reduce emissions

The carbon cost of wind farms

July 31, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Opponents of electric vehicles and renewable energy often try to make arguments to the effect that the carbon footprint associated with producing electric cars, solar panels, and wind turbines negates their advantages over legacy technologies that involve burning fossil fuels. These arguments have been soundly refuted for the case of electric vehicles but there have been fewer studies related to other green technologies.

A new peer-reviewed study by engineers at the Te Herenga Waka Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, has analyzed the carbon emissions associated with wind farm operation.

The main result is that after operating for less than two years, a wind farm can offset the carbon emissions generated across its entire 30-year lifespan. The study takes into account everything from the manufacturing of individual turbine parts, to transporting them and installing them into place, to decommissioning the entire wind farm at its life’s end. The environmental impacts of the installation and transportation phases are important, accounting for about 10% of the overall emissions.

The decommissioning phase is also important. The study recommended the development of a recycling process for end-of-life turbine blades. Currently, such blades are disposed of in landfills, but a recycling process could reduce emissions.

The manufacturing of wind turbines is the primary contributor to the carbon and energy consumption footprints and continues to be the subject of efforts to be improved.

There are other aspects of wind farms that are subject to criticism including physical impacts on the local environment and various social, wildlife and economic impacts. But with respect to carbon emissions, wind farms are a winning strategy.

**********

Web Links

Wind Farms can Offset Their Emissions Within Two Years, New Study Shows

Photo, posted April 2, 2017, courtesy of Ian Dick via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Planting Trees and Climate Change | Earth Wise

June 1, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Forests are among the most important natural carbon sinks. Trees remove carbon from the air and store it in their trunks, branches, and leaves, and transfer part of it into the soil. But in some regions, these natural carbon sinks are starting to weaken due to deforestation, forest degradation, and the impacts of climate change. This problem has led some climate mitigation projects to focus on increasing the overall number of trees on the planet.

But, according to a paper recently published in the journal Science, “we can’t plant our way out of climate change.” That’s the simple message from Restoration Ecologist Karen Holl and University of São Paulo Professor Pedro Brancalion to anyone who thinks planting one trillion trees will reverse the effects of climate change. They say planting more trees is only one piece of the puzzle. Any initiatives like 1t.org or the Trillion Tree Campaign must be done carefully and be accompanied by commitments to long-term management.

Tree plantings can provide many environmental benefits, including improving water quality, biodiversity, and increasing shade. But trees can sometimes have undesirable impacts, such as harming native species and ecosystems or reducing water availability, depending on where and how the trees are planted.

The authors suggest four principles that should guide forest enhancement initiatives: reduce forest clearing and degradation, balance ecological and social goals, view tree plantings as one part of a multifaceted solution, and plan, coordinate and monitor the work.

While tree plantings can clearly be part of the solution, slowing the pace of climate change requires a comprehensive approach that must start with burning less fossil fuels.

**********