- Do wind turbines take up a lot of space?
- What impact do wind turbines have on birds?
- Do wind turbines cause medical issues?
- What happens upon the discontinuance or abandonment of a wind farm?
- Do wind turbines reduce the value of surrounding properties?
- How loud are wind turbines?
- Can wind turbines be recycled?
Do wind turbines take up a lot of space?
A typical wind farm leaves roughly 95% of the land leased for a project available for agricultural activity like row-cropping or grazing. Wind turbines need to be spaced out to maximize efficiency of the overall project. The spread out nature of the turbines and small footprints of individual turbines make them ideal for farmers and ranchers who are looking for ways to supplement their income while continuing to engage in more traditional agriculture.
What impact do wind turbines have on birds?
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wind turbines fall toward the bottom of the list of threats to birds. Most of the problems associated with wind turbines and bird deaths have been reduced through technological advancement and by properly siting wind projects.
Do wind turbines cause medical issues?
Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found that living near wind turbines does not pose a risk to human health. The studies looked at wide ranges of health effects from hearing loss to nausea and sleep disorders and found no evidence that wind turbines contribute to health problems. Research has found evidence connecting wind development to feelings of annoyance in a subset of the population, but no actual physiological symptoms.
What happens upon the discontinuance or abandonment of a wind farm?
County zoning regulations for wind energy development typically require the developer to remove foundations to a depth of four feet below grade and backfill the area. What remains is an inert "slug" of concrete and rebar, which the EPA does not classify as a hazardous substance. In fact, it's common for this material to be repurposed as "rip-rap" to stabilize riverbanks or other areas. Nebraska’s agreements for both solar and wind projects follow these same decommissioning standards to ensure proper land restoration.
In Nebraska, there are three levels of decommissioning requirements for renewable energy facilities.
- Landowner Agreement: Lease or easement agreements with landowners usually include decommissioning requirements, giving landowners the right to enforce them.
- Local Zoning Regulations: Most municipalities have decommissioning rules that require facilities to be decommissioned within a certain timeframe, along with technical standards and financial security requirements.
- State Backup: If local regulations are absent, the Nebraska Power Review Board enforces decommissioning plans and financial security, acting as a final level of protection.
The decommissioning cost estimate is typically updated periodically, often every five years, subject to local zoning regulations. The developer updates the amount of the financial security to reflect each updated decommissioning cost estimate. If the developer should fail to properly decommission the facility, the local municipality or Power Review Board may draw on the financial security to decommission the facility without costs to residents or taxpayers.
Do wind turbines reduce the value of surrounding properties?
A 2023 study done by Berkeley Lab looked at 500,000 home sales over 34 states and found that in counties with fewer than 250,000 residents, there was no lasting significant impact on home values.
Additionally, a 2020 study done on rural properties in Kansas that have or are near wind turbines found that there were no statistically significant impacts on the property’s value.
How loud are wind turbines?
According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, large land-based wind turbines produce no more than 30-45 dB at a distance of 300 meters (which is typically the closest a wind turbine would be placed to a home or building). To put that into perspective, this is about the same level of noise as you’d hear in an empty theater or library. The videos included below provide brief audio recordings of wind turbines in different scenarios and from various distances.
Can wind turbines be recycled?
Currently, 80-85% of modern wind turbines, which are primarily made of materials like steel and copper wiring, can easily be recycled. Because most wind farms that have been built are still in operation, we don’t have a robust data set to evaluate the recycling rate of wind turbines. Out of those that have met the end of their useful life, we do know that the blades have most often been landfilled due to the difficulty of recycling the fiberglass blades compared to the rest of the turbine. Recent advancements supported by the Department of Energy have made it possible to recycle wind turbine blades in order to address this issue.
