Wind power is a kind of renewable resource and will not be used up. In terms of the ecological environment, wind turbines will not emit any pollution to air and water resources, and even the emissions are extremely small, so basically there is no pollution. However, Is wind power harmless to the environment? Are there really no shortcomings at all? Today let’s take a look at the hazards that wind power may cause.

The places where wind power generators are installed are generally places with rich wind resources, such as mountains and Gobi deserts. Wind power construction may require deforestation and eradication of vegetation. The destruction of vegetation can easily lead to problems such as soil erosion. The ecological environment of these desert areas is more fragile and the damage to the local ecology is more obvious.

The blades of wind power generation will kill some birds. 

According to statistics, tens of millions of birds die every year in the world. Birds play an important role in controlling pests and ecological balance.

The working principle of wind turbines is to drive gears to rotate mechanically through the rotation of turbine blades, thereby generating electricity. However, when the gears are engaged with each other, a huge vibration will be generated, and the huge noise generated is inevitable.

The infrasound waves produced by wind turbines vibrate 1 to 20 times per second. The frequency is too low to be heard by human ears. There is no research showing that infrasound waves are harmful to the human body. However, for offshore wind power, according to research, it is only A wind farm in the sea reduces the noise, and the risk of dolphins that is reduced by 1% per year will be reduced 66%. Only when the noise level is reduced, the impact of wind farms on marine life can be effectively alleviated.

Wind power uses the wind energy in the atmosphere. According to the law of conservation of energy, the consumption and production of one kind of energy must produce or consume another kind of energy. Therefore, the process of generating wind turbines must consume a part of the atmosphere. Wind energy is one of the important factors of climate change, and its changes will inevitably bring changes in local climate.

When some offshore wind farms and inland ridge wind farms are in operation, if the humidity is relatively high, a huge water vapor tail plume will be condensed behind the wind turbine, which may have an impact on the local microclimate, such as humidity and dust deposition.

When the rotor blades of the wind turbine are subjected to strong winds above 25m/s (cut-out wind speed), although the wind turbine is in a shutdown state, it can be withstood by the roots of the blades. The bending moment, torque, shear strength, and extrusion strength are limited, which can cause the entire blade to fly out in severe cases.

Caused casualties and damage to buildings on the road (although wind turbines are mostly located in coastal areas and sparsely populated). In addition to extreme winds, blade surface corrosion, lightning strikes, icing, cracks, etc. can easily cause blade breakage, causing accidents, and affecting public safety

Of course, nothing is perfect, and everything has two sides. Although wind power has its shortcomings, the times are developing. Compared with the destruction and pollution of the ecological environment of traditional thermal power generation, wind power generation may be better.

But sometimes when we are building wind turbines, if we think about it, whether such an area is suitable for building wind turbines and whether it can minimize the harm to the environment. Instead of blindly pursuing economic benefits, maybe the world will be better.