Wind power is a power generation method that has been used for hundreds of years.
And has brought many conveniences to our lives.
However, some people believe that wind power has various dangers, and even formed an organization to oppose it.
They protested in various forms such as marches and speeches.
Since such protests began, countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia have dismantled many wind turbine equipment.
Is wind power really harmful?
Status quo:
At present, wind power generation is popular in many countries, especially countries such as Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, which mainly rely on wind turbine generation.
Wind power has two special circumstances compared with hydropower and coal power.
On the one hand, wind energy is not stable enough.
Because the amount and duration of power generation depend entirely on the weather, and humans cannot interfere at all, it is very unfriendly to high-voltage power grids.
Furthermore, wind energy production times are opposite to people’s electricity demands.
It is generally at night that wind power is most efficient. When work and life require a lot of power during the day, there is no reliable and sufficient supply.
But:
Wind generation has another obvious advantage: it can be built on any scale and is very flexible.
The size of the wind power plant will not be affected by geographical location and it will not be possible to install it.
Wind generation devices are separate units, so more can be installed if the area is vast, or fewer can be installed if the area is small.
Moreover, wind energy resources, as a type of clean energy, were widely used by countries around the world more than a century ago.
For wind power, the requirements are lower than for nuclear power, coal power, or hydropower.
Unlike nuclear power, which must have extremely high safety precautions and construction requirements, and unlike coal power, it is best built in areas close to coal resources to reduce costs.
Unlike hydropower, it must be built in places with abundant water resources.
It can be said that wherever there is wind, whether it is plains, the Gobi, or even the sea, windmill generation devices can continuously generate electricity.
How can wind power be so resistant if it can bring benefits? Do you think it is garbage electricity?
Dangers of wind power generation:
Organizations that oppose windmills claim that when wind energy is generated, the rotating fan blades are like giant scythes rotating at high speed, directly killing various birds passing by.
The London School of Economics in the United Kingdom has studied this issue in depth. In 2014, they observed and analyzed the impact of wind turbines on birds.
Statistics show that approximately 100,000 birds are injured or killed by wind power equipment in the UK every year.
NBC also released data in 2018, which showed that 8% of the electricity in the United States comes from about 50,000 wind turbines across the country.
The number of birds injured by wind energy equipment is even higher every year, ranging from 140,000 to 328,000.
Why do so many birds die from wind turbines? There are three main reasons.
1-The height of the wind turbine generation equipment coincides with the area of the bird’s flight space, so the bird’s flight space is occupied.
2-Wind power equipment generally covers a large area, and the speed of power generation is very fast, making it difficult for birds to avoid. Once touched, there is a risk of death.
3-Wind power generation equipment generally operates in the early morning, at dusk, or night when the light is poor.
Birds may accidentally hit the fan due to the light and the fan blades rotating too fast, resulting in casualties.
Besides dismantling wind power equipment, is there any way to prevent this from happening?
Cornell University in the United States has put forward a suggestion: weather radar can be used to monitor the migration routes of birds.
And effectively protect the wind power generation areas where birds fly to prevent birds from being accidentally injured by these devices.
Or, click here to learn more about protective measures.
In addition, those who protest against the use of wind power also say that wind power is not an inexhaustible resource.
And its large consumption is detrimental to the long-term development of the earth.
It is also said that wind power generation will lead to an increase in the greenhouse effect and the use of wind power generation must be restricted.
But is it really what they say?
Hidden truth:
It is undeniable that wind power generation will cause some negative impacts, but overall, wind generation, as the most convenient and clean energy source at the moment, always has more advantages than disadvantages.
Those who oppose wind power make a big fuss about the data that 140,000 to 328,000 birds are injured by wind power equipment in the United States every year but deliberately ignore the data on other ways of bird death.
For example, according to data provided by the Cornell University Ornithological Laboratory, about 600 million birds die every year in the United States as a result of crashing into high-rise buildings.
Why these people don’t boycott high-rise buildings and limit the height of buildings?
Data shows that there are currently about 10 billion kilowatts of wind resources on Earth that can be converted into electrical energy.
Even the total amount of hydroelectric power used globally is only one-tenth that of wind power.
It is understood that coal power generation in the world is only one-third of wind power generation.
It is even more nonsense that wind power will aggravate the greenhouse effect.
In a country of 1.4 billion people, coal accounted for 81% of power generation in 2017.
The process of coal power generation will produce a large amount of toxic and harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
The impact of this power generation method on the greenhouse effect is much greater than that of wind power generation.
With the vigorous promotion of wind power generation, the proportion of wind power in total electricity production has increased, which has effectively prevented the worsening of the greenhouse effect.
The use of wind energy has a long history all over the world.
History of wind power:
Before BC, ancient Egypt, ancient China, and ancient Babylon had already used wind energy to transport water resources, irrigate farmland, and sail long distances.
By the 11th century, windmills were widely used in most countries in the Middle East.
Around the 13th century, windmills were introduced to Europe and quickly became popular in every household over the next 100 years.
At that time, in addition to using windmills to draw water from low-lying areas, the Netherlands also used windmills to press oil and saw wood.
Denmark is a pioneer in wind power, producing around 50% of the world’s wind turbines.
In 1987, Danish meteorologists invented an experimental wind turbine and established the Wind Power Workers Association in 1905.
As early as 1918, Denmark already had wind turbines in more than 120 areas.
The power of these wind turbines was only 20 to 35 kilowatts. These generators provide 3% of Denmark’s annual electricity consumption.
In 1981, a 55-kilowatt high-power wind turbine was developed in Denmark.
This wind turbine caused quite a sensation as soon as it came out, because it broke through the bottleneck of wind power generation technology at the time, and this technology made every degree
The cost of producing electricity has been reduced by half.
In the 1980s, Germany also began to use wind power on a large scale.
In 1974, the United States took the lead in implementing the federal wind energy plan and building wind power plants on a large scale.
Four years later, Denmark built the Jutland Wind Power Station. In 1991, Japan’s largest wind power station came into operation.
Summarize
So, what’s the truth behind the strong resistance to wind power?
Coal and oil resources on earth are non-renewable resources, which are indispensable and important energy sources for national development.
Once these resources are monopolized or prices are raised to disrupt the market, it will cause serious damage to many countries.
In comparison, wind resources are clean, environmentally friendly, and renewable resources.
The vigorous development of wind power generation construction is not only because it can solve certain electricity needs for us.
It is also because of its environmental and strategic significance for national energy security.
