Environmental impact of wind power | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 15/05/2019

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_wind_power


00:03:33 1 Basic operational considerations
00:03:44 1.1 Net energy gain
00:05:06 1.2 Pollution &amp; effects on the grid
00:05:08 1.2.1 Pollution costs
00:07:19 1.2.2 Findings when connected to the grid
00:12:56 1.3 Rare-earth use
00:13:57 2 Ecology
00:14:06 2.1 Land use
00:18:54 2.1.1 Livestock
00:19:59 2.2 Impact on wildlife
00:21:41 2.2.1 Birds
00:35:21 2.2.2 Bats
00:36:44 2.3 Weather and climate change
00:39:26 3 Impacts on people
00:39:35 3.1 Aesthetics
00:43:31 3.2 Wind turbine syndrome
00:44:00 3.3 Safety
00:45:35 4 Offshore
00:48:56 5 See also



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SUMMARY
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The environmental impact of wind power when compared to the environmental impacts of fossil fuels, is relatively minor. Compared with other low carbon power sources, wind turbines have some of the lowest global warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated. According to the IPCC, in assessments of the life-cycle global warming potential of energy sources, wind turbines have a median value of between 15 and 11 (gCO2eq/kWh) depending on whether off- or onshore turbines are being assessed.In addition to climate change threats, the IPBES continues to warn of the accelerating extinction of species.   Wind turbines, like many other human activities and artificial structures, contribute significant numbers of added bat and avian deaths.  A summary of the existing field studies as compiled in 2010 from the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative identified fewer than 14 and typically less the 4 bird deaths  per installed megawatt per year, but a wider variation in the number of bat fatalities.  Like other investigations, it concluded that some species (e.g. migrating bats and songbirds) are known to be impacted more than others and that factors such as turbine siting can be important, however many details as well as the overall extent of the potential impact from the growing number of turbines remain unclear.   The National Renewable Energy Laboratory maintains a database of the scientific literature on the subject,  including several thousand papers relating to the impacts of wind power on wildlife. While wind turbine installations may cover a large area, they are compatible with many land uses such as farming and grazing, as only small areas of turbine foundations and infrastructure are made unavailable for use.Wind turbines generate some noise. At a residential distance of 300 metres (980 ft) this may be around 45 dB, which is slightly louder than a refrigerator. At 1.5 km (1 mi) distance most wind turbines become inaudible. From a fundamental biological point of view, it is known that loud noise increases stress and stress causes diseases. Wind turbines do not affect human health from noise when properly placed. However, when improperly sited, data from the monitoring of two groups of growing geese revealed substantially lower body weights and higher concentrations of a stress hormone in the blood of the first group of geese who were situated 50 meters away compared to a second group which was at a distance of 500 meters from the turbine.Aesthetic aspects of wind turbines and resulting changes of the visual landscape can be significant. Conflicts arise especially in scenic and heritage protected landscapes. Siting restrictions (such as setbacks) have often been implemented to limit any intrusive environmental impacts.