the blades, which are dispersed into the environment surrounding the turbines.
Many thanks to our Swedish correspondent LN for translating this article from Samhällsnytt:
Study shows: Wind turbines can be major environmental offenders
by Mats Dagerlind
March 16, 2024Wind power is marketed as the climate and environmentally friendly energy option. However, there is a growing body of evidence that this is a truth with major modifications. A new study has now been published which, in addition to what is already known, indicates that wind power is associated with pollution in the form of high levels of hazardous substances around wind farms.
The yet-to-be-published study almost didn’t see the light of day. Strong political and economic forces do not want the image of wind power as the environmentally and climate-friendly alternative to produce electricity to be tarnished by further negative publicity.
As a result, pressure was applied to withdraw funding for the study. However, the researchers at the Universities of Gothenburg and Linköping managed to find money elsewhere, and the study is now complete. And its contents reveal why some were prepared to go to great lengths to stop it.
The list of disadvantages of wind power is long
Wildlife damage has been reported in the past; birds — including protected eagles — are decapitated by rotor blades. Marine life is disturbed by offshore wind turbines.
Worn-out rotor blades cannot be recycled and accumulate in large scrap yards without anyone knowing how to dispose of them. Nature and recreational values are destroyed in the vicinity of wind farms, so that the tourism industry is affected and other outdoor activities cannot be practised.
The local environment is destroyed for residents by the noise of the wind turbines. Those trying to move away find that the market value of their houses has dropped dramatically. And so on.
In addition, wind turbines have low reliability and only produce electricity when the wind is blowing. When there is too much wind, they produce too much electricity instead, which is also a problem, and wind operators are then offered tax money to switch off turbines. Storing wind-generated electricity is not possible today nor in the foreseeable future.
Now the list of poisoning of flora and fauna is expanding
The new study adds new disadvantages to the list. They are also of an uncomfortable nature, as they involve the pollution and poisoning of nature on land and in waterways, pollutants that can find their way into the food chains of animals and humans.
The findings are so serious and numerous that the researchers behind the study wonder why this has not been investigated before. The answer may lie in the fact that neither the wind power industry nor the various players in the green political movement have wanted to find out what the situation is.
The researchers have found that dangerous particles from wind turbine blades are probably an environmental problem that other researchers and authorities have chosen to underestimate. Helen Karlsson is an adjunct assistant professor of occupational and environmental medicine at Linköping University and one of the initiators of the study.
She says that she became interested in the issue of erosion from wind turbine blades when she realised that there were discrepancies between the wind power industry’s figures and other calculations. Initially, she and her colleagues did not believe that they would find as many rotor blade fragments as they did.