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However, a Harvard study raises questions about just how much wind should be part of a climate solution. Researchers report that a high amount of wind power could mean more climate warming at least regionally and in the immediate decades ahead. The paper raises serious questions about just how much the United States or other nations should look to wind power to clean up electricity systems.
Researcher report that the transition to wind or solar power in the US would require five to twenty times more land than previously thought, and if such large scale wind farms were built, would warm average surface temperatures over the continental US by 0.24 degrees C. 2
The temperature rise is due to the fact that wind turbines redistribute heat in the atmosphere. This could significantly exceed the reduction in US warming achieved by decarbonizing the nation’s electricity sector this century, which would be around 0.1 C. 1
At least 10 previous studies have observed local warming caused by US wind farms. 3
In previous research, David Keith and co-authors modeled the generating capacity of large scale wind farms and concluded that real world wind power generation had been overestimated because they had neglected to accurately account for the interactions between turbines and the atmosphere. 4
And because it's a quote with citations ...
- James Temple, “Wide scale US wind power could cause significant warming,” October 4, 2018
- Lee M. Miller and David W. Keith, “Climatic impacts of wind power,” October 4, 2018
- Nick Arne, “In the short term, wind power could hike global warming,” October 5, 2018
- Leah Burrows, “Harvard: wind power will create significant warming of 0.24 C plus eat up 5 to 20 times more land than thought,” October 4, 2018
