Resource Documents: U.S. (141 items)
Documents presented here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch. These resource documents are provided to assist anyone wishing to research the issue of industrial wind power and the impacts of its development. The information should be evaluated by each reader to come to their own conclusions about the many areas of debate.
KTYX Wind Farm Impacts
Author: National Weather ServiceNational Weather Service
There are 4 National Weather Service (NWS) offices that use the Fort Drum KTYX radar to accomplish their mission of protection of life and property in the nearby counties. These offices are: NWS Albany, NWS Buffalo, NWS Binghamton, NWS Burlington.
NWS Albany Impacts:
- The turbines can cause beam blockage and under-sampling of the radar echoes downstream (25-30 nautical miles) into northern Herkimer County.
- Precipitation underestimate is likely (warm and cool season) in lake effect and widespread precipitation events.
- Turbines can also cause partial beam blockage impacting dual polarization data, and display large amounts of erroneous data.
- Downstream turbine clutter can impact precipitation data by over/ underestimation, incorrect wind speed data, and false storm identification and tracking over Lewis County before moving into northern Herkimer County.
- In the winter, lake effect snow features could be masked or underestimated, negatively impacting warnings and advisories.
- During severe weather, erroneous data (especially wind velocities) can impact early detection and warnings of high winds, hail, and tornadoes.
NWS Buffalo Impacts:
- The height of existing turbine towers and turbines’ spinning blades are causing beam blockage and under-sampling of the radar echoes downstream for Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego counties.
- Resulting precipitation estimates in the vicinity of turbines are not useable, while precipitation estimates downstream have been degraded.
- Turbines are causing partial beam blockage impacting dual polarization products. This results in large amounts of erroneous data.
- Additional turbine installations will nearly surround the radar, further exacerbating these issues and will make radar interpretation and the detection of severe weather increasingly difficult.
- Wind turbine clutter has a negative impact on several radar capabilities:
- Precipitation estimation algorithms produce false estimates.
- Velocity products are often not useable near the turbines, particularly during severe weather.
- This can cause false and/or missed detection of tornadoes by radar algorithms and forecasters.
- Thunderstorm or winter storm characteristics will be further masked or misinterpreted, reducing warning effectiveness in the vicinity of and downrange of existing and future wind turbines.
- False signatures contaminating Doppler velocity data will further reduce forecasters’ situational awareness, especially during hazardous weather events.
- Potential radar relocation, particularly east or northeast from the current location will further reduce radar coverage south of Lake Ontario from Monroe, Wayne and Cayuga counties, with completely unseen lake effect events by radar. In any move, beam blockage will continue to be an issue near and over the Tug Hill Plateau.
NWS Binghamton Impacts:
- Thunderstorm or winter storm characteristics will be further masked or misinterpreted, reducing warning effectiveness in the vicinity of and downrange of existing and future wind turbines.
- False signatures contaminating Doppler velocity data will further reduce forecasters’ situational awareness, especially during hazardous weather events.
- The beam blockage will hamper our abilities to detect thunderstorm circulations in Oneida/Madison Counties and hence tornado warnings could be delayed. It is important that we have good radar coverage in Oneida/Madison Counties because there is a local maximum in tornadoes in these areas since the Mohawk Valley will often skew winds to the southeast leading to increased atmospheric rotation.
- The beam blockage could also significantly hamper our ability to forecast and detect lake effect snow. Oneida County (especially northern Oneida County) sees more than 200″ of snow per year on average and is one of the snowiest places east of the Rockies. The beam blockage could affect our ability to detect lake effect snow along the NY State Thruway between Syracuse and Utica of which is a major travel corridor. Our office provides almost daily briefings to the NYS Thruway Authority when a lake effect snow pattern is present. Significant beam blockage could erode our ability to time and track heavy lake effect snow bands that severely impact travel which would lead to less accurate decision support to the Thruway Authority.
- Oneida and Madison Counties have a history of severe local flash flooding and beam blockage will hamper our ability to accurately estimate rainfall in these counties which would negatively impact the timeliness of flash flood warnings.
NWS Burlington Impacts:
- Wind turbines close to the radar close to the radar cause some uncertainty/confusion about actual storm characteristics while monitoring storms that are moving north or northeast. This can delay warnings, resulting in a lower lead time prior to the storm reaching St. Lawrence or Franklin Counties.
- The wind turbines “look” like precipitation, even on a clear day. This can cause confusion to users of the data, including the media, pilots, and general public.
- If the radar is forced to be relocated because of wind turbines, concerns would be magnified. Any move to the east or south of the current location would result reduced radar coverage over St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties. This would mean poorer detection of lake effect snow and low level severe weather features, such as tornadoes, high winds, and hail.
Marginal Emissions Factors for Electricity Generation in the Midcontinent ISO
Author: Thind, Maninder; et al.
Abstract.
Environmental consequences of electricity generation are often determined using average emission factors. However, as different interventions are incrementally pursued in electricity systems, the resulting marginal change in emissions may differ from what one would predict based on system-average conditions. Here, we estimate average emission factors and marginal emission factors for CO₂, SO₂, and NOx from fossil and nonfossil generators in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region during years 2007–2016. We analyze multiple spatial scales (all MISO; each of the 11 MISO states; each utility; each generator) and use MISO data to characterize differences between the two emission factors (average; marginal). We also explore temporal trends in emissions factors by hour, day, month, and year, as well as the differences that arise from including only fossil generators versus total generation. We find, for example, that marginal emission factors are generally higher during late-night and early morning compared to afternoons. Overall, in MISO, average emission factors are generally higher than marginal estimates (typical difference: ∼20%). This means that the true environmental benefit of an energy efficiency program may be ∼20% smaller than anticipated if one were to use average emissions factors. Our analysis can usefully be extended to other regions to support effective near-term technical, policy and investment decisions based on marginal rather than only average emission factors.
Maninder P. S. Thind and Julian D. Marshall, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Elizabeth J. Wilson, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Inês L. Azevedo, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Environmental Science and Technology, 2017, 51 (24), pp 14445–14452
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b03047
Download original document: “Marginal Emissions Factors for Electricity Generation in the Midcontinent ISO”
Bulk Energy Storage Increases United States Electricity System Emissions
Author: Hittinger, Eric; and Azevedo, Inês
Abstract.
Bulk energy storage is generally considered an important contributor for the transition toward a more flexible and sustainable electricity system. Although economically valuable, storage is not fundamentally a “green” technology, leading to reductions in emissions. We model the economic and emissions effects of bulk energy storage providing an energy arbitrage service. We calculate the profits under two scenarios (perfect and imperfect information about future electricity prices), and estimate the effect of bulk storage on net emissions of CO₂, SO₂, and NOx for 20 eGRID subregions in the United States. We find that net system CO₂ emissions resulting from storage operation are nontrivial when compared to the emissions from electricity generation, ranging from 104 to 407 kg/MWh of delivered energy depending on location, storage operation mode, and assumptions regarding carbon intensity. Net NOx emissions range from −0.16 (i.e., producing net savings) to 0.49 kg/MWh, and are generally small when compared to average generation-related emissions. Net SO₂ emissions from storage operation range from −0.01 to 1.7 kg/MWh, depending on location and storage operation mode.
Eric S. Hittinger, Department of Public Policy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
Inês M. L. Azevedo, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Environmental Science and Technology, 2015, 49 (5), pp 3203–3210
DOI: 10.1021/es505027p
Download original document: “Bulk Energy Storage Increases United States Electricity System Emissions”
Impacts of Wind Turbines on Redheads in the Laguna Madre
Author: Lange, Corey; et al.
ABSTRACT:
Freshwater ponds adjacent to the Laguna Madre along the lower Texas coast provide an important and heavily used source of fresh water for the redhead (Aythya americana) throughout winter. A 267-turbine wind farm was constructed within the core wintering area of the redhead on a private ranch along the western coast of the Laguna Madre, in 2010. Our objective was to investigate the effects of this wind farm on the habitat and potential displacement of redheads and their use of coastal ponds along the lower Texas coast. We conducted weekly aerial surveys to monitor coastal pond use by wintering redheads from mid-October through mid-March during pre-construction (2000–2003) and post-construction (2012–2014) of the wind farm. Pond availability and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) within the wind farm were significantly correlated during pre-construction (n=16, R²=0.53, P=0.035) and post-construction (n=11, R²=0.64, P=0.003). However, the number of ponds available at each PDSI level within the wind farm decreased during post-construction (paired t=3.2, n=5, P=0.033). The average number of redheads detected per survey on coastal ponds within the wind farm decreased by 77% from pre-construction to post-construction. Redhead abundance on ponds across the entire Laguna Madre increased by an average of 3.26 times between pre-construction and post-construction, partly due to increases in the continental redhead population. It appears that the wind farm has altered the use of coastal ponds by redheads during winter. Future wind farm placement along the lower Texas coast should consider coastal pond distribution and the dynamics of redhead use between coastal ponds and foraging areas in the Laguna Madre.
Corey J. Lange, Bart M. Ballard, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University, Kingsville
Daniel P. Collins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Journal of Wildlife Management, Volume 82, Issue 3, April 2018, Pages 531-537
DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21415
Download original document: “Impacts of Wind Turbines on Redheads in the Laguna Madre”
