Good points, carbonates. Wind power has very low power density which must be compensated for with high resource intensity, with land being one of those resources. Landowners are increasingly rejecting wind and solar projects which has pushed more projects offshore, creating more problems such as whale deaths. This madness needs to stop but there is so much money being thrown at wind and solar, such as in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, that these problems will get worse.
How is it not obvious that wind speed is reduced by wind farms? So the more we build, the more the wind farms downwind will be affected. Not to mention the microclimate changes that will take place downwind from large wind farms. Zhou, et al, 2012 estimated 0.72 C warming over a decade in downwind environments near wind farms. That will affect crops, and even marine environments in those settings. So I guess if wind might save us from carbon dioxide, wind will also deliver us a different threat of warming caused by interference in natural atmospheric circulation. Seems dumm.
Good points, carbonates. Wind power has very low power density which must be compensated for with high resource intensity, with land being one of those resources. Landowners are increasingly rejecting wind and solar projects which has pushed more projects offshore, creating more problems such as whale deaths. This madness needs to stop but there is so much money being thrown at wind and solar, such as in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, that these problems will get worse.
Thanks for the comment, Bobby. Reality will eventually prevail, but a lot of resources will be wasted before that happens.
How is it not obvious that wind speed is reduced by wind farms? So the more we build, the more the wind farms downwind will be affected. Not to mention the microclimate changes that will take place downwind from large wind farms. Zhou, et al, 2012 estimated 0.72 C warming over a decade in downwind environments near wind farms. That will affect crops, and even marine environments in those settings. So I guess if wind might save us from carbon dioxide, wind will also deliver us a different threat of warming caused by interference in natural atmospheric circulation. Seems dumm.