Martin Wahl
In the June issue we explored the section of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (April report) “Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles” that dealt with solar energy. Here we are going to look at fake news claims and rebuttals regarding wind energy.
Why this is important
As noted before, disinformation and falsehoods have affected public opinion negatively on a variety of topics, from health issues to climate change, and this is reflected in the decline of support for wind and solar energy specifically, as well as skepticism about the benefits of electric vehicles.
Helping Americans identify reliable, correct information for supporting policy as well as personal decision making is important to ensure a thriving democracy.
So, what did they find out about wind energy myths?
The article identifies 15 myths concerning wind energy that deserve debunking. Here are a few of the key ones:
- Wind energy turbine electromagnetic fields (EMF) are harmful to human health. The study points out that EMF strength decreases significantly with distance from its source, and the average wind turbine is over 250 feet, way beyond the four meter distance that renders the turbines EMF to less than that from an electric can opener at four feet.
- Wind turbines frequently fall over and blades or other components easily break off, threatening human health and safety. While in the early days of wind turbine installation there were some failures, they are rare today. Compared to other sources of electricity generation, wind turbines (and other non-fossil fuel sources) are among the least harmful. See the chart from Our World in Data, below. Citation Source: Hannah Ritchie, Our World in Data.
- Low-frequency noise from wind turbines harms human health and causes “wind turbine syndrome.” Searching for “wind turbine syndrome” on the internet yields a very thorough debunking of the claims:
- A panel of experts disagreed with the premise of the publication
- The sample size is too small (38 observations in five counties)
- The author, a medical doctor, did not see the subjects, only interviewed them by phone.
- The work was not properly peer-reviewed, and one of the reviewers cited has been silent on the subject since then.
- There were no complaints about the turbines registered from anyone else
- Tellingly, the complaint with documented cost validity is the minor depreciation of values for neighboring properties, the chief issue being the view of the turbines themselves. Bear in mind, however, that property owners leasing land to wind turbine developers can reap considerable financial rewards, during pre-construction and construction phases, as well as during operation. Expect $5,000 to $8,000 annually per megawatt generated. Perhaps some compensation to neighbors could be arranged?
- Wind turbines are a major threat to birds, bats, and other wildlife.
- Itis true: birds die colliding with wind turbines – about 230,000 annually in the U.S. For some perspective, consider that domestic cats, mostly feral, kill about 2 billion per year.
- Collisions with buildings claim another half billion birds annually.
- In any event, wind turbine manufacturers are developing and implementing technology to reduce bird strikes in a variety of ways involving bird (and bat) detection and turbine blade control.
- Offshore wind development is harmful to whales and other marine life.
- No whale deaths are documented to have been caused by offshore wind turbine development or operation.
- Most human-caused whale deaths are due to ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.
- Oil spills have been major marine life killers.
- Wind-sourced energy is unreliable
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- The same issue arises with solar power: until grid-level storage is widely available, this will be the only significant factual issue continuing the life of fossil or nuclear fuel-sourced power generation. It makes no economic sense, ignoring environmental issues, to pay for fuel when wind and solar energy are free.
- Meanwhile, system-level management improvements making the integration of wind and solar sources with the grid are available to minimize greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining power levels to meet demand.
Some other wind turbine myths “busted” in the article are listed below and you can look up responses to these other solar myths at https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/rebutting-33-false-claims-about-solar-wind-and-electric-vehicles:
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- Shadow flicker from wind turbines can trigger seizures in people with epilepsy
- Producing and transporting wind turbine components releases more carbon dioxide than burning fossil fuels
- Wind turbines take up too much land
- Wind power, particularly offshore wind power, is too expensive
- Producing and transporting wind turbine components releases more carbon dioxide than burning fossil fuels.
- Wind turbines will generate an unsustainable amount of waste
- Wind turbines are bad for farmers and rural communities
- Wind energy is bad for U.S. jobs
- Wind turbines are very noisy
Be sure to check out the earlier G.E.T. article on solar myth busting for ways to identify fake news and check for truthfulness and authenticity.
After a career in data product management, Martin Wahl has worked in biofuels since 2006, currently with Lee Enterprises Consulting, a large bio-economy consulting group. Dividing his time between California and New Hampshire, he serves on Corte Madera, California’s Climate Action Committee and is a Newfound Lake Region Association member.
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