FAQs
Renewables: A Better Way Forward
Trusted source for fact-based information on renewable energy
People often have questions about the benefits and safety of wind development – and rightfully so. It’s good to get the facts when making important decisions. In this section, we have compiled a list of the most common questions and have provided responses based on facts, and links to relevant sources for additional information.
Is wind energy reliable?
Yes, grid operators already reliably integrate large amounts of renewable energy into our electricity grid. Wind changes tend to be gradual and predictable, making it easy to accommodate compared to sudden outages that can occur with other resources.
Generation + Transmission = Reliability. The electric grid operator (MISO) makes sure the demand for electricity is balanced with the most cost-effective supply resources at all times. The diversity of generation resources in the MISO footprint, combined with adequate transmission to deliver those resources and match consumer demand, help prevent rolling black-outs and outages due to extreme events like polar vortices. MISO’s strength is in its diversity - of both generation, and consumer demand across its broad regional footprint.
Several organizations are responsible for ensuring the delivery of electricity to consumers every minute of every day. Specifically, the Regional Transmission Organization (MISO), state utility commissions, utilities, and at the national level, the North American Electric Reliability Commission (NERC). Each organization has a specific role, yet they work together to ensure there is sufficient generation and sufficient transmission to deliver electricity to meet demand in the region.
Read more about reliability on our Blog:
Is wind energy affordable?
The availability of low-cost wind energy helps drive costs down.
The price consumers pay for wind power has dropped 66 percent in the last six years, with improved technology and U.S.-based manufacturing, making it competitive with other energy sources. Wind is uniquely able to offer fixed-priced contracts because renewable energy has no fuel cost and therefore no fuel price risk. Utilities and consumers like wind because it "acts as a hedge against future volatility of natural gas prices," much like a fixed-rate mortgage protects homeowners against interest fluctuations.
How do wind and solar projects benefit farmers and rural communities?
Wind and solar energy preserve the wide, open spaces of rural America, affords long-term protection to farmland and agriculture, and boosts the economy in small towns and rural communities.
JOBS
Once a turbine or solar panel gets the green light, this creates hundreds of new jobs across a multitude of industries to build it from the ground up. In the Midwest, one in five clean energy jobs (158,000) are located in rural areas. At the end of 2019, renewable energy projects directly employed over 800,000 Americans in construction and technician jobs, and 173,000 in factory, distribution and development jobs. When the project is complete, wind and solar projects become a new town employer, creating full-time jobs for technicians, site managers and office staff.
The Rocky Mountain Institute reports about 54 GW of wind and solar projects that are slated to come online in 2030 will employ 40,000 workers during the construction phase, and deliver $2.3 billion in annual wages, and $3.7 billion in annual wages for 38,000 workers in operations and maintenance (O&M) positions that support new and existing wind and solar capacity.
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
The U.S. wind industry has brought over $142 billion in capital investment to rural America in the last decade. In 2018, wind brought in $12 billion in new investment. Over $1 billion in state and local taxes and lease payments to private landowners that host projects on their property comes from wind. Approximately $289 million was paid in annual income to farmers and rural landowners, and there are more than 114,000 wind jobs across 50 states.
TAX REVENUE
Midwestern counties utilize wind and solar production tax revenue for improvements to infrastructure, and funding for projects that benefit the surrounding community – including lowering the county tax levy.
Around 750 GW of new wind and solar capacity is expected to deliver nearly $11 billion per year in direct benefits to rural communities. About 600 GW of new systems installed between 2020 and 2030 will generate $220 billion in benefits, which translates to $39 billion in state and local tax payments. About $2.7 billion of that revenue would pay local taxes alone.
LAND LEASE PAYMENTS
Farmers and other rural landowners hosting projects on their land receive an extra source of income through annual land lease payments. In 2019, landowners received $706 million in lease payments, and these numbers are increasing as more development is in the works. In the next 10 years, landowners across the nation are projected to see a total of $25 billion.
LOCAL ECONOMIC BOOST
Renewable energy development also attracts both temporary and permanent members of the community, which is great news for the local economy. Local businesses, such as hotels, gas stations and restaurants see extra cash flowing into their businesses from construction workers looking for accommodations and frequenting their establishments. Building and construction supply companies also benefit from this development. Full-time employees move into the community, eat at local restaurants, purchase real estate, shop at the grocery store and enroll their children in the public schools.
Visit our Blog for several articles on how renewable energy benefits rural America.
What happens at the end of a wind turbine's life cycle?
A wind turbine's lifespan is 20 - 30 years. Currently, between 85-90% of a turbine’s parts can be recycled or sold, including the foundation, tower, gear box, and generator.
At the end of their useful life, most turbine blades that have been removed from service go to landfills. Wind turbine blades are made of non-toxic fiberglass, which is completely safe for landfills. Although turbine blades are large, all turbine blade waste through 2050 represents approximately 0.05% of all the municipal solid waste going to landfills every year.
The wind industry does recognize the need for environmentally responsible turbine recycling and disposal.
In Europe, some blades are repurposed as sound barriers, thermal insulation, or even bridges.
“We can process 99.9% of a blade and handle about 6,000 to 7,000 blades a year per plant,” Chief Executive Officer Don Lilly, Global Fiberglass Solutions.
In the United States, the need for recycling processes is creating a business opportunity. Startups like Global Fiberglass Solutions are developing processes to break down wind turbines blades and transform them into other useful materials, such as railroad ties and panels.
Right now, there are two ways wind turbine blades can be recycled.
Mechanical Recycling
Mechanical Recycling entails cutting and dismantling blades on-site. The parts are shredded into raw fiberglass material that produces fine and course particulates that can be mixed with rock, plastic or other fillers. The mixture is then turned into thermoplastic fiberglass pellets or panels for use in various products. These pellets can also be used in injection molding and extrusion manufacturing processes, decking boards, warehouse pallets, parking bollards, manhole covers, building walkways and weather-resistant siding.
Thermal Recycling
Thermal Recycling is essentially crushing and burning blades. The composition portion is combustible when burned and can be used for electricity generation or industrial processes, such as cement production. In fact, thermal recycling saves concrete production 16 percent of its overall carbon dioxide emissions. The leftover glass and carbon fibers go through what is referred to as “co-processing.” This is where fibers are mixed with fillers and reused in concrete, paint and glue.
For more information, check out our blog and fact sheet on this topic.
Articles
Do wind farms hurt property values?
No. Long-term, comprehensive studies have shown that wind power does not affect property values. Rather, it is a driver for economic development in the host communities and supports local municipal services that benefit all property owners.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory collected data from more than 50,000 home sales from 27 counties in nine states. "Across all model specifications, we find no statistical evidence that home prices near wind turbines were affected in either the post-construction or post announcement/preconstruction periods." LBNL, A Spatial Hedonic Analysis of the Effects of Wind Energy Facilities on Surrounding Property Values in the United States.
A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article (Oct. 2016) reported that investments in wind power have actually helped increase assessed land values in some of the poorest areas of rural America.
A recent study in Kansas examined the impact on property values near commercial wind farms and found no statistically significant changes in aggregate rural home values in a county within three years of wind development.
In addition, the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit has benefitted many communities by keeping property taxes lower and offering another source of income for counties and townships.
What are some common wind energy myths?
Click here to visit AWEA's The Truth about Wind Power.
A list of common wind energy myths can also be found here.
How do I know if a resource is credible?
That's a great question. Lots of great information is available today, right at our fingertips. But it's important to make sure you're getting good, credible information and can discern what's good, and what isn't.
When searching on the Internet, look for sources that are reliable, accurate and trustworthy.
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The author should have a position of authority, experience or credentials in the field
- Credible research, reports, or studies should include citations to other resources
- Citations and other information should be drawn from such sources as well-known non-profit organizations, respected universities, or government agencies
Whenever possible, seek out studies or papers that are peer reviewed. The peer review process is a form of scientific quality control.
- Scientists subject their research to the scrutiny of other experts in the field (peers)
- Two or more independent experts in the same or similar field consider the scientific method, results and conclusions
- Reviewers are usually anonymous, are not paid for their review, and must not have any conflicts of interest in relation to the research.
Be wary of anonymous websites, unless they are associated with known organizations.
Click here and here for more information on finding credible resources.
Are wind farms safe for my health?
Yes. Independent peer-reviewed studies conducted around the world, including the U.S., have consistently found no evidence that wind farms cause any negative physical health effects.
An important notation about peer reviews, and why they’re important. The peer review process is a form of scientific quality control.
- Scientists subject their research to the scrutiny of other experts in the field (peers)
- Two or more independent experts in the same or similar field consider the scientific method, results and conclusions.
- Reviewers are usually anonymous, are not paid for their review, and must not have any conflicts of interest in relation to the research.
"There is no authoritative evidence that sound from wind turbines represents a risk to human health among neighboring residents." - Wind Turbines and Health, Iowa Policy Project, 2019, including Peter S. Thorne (Professor and Head, Dept. of Occupational and Environmental Health Director, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa College of Public Health) and David Osterberg (Lead Researcher at the Iowa Policy Project and Professor Emeritus, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa).
"There is no direct evidence that wind turbines affect physical or mental health." - National Health and Medicine Research Council
"Components of wind turbine sound, including infrasound and low-frequency sound, have not been shown to present unique health risks to people living near wind turbines." - Wind Turbines and Health: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature, Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine.
"To date, no peer reviewed articles demonstrate a direct causal link between people living in proximity to modern wind turbines, the noise they emit and resulting physiological health effects." - Health Effects and Wind Turbines: A Review of the Literature
“It’s natural to look for causes, and something that seems to be new in the environment is a natural conclusion to draw. But so far the evidence doesn’t support a causal association.” - Sandra Sulsky, study co-author and an epidemiologist at Ramboll, an international engineering consultancy company. -- PBS.org Nova Next article, "Can wind turbines make you sick?"
In fact, wind energy means healthier communities. Wind helps reduce our over-reliance on burning coal. Pollution from burning coal causes asthma and lung and heart disease.
Click here for a complete list of studies on health effects.
Do wind turbines harm bird and bat populations?
USFWS: "Today, Americans can enjoy seeing more bald eagles than at any time in the past 50 years."*
It goes without saying that no human activity is completely devoid of potential impact on the environment. However, studies routinely show that wind energy has among the lowest impacts on wildlife and their habitats of any large-scale electricity generation activity. That’s why conservation groups like the National Wildlife Federation and the National Audubon Society support responsibly-sited wind farms.
Bird mortality has been shown to be very low compared to avian deaths caused by cats, cell phone towers, or high rise buildings -- which are magnitudes higher.
According to a 2007 National Academy of Sciences study, less than three in 100,000 of human-caused bird fatalities are attributed to wind energy.
The wind industry takes the issue of bird and bat mortality very seriously. Wind developers proactively work with regulators and environmental groups to strengthen conservation programs. The industry is actively engaged in groundbreaking research to reduce bird and bat collisions at wind farms. The Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC) was formed in 2003 by Bat Conservation International, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Wind Energy Association, and the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to research bat losses and investigating several promising techniques to reduce them, such as acoustic deterrents and potential mitigation through changes in operations.
The American Wind Wildlife Institute is a partnership of many of the nation's largest wind energy and utility companies and science-based conservation and environmental groups that focuses on strategies for responsible wind development while protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat.
What about the US Fish and Wildlife Service Eagle Permit Rule released in December 2016?
The USFWS says it expects to issue only a handful of permits every year as turbines at 90 percent of wind farms are never struck by any kind of eagle. Bald eagles in particular almost never strike a wind turbine.
- The USFWS eagle permit program encourages conservation of eagles, and addresses ALL human causes of eagle loss. To get a permit, the applicant "agrees to specific measures to first reduce take to the greatest extent possible." The rule also stipulates that, "the permittee also must agree to assume additional responsibility for monitoring eagle loss at its facilities, which is critical to developing a better understanding of ways impacts to eagles can be reduced in the future."
- This permit program was NOT designed exclusively for wind energy. In fact, industries also eligible for permits include: oil and gas development operations, farming and ranching, mining, utilities, transportation, and others.
- Since 2009, over 400 permits have been issued so far under this program. Three permits (less than one percent) have been issued to wind companies.
- Eagle populations have never been, and are not now, at risk from wind power.
As USFWS Director Dan Ashe has explained,
The truth is, thousands of eagles die every year for a variety of reasons — most from natural causes. The vast majority of human-caused deaths result from intentional poisoning and shooting — federal crimes that we aggressively investigate and prosecute. Most other eagle deaths are caused by collisions — with cars, buildings, power lines and other structures. Wind energy facilities represent a fraction of these deaths, and the media’s singular focus on wind turbines is a gross distortion of the truth.
- Only
a handful of bald eagles have ever struck a turbine in the 40-year history of
the U.S. wind industry.
- Impacts on golden eagles (a very different species of bird) are also minimal
as wind causes less than three percent of human-related golden eagle impacts.
- Upgrades to outdated equipment with modern turbines have already reduced
golden eagle impacts by 80 percent.
- Threats to eagles from pesticides, lead poisoning, shooting, electrocution, cars, and buildings present a far greater risk.
- Wind energy has the lowest impacts on birds, wildlife and their habitats of any large-scale way to generate electricity.
For more information on the myths vs reality related to birds and the USFWS rule, click here and here.
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