Common Concerns about Wind Energy- The Full Story
Wind farms are a well-established and well-known energy source. Installing wind turbines benefits landowners and local communities while providing a renewable energy resource for all. RES works with landowners, farmers and local communities to develop projects of outstanding quality. We have over 40 years of experience in developing renewable energy projects and have installed nearly 10,000 MW of renewable wind energy in North America. That's enough energy to power approximately 3.5 million homes!
Property Values
Property values are incredibly important to landowners. The threat of plummeting property values due to wind turbines is a very scary one, but it is unfounded. Studies show that wind turbines projects have no long-term negative affect on property values. [1] In one study[2], there was a temporary drop in property values in “urban” areas (populations greater or equal to 250,000) during the time from project announcement until the project is in operation. Most wind projects are built in rural areas and there was no statistical evidence of adverse effects on property values in these areas.
Tax abatements and tax credits
Many in the community in Hopkins County have made it clear they do not want renewable energy projects to receive tax abatements from the county. Tax abatements are agreements between companies and county officials to reduce the initial tax burden on new projects and they typically last around 10 years. They act as helpful cost reductions to projects while counties still receive a very substantial amount of added property tax revenue over the life of the project. It is important to note- these tax abatements do not mean that Hopkins County residents will foot the bill for the discounted tax. These property taxes are only assessed because the wind power facilities exist.
For example, a tax abatement structure could reduce property taxes paid by the project by 60% in years 1-5, then by 40% for years 6-10. The abatement would end at year 11 and property taxes paid during the first 10 year could still be upwards of $10 million. Over the course of a project’s life, the taxes paid to the county and local ISDs could be in the tens of millions of dollars, providing a major benefit for county governments that will be invested into the community.
Noise and “Wind Turbine Syndrome”
Health impacts due to noise and “Wind Turbine Syndrome” are common concerns with wind energy projects. Neighbors worry that turbines are so loud that quality of life will be significantly impacted.
The facts are that low frequency noise (sometimes called ‘infrasound) from wind turbines at residential distances is orders of magnitude below unhealthy levels. From a 2015 study on the topic, Health-based Audible Noise Guidelines Account for Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise Produced by Wind Turbines by Berger et al.[3]: “Over-all, the available data from this and other studies suggest that health-based audible noise wind turbine siting guidelines provide an effective means to evaluate, monitor, and protect potential receptors from audible noise as well as Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise.”.
For context, ocean waves are a common source of infrasound[4] and there is even an Infrasound Music Festival held in Minnesota[5]. It is commonly defined as sound below 20 hz, which is the lower limit of human hearing, and is the alleged primary contributor to “Wind Turbine Syndrome”. There is no scientific evidence that wind turbines cause sickness. Correlation is not causation.
When designing the project, we ensure landowners are protected with safe and healthy “setbacks”- the distances required from turbines to residential buildings and other infrastructure. The noise produced by wind turbines at a 300 meter distance (~984 ft) records between 35-45 decibels outside. For context, a typical air conditioning system has the same decibel range inside your house. Turbines are cited near residential buildings in a range of 500-800 meters (~1640-2624 ft). At this range, background noise (ranging from 30-45 decibels) can drown out most of the sound of a turbine.
Land
Many folks believe wind projects make your farmland unusable and will take the land from you. Wind projects do not make farmland unusable. On the contrary, farm operations can coexist with wind turbine sites. The average wind farm leaves 98% of the land undisturbed[6], leaving it free for other uses like farming and ranching. Cattle can graze and hay can be grown and cut up to the base of the gravel ring that surrounds the turbines. Once restored, turbines sites typically only take up about an acre of land and payments for crop losses during construction are written into the lease.
Further, wind energy projects can help keep farmers farming! The substantial, passive income that is produced from a minimum amount of land can supplement a farming operation and create a more resilient business model to ensure farmers can continue to do what they love and what the community needs. These funds can help protect farms from fluctuations in commodity prices or poor crop yields during drought years.
Wind project owners almost exclusively lease land and do not have an interest in owning land. There is one, uncommon exception: If a landowner has a transmission line running through their property, the project may negotiate an “option to purchase” for the 10-15 acres where a substation may be built. This is because the local utility will want to own the substation where they are pulling power from the project. This is an option granted by the landowner when signing a lease, not something that is forced upon the landowner.
Farm animal health
There are many in the community that have major fears regarding how wind turbines affect animal health. Over the past 20 years there have been approximately 70,000 wind turbines installed in North America, most of these turbines are located on agricultural lands near bovine grazing lands. During this time, there has been no conclusive evidence presented in peer-reviewed studies that wind turbines adversely impact animal health.
Still, there are claims that wind turbines can cause deformities or fertility problems in farm animals. The study often cited to back this claim is not peer-reviewed nor did it find any evidence to support the hypothesis. This study was submitted by a veterinarian student as part of a Dissertation in Veterinary Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Lisbon, Portugal in 2012.
From the study: “In the present study no reliably scientific data were found about the natural frequencies of the cells of horses that could safely infer about the effect of noise in the immediate vicinity of the stud with the cellular changes of these animals.”
Shadow Flicker
Shadow flicker occurs when the sun is low on the horizon shining through the rotating blades of a wind turbine, casting a moving shadow. Some folks might be worried that there will be shadows sweeping across their house all day, destroying their quality of life. Due to cloud cover and other obstacles, this typically only occurs a few hours a year at any given home. To experience shadow flicker, wind must be blowing in a specific direction for the turbine blades to be moving and facing a home (the blades rotate to follow the wind), the sun needs to be very low and oriented to cast a shadow, and the weather needs to be extremely clear.
Working with the wind farm operator, the effect can often be addressed through use of proven mitigation techniques. Prior to construction, wind developers will model the shadows from moving blades based on the sun's angle, turbine location, and distance to homes. Because of this sophisticated modeling, shadows are predictable and turbines can be sited to minimize flicker.
Environmentally friendly
There are concerns regarding the environmental friendliness of wind energy, especially in regard to what happens when they reach the end of their life. Currently, wind turbines are 85-90% recyclable with the blade posing the biggest challenge. However, innovations are happening all the time. Fiberglass is now being used as a key component in some concrete production and some companies are reusing components of old turbine blades to make new ones. All this said, it is important to keep our waste streams in perspective. For example, 10 times as many plastic plates and cups enter the landfill annually compared to turbine blades.
Wind energy projects absolutely involve other energy sources in their construction, fossil fuels included. However, once in operation, “a typical wind turbine will repay its carbon footprint in less than six months[7], and it will generate emission-free electricity for the remainder of its 20 to 30 year lifespan.”[8]
Birds
Wind turbines can contribute to the deaths of birds that live near or are travelling through the project area. However, projects take this risk seriously and complete due diligence in conjunction with local, state, and federal environmental organizations/ regulatory agencies to minimize the impact on wildlife. Unfortunately, our furry friend, the cat, is far more lethal to birds (yes, cats)[9]. Outdoor (mostly un-owned) cats cause about 1 in every 1.4 bird deaths annually while collisions with wind turbines cause 1 in every 14,000 bird deaths. Overall, wind energy production causes less than 0.01% of all bird deaths attributed to human activity.[10]
Wind Supply
We hear from some in the community that wind energy just won’t work here; that there’s not enough wind. Preliminary data shows us that wind energy will work in Washington County. While the area might not have the heaviest, sustained winds, the turbines will be harvesting wind very high off the ground, where the wind blows a lot stronger. All this said, we must prove the wind speeds are viable with hard data over the course of 2 years for the project to move forward. If the current data does not match previously recorded wind speeds, we will reassess the viability of the project.
Fire Hazards
Wind turbines are not major fire hazards. On rare occasions, wind turbines CAN catch fire. This typically happens due to a combination of lightning strikes and outdated turbine technology. In reality, turbines catch fire at a rate of around 1 in every 2000, which is relatively rare. Turbine technology is constantly innovating to create safer conditions, including the addition of fire suppression systems and the use of non-flammable hydraulic fluid. Additionally, turbines are setback from any structures by the equivalent of at least 1.1x of total height of the tower (including the blades). In the unlikely event that the turbine falls, this setback keeps structures and people safe.
Flashing Lights
Some worry that the red, flashing lights on turbines will keep them awake at night and ruin their sleep quality. Turbines are cited no closer to residential buildings than 500 m (~1,640 ft) and are equipped with medium intensity lights that are placed as high as possible on the tower (very similar to the red lights on communication towers). These factors greatly reduce impacts in the home. Additionally, not every tower will require lights and wind farms are increasingly being fitted with Aircraft Detection Lighting Systems (ADLS). ADLS are proximity sensor-based systems that will only trigger flashing lights when an aircraft is detected within a certain distance.
Eminent domain
Landowners sometimes fear wind projects could lead to eminent domain, but developers are private companies without that authority. Wind projects depend on voluntary leases, allowing landowners to retain ownership and control.
Profitability of wind projects/ subsidies
Every major energy source in the U.S.—from coal and natural gas to nuclear and wind—receives government subsidies. Wind energy in particular has attracted strong investor demand, reflecting confidence in its long-term profitability. Even if tax credits were phased out, all energy sources would compete on a level playing field, and wind would remain highly competitive. The strength of the market is also reflected in project pipelines; in 2022 alone, over 700 GW of wind capacity was waiting in the interconnection queue, showing the immense scale of industry growth.
If you have a concern that’s not listed, please contact us and we can discuss.
[1] https://cleanpower.org/wp-content/uploads/gateway/2023/12/ACP_Property-Values-Land-Based-Wind-Turbines_Fact-Sheet-Dec-2023.pdf
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523004226?via%3Dihub
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338604/
[4] https://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article/105/2_Supplement/1103/557119/Naturally-occurring-sources-of-infrasound
[5] https://www.infrasoundfestival.com/
[6] https://cleanpower.org/blog/fact-check-robert-bryce-continues-pushing-anti-wind-fallacies/#:~:text=Bryce%20claims%20generating%20a%20sizeable,base%20of%20a%20wind%20turbine.
[7] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616093317.htm , the International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing is a double-blind peer reviewed publication, which means studies are reviewed when neither authors nor reviewers know each other's name or affiliations.
[8] https://cleanpower.org/facts/wind-power/
[9] https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380
[10] https://visualizingenergy.org/is-wind-energy-a-major-threat-to-birds/#a122-ref