Unveiling the true environmental cost. Why complete carbon reporting data is vital for decision-making.
In the past week or so, I’ve seen a video explaining the inputs in the construction of wind turbines; steel, concrete, carbon, epoxy and so on. I’ve seen another video showing examples of how things go wrong with blades falling off, the rotor motor blowing up, a turbine falling over and more. And another referred to the area required for wind turbines being so much more than other energy generation sources.
The debate is raging and getting louder.
The problem is that there is no right or wrong answer, just decisions to consider to determine the correct priorities.
Wind farms require large areas of land, potentially reducing the land area used for food production.
Whilst wind farms are considered not to produce harmful greenhouse gases, that may be true in their energy generation, but that’s not the full picture. Greenhouse gases are produced in the construction of the actual structures, the fuel consumption to deliver them from the place of manufacture to the land on which they are erected, not to mention the impact on the ecology of the land around them.
What are the effects of wind farms on the local bird species, bird migration, and animals who live in the area which may be impacted by the continual noise? These impacts cannot be measured in terms of greenhouse gases. It is impossible to put a dollar value on this either without it being an arbitrary calculation.
But it’s not just the cost to the environment of building and operating wind farms it is also what happens to the structures when they break down or are no longer in use. Let’s be realistic here they aren’t going to last forever. What happens to all that steel and concrete and the carbon blades? They aren’t biodegradable. They aren’t reusable. They’re only good for landfills and they’re not small.
So what do we prioritise:
Food vs wind energy generation?
The ecological cost to our birds and animals vs wind energy generation?
End of life impact vs wind energy generation?
The one lesson that is key is everything is inter-related. You cannot use land that was once farmland and convert it into wind farms and expect the same quantity of food production. You cannot eliminate a bird species from an area without impacting the number of insects and bugs. Every type of ecological area is unique and carefully balanced. Make one change and it tips that balance and changes the dynamics completely.
It's all about choices. But how can we make choices if we don't have the information to make informed decisions?
Carbon reporting, and that means full carbon reporting, is essential.
We are proud to advise that this article was written by the team and not produced by AI.