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Resource Documents: Technology (179 items)
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Unless indicated otherwise, documents presented here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch. These resource documents are shared here 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. • The copyrights reside with the sources indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations.
Performance of Wind Farms in the United Kingdom and Denmark
Author: Hughes, Gordon
Executive Summary 1. Onshore wind turbines represent a relatively mature technology, which ought to have achieved a satisfactory level of reliability in operation as plants age. Unfortunately, detailed analysis of the relationship between age and performance gives a rather different picture for both the United Kingdom and Denmark with a significant decline in the average load factor of onshore wind farms adjusted for wind availability as they get older. An even more dramatic decline is observed for offshore wind farms . . .
More »Wind Dreams: Why wind power will always be niche
Author: Pielke, Roger
The optimal amount of practical wind power in the global energy mix is greater than zero. It is also much less than 100%. Today I argue why the proportion of wind power in the global electricity generation mix is always going to be closer to zero than to 100%. That doesn’t mean that wind power is not of value or useful, but it does mean that wind power is not going to drive a global energy transformation, or even be . . .
More »High Cost of 100 Percent Carbon-Free Electricity by 2040
Author: Orr, Isaac; Rolling, Mitch; and Phelan, John
Governor Walz’s proposal would cost Minnesota $313 billion through 2050 and lead to blackouts. Executive Summary Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s proposal for a 100 percent carbon-free electric grid by 2040 will cost Minnesota families and businesses an additional $313.2 billion (in constant 2022 dollars) through 2050, compared to operating the current electric grid. Minnesota electricity customers will see their electricity expenses increase by an average of nearly $3,888 per year, every year, through 2050. According to the economic modeling software . . .
More »How offshore wind drives up global carbon emissions
Author: Wojick, David; and Driessen, Paul
Executive Summary Offshore wind facilities are enormously expensive and environmentally destructive. The primary purported justification for constructing them is to reduce “carbon” (carbon dioxide or CO₂) emissions and save the planet from “catastrophic climate change.” However, this justification is not just built on a false premise, but adding offshore wind to a state’s energy mix will most likely also increase global CO₂ emissions. That means the net emission benefits are hugely negative, as are other net environmental and economic effects. . . .
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