Wind Energy is Renewable Energie

Wind Energy and the Environment

The sustainable energy sources sun, water, wind, biomass and geothermal are technically easy to govern and as opposed to nuclear power they present no threat and there is no need of controlling their misuse. They offer an inexhaustible energy potential and are available immediately.

The utilisation of sustainable resources will lead to a higher acceptance of renewables and to the spread of their use worldwide. This development is an important contribution to protecting our climate and for improving the quality of life around the world and maybe even helping to keep international peace.

The change from conventional energy sources to the energy sources of the future will take time. This is the reason that it is now important to work on creating a clean, safe and sustainable method for power production. The Tauernwindpark is our contribution in this direction.

Taking down a Wind Park

The components of a wind turbine are just as easy to dismantle as they were to install. Many of the parts can be reused. A wind park can be taken down in just one day.

A wind turbine is just a temporary structure in the landscape and nothing is irreversibly changed or destroyed by it. (Compare this to a coal mining area).

Disco Effect

The disco effect is when the light reflects off the rotor blades on sunny days. These reflections are accidental and can only be perceived for a short time. Since this happens on the rotor blades because they act like mirrors, the turbine manufacturers have started to put a duller surface on the rotor blades. Therefore the disco effect has stopped being a problem.

Energy Balance

A wind turbine with a life span of 20 years can have a "harvesting factor" of between 3000% and 8200%. This means that 30 to 82 times more energy is produced by the turbine than was needed for its manufacturing, delivery, utilisation and dismantling.

At very good sites this energy amortisation period can amount to as little as two months. This means that after only two months in operation the total energy it took to make the turbine has been produced by the turbine in the form of clean energy.

The "harvesting factor" of conventional power plants amounts to only 0.3% to 0.4% due to the fact that energy in the form of natural resources has to be constantly added during operation.

Infra Sound

Infra sound is the deep sound frequency which cannot be perceived by the human ear (<20Hz). Sources for infra sound are wind turbines and all other kinds of machines like cars, airplanes, trains etc. There are also natural infra sound sources: storms, waterfalls, wind turbulence.

Sound becomes a danger for human health when there is a constant sound level of 130 dB. Measurements on wind turbines have shown that this value is not reached. The infra sound produced by a wind turbine presents no danger for humans.

Landscape

The landscape is constantly being changed by human beings. Water and wind mills have been a part of our cultivated landscape for centuries. In the middle of the 19th century there were about 200,000 wind mills in Europe. In Germany today there are 9,000 wind turbines compared to 180,000 power line masts.

A wind turbine can be dismantled in one day and is only a temporary structure in the landscape. Compare this to how the cutting down of whole forest areas or the mining of coal can destroy the landscape irrevocably.

Besides this, wind parks are not randomly erected in the landscape but are carefully planned. Consideration is given to the protection of the landscape and natural environment and the wind park must be in an area zoned for wind energy. These factors, along with the involvement of the public and the regional government in the project, all guarantee the wide acceptance of wind parks.

Noise Impact

The times when badly planned wind parks disturbed the public due to noise impact are a thing of the past due to the development of improved technology in this area. Modern, high powered turbines are insulated better and run slower than older models.

The noise emission from a wind turbine with a hub height of 78 m, at a wind speed of 12-14 m/s and at a distance of 320 m amounts to only 41 dB(A). (Comparison: a normal conversation is 50 dB(A), night time in a hospital is 40 dB(A).

Apart from that, when the wind is strong, the surrounding noises are louder than that produced by the wind turbines.

Diagram of the noise impact from the Tauernwindpark

Natural Resource Reserves

The worldwide supply of fuel, gas and uranium will be depleted in just a few decades (see graph). Utilisation and expansion of renewable energy sources is the only logical answer to this and those persons who are responsible for energy politics must be a compelling force in this direction.

Graph: Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker
Faktor Vier, München 1995.

Reduction of Pollutants

A wind park with 6 MW installed capacity will reduce approximately the following emissions yearly:


	Carbon dioxide Sulphur dioxide Nitrogen oxide Carbon monoxide Dust Or nuclear wastes	13,600,000 kg 20,720 kg 10,220 kg 8,550 kg 560 kg 72 kg

The installed capacity of the Tauernwindpark amounts to 19.25 MW.

A kilowatt hour of energy produced from fossil fuels means an emission of:


	Carbon dioxide Sulphur dioxide Nitrogen oxide Dust	970.00 g 1.48 g 0.73 g 0.04 g

Shadow

The moving shadow from a wind turbine is produced when the sun shines on the rotor blades when they are in operation.

The longest, theoretically possible length of time when the moving shadow from a wind turbine could hit a certain point (e.g. window of a house) amounts to 30 hours per year. This calculation was made under the conditions of continual sunshine, unfavourable wind direction and turning rotor blades.

Analyses made over the years show that the actual period of shadow does not exceed 20% of the theoretical maximum. A person on a car trip experiences considerably stronger shadows from trees, lanterns and other objects.

During the permit procedure for the wind park, the possible shadow produced from the wind turbines will be calculated and presented in graphs.

ISO-Shadow lines for the Tauernwindpark

Electricity Consumption

Wind turbines are erected in order to produce electricity which is fed into the public grid. In accordance they near a lot of wind but no electricity.

Even with the increased usage of renewables, an environmentally conscious person should be aware of saving electricity.

Modern household appliances (refrigerators, vacuum cleaners etc.) are built to use as little electricity as possible but, according to Bundesverband Windenergie e.V., the potential for electricity reduction in Germany would amount to a third of today´s consumption.

Alone the stand-by function of electrical appliances wastes over twenty billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Twenty billion kilowatt hours is the equivalent of the annual energy production of Germany´s four oldest nuclear power plants.

In the USA 10% of electricity consumption is used for the stand-by function.

Birds and Game

There are many scientific studies about the effects of wind turbines on birds and game. They show that game gets used to the wind turbines. Hunters questioned say that, according to their practical experience, wind parks don´t seem to be a serious disturbance for the animals.

Also the problem of birds flying into the rotor blades doesn´t seem as serious as expected because the birds perceive the moving objects and react accordingly. Cell phone masts and overhead electrical lines are much more dangerous for birds.

It is also only natural that wind parks may not be built in nature reserves and bird sanctuaries.

Natural Resource Consumption

If the massive consumption of our natural resources is not limited, the youth of today will live to experience the drastic shortage of fuel and gas. The burning of these natural resources already is effecting the ecosystem earth and these negative effects will continue to increase.

With the realisation of the Tauernwindpark, the Tauernwind GmbH has taken important steps on the way to reducing our dependency on conventional energy sources and leading us to a future world with new forms of power.