1) Does Wind Power reduce property values?
A) There is no evidence that the presence of a commercial wind farm within sight of a property systematically decreases its' value. The following wordings are taken from a comprehensive study on property values done by Renewable Energy Policy Project, USA, 2003. “If property values had been harmed by being within the view-shed of major wind developments, then we expected that to be shown in a majority of the projects analysed. Instead, to the contrary, we found that for the great majority of projects the property values actually rose more quickly in the view shed than they did in the comparable community. Moreover, values increased faster in the view shed after the projects came online than they did before. Finally, after projects came on-line, values increased faster in the view shed than they did in the comparable community. In all, we analysed ten projects in three cases; we looked at thirty individual analyses and found that in twenty six of those, property values in the affected view shed performed better than the alternative.” For complete study & more information see Wind Power Myth 4
2) I am told that currently my property values are getting impacted due to talk of wind turbines, is it true?
A) Absolutely NOT, any current impact on property values in entire North America is primarily stemming from weaker sub-prime debt market or the riskier mortgage lending practices of the banks, coupled with the interest rate gradually climbing higher.
3) Does Wind Power construction impact ground water tables?
A) Hydrological and geological studies are a requirement of the Environmental Assessment process, and any impact along with its mitigation is studied and quantified prior to construction. Infact, study of Surface and Ground Water is the number one criteria in Ontario Environmental Screening Checklist. For more information see Wind Power Myth 10
4) Does each wind turbine have four red flashing lights?
A) Absolutely NOT, each wind turbine does not have multiple flashing lights, nor do all wind turbines have a flashing light for that matter. Transport Canada requires one CL-864 medium intensity red flashing light, only on few specified wind turbines located in the perimeter of wind farm with a maximum horizontal separation distance of 2,700 feet. No turbines are lit inside the perimeter of wind farm expect the most dominant turbine at the highest absolute height. All the red beacons are to be synchronous. For more information see Transport Canada circular within Federal Regulation & Process in Wind Power Regulations
5) Does living near wind turbine feel like living near highway 401 or standing near a helicopter?
A) Absolutely NOT, wind turbines are akin to agricultural machinery and do produce sound, but this output is reasonable, measurable, can be modeled, and is regulated by law to ensure that there is no threat to human health, or it does not exceed any legislated sound limits in rural areas. The Ontario Ministry of Environment has developed specific regulations on this issue and specific setbacks are calculated for specific turbine models. For more information see Wind Power Myth 1 and Provincial Regulations and Process in Wind Power Regulations
6) Does wind turbines in future incur massive dismantling cost, what happens if the future government withdraws financial support, or technology changes and it is no longer profitable to operate and maintain the turbines?
A) Wind turbine has a life of more than 20-25 years and its operation is immune to any turbine technology changes since electrons generated remain the same. Any government support does not go from year to year but is contractually quantified before construction. Furthermore, the contracts for electricity have severe financial penalties for non-performance, thus ensuring proper due-diligence in continued operation and maintenance. Finally, 80-85% of the cost of the wind turbine comprises of capital cost which are well known in advance, and so is the revenue from fixed price electricity contracts, as such there is no-ongoing financial variables impacting the project. Even in a scenario where the wind turbine operating company goes bankrupt, the debt providers will appoint someone to step in the shoes of the company to ensure continued operation, and there is enough steel and copper in wind turbines to more than compensate for any salvage and dismantling cost of the turbines.
7) Why is every proposed wind farm site quoted as a bird/wildlife sensitive area thus seemingly endangered by wind turbines?
A) In Ontario almost 80% of the land mass is controlled by Crown, most of this land mass is uninhabited and by default is wildlife area. To reduce losses any power project has to be located near the points of consumption, since wind projects require wind to operate, they have to be located in rural areas with abundant winds. However, rural areas also happen to be the natural areas inhabited by birds and wildlife, hence almost every wind project by default finds itself in a bird or wildlife area. Ironically enough, these are also the areas where the Province allows and licences the hunting of birds and wild animals.
8) Do wind turbines kill 8,000-10,000 birds a year?
A) Certainly not each single wind turbine, or for that matter an entire wind project kill that many birds. Everything has an impact, for example the vehicles that we drive emit green house gases that impacts birds, but let's keep things in perspective. For every 10,000 birds killed by human activities including fatalities by collisions with man made structures, less than one death is caused by a wind turbine. American house cat poses a much greater threat to birds than wind turbines. Housecats are estimated to kill 10.6% birds each year in the U.S. compared to less than 0.01% birds that die from a collision with turbines, thus averaging 1-2 birds per wind turbine. Not all wind turbines kill birds all the time at all places, besides bird migration and habitat study to properly site turbines is a requirement for environmental permit. For more information see Wind Power Myth 3
9) Do wind turbines throw ice?
A) No, wind energy is one of the safest energy technologies, and enjoys an outstanding health & safety record. There is over 35 years of operating experience and more than 85,000 machines are installed around the world. At any point in time, wind turbine computes 200 types of data sets, and detects any ice build from readings on blade imbalance, icing detector sensor, different readings from heated vs. non-heated anemometer and shuts down. In addition in ice prone areas wind blades with embedded heating elements can be used to prevent ice build-up. Proof is the Toronto Exhibition Place Wind Turbine near downtown Toronto, which overhangs one of the busiest highways, and has no ice injury reported to date. For more information see Wind Power Myth 5
10) Nina Pierpont is often quoted on the internet by wind turbine opponents as being an authority on health effects of wind power, I am told that low-frequency sound from wind turbines and transformers, flicker effect in sunlight, shadow effect at night can cause cardiac problems, depression, chronic migraine headaches, learning difficulties in children, and sleep deprivation. Is it true?
A) Please read the following wordings that are exactly quoted from a Background Research Paper on Wind Power, produced for the County of Essex in Ontario by Jones Consulting Group in Aug 2007. “There is also information readily available from difference sources on the internet, most notably a medical doctor in New York, Dr. Nina Pierpont, who has attributed negative health impacts due to large scale wind turbines. The reality with Dr. Pierpont’s work and other similar work is that the findings have not been clinically proven to be accurate. Instead, the results posted have been based on interviews with persons who feel they have been impacted by a wind turbine. In our opinion, until more conclusive clinical and scientific information is available we do not consider health impacts in the form of medical problems (i.e. cardiovascular disease, heart palpitations) to have a correlation to turbine development." For compete study see Link 5 under Wind Power Links.
11) Does wind power use subsidies and is very costly to produce?
A) Wind Energy is very competitive with fossil sources of generation. For example in the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by Ministry of Energy in Ontario in 2004, the average fixed price contract for wind energy for a 20 year term was 8cents/kWh, while the average fixed price contract for gas fired generation for the 20 year term was 7.5cents/kWh. All forms of generation receive some form of subsidy. For example the coal and gas industry gets tax breaks and no accounting of the societal cost of pollution caused. Nuclear industry’s cost of insurance and loan guarantees is underwritten by the government, not to mention that most forms of existing generation had been paid for by stranded debt to taxpayers which is paid for by several generations. So yes, wind receives an incentive of 1cent/kWh as its contribution to society, wind projects are ammortized over 20 years, are not financed or risked at tax payers money and do not produce stranded debt for tax payers. For more information see Wind Power Myth 8
12) Does wind turbine nacelle uses hydraulic oil or substation transformer use oil for lubrication and cooling, how does is create danger for land and water?
A) Wind Power project opponents often point out that the hydraulic oil in nacelle or the oil from transformer carries the risk of spilling onto the land and water. Similar risk of hydraulic oil or fuel spill or leak is also present in the Ferry, present in the oil tanker that fuels the Ferry, present in hundred of vehicles used on the land, and present in any fuel storage facility that is on the farm. The reason that this does not happen is because there are safeguards in place, not to mention that wind turbines are far away from a water body or shoreline to have any impact on water.
13) Is it physically possible to stuff a landmass full of wind turbines?
A) Just the same as you won’t have a sail boat sailing behind another sail boat, the Laws of Physics dictate that wind turbines cannot be cramped or stuffed together, but have to be at least 5 to 7 rotor diameter apart. This means that they have to be approximately 1,200 to 1,700 feet apart; this distance between wind turbines increases further after taking any setbacks and environmental zone into account. For more information see Wind Power Myth 6
14) Does wind power reduce tree cover?
A) No, on the other hand wind power is the best guarantor for preserving the rural vegetation and landscape. During construction the impact on any vegetation is minimized and the project is designed to preserve viewscape and natural tree cover.
15) I hear that currently there are no laws on the books, federally or provincially, to define setbacks, and developers do their own environmental review. Is it true that wind turbines can be snuck in through the back door?
A) Currently more than 50 different government agencies and organizations are involved in the evaluation of Wind Power projects in Ontario. Developers do not have a field day to do what is required; rather they follow the prescribed regulations and strict guidelines that have been set out by Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Government. These guidelines require proper quantitative studies, objective analysis, and lot of public/community input. The process is quite iterative, the developer hires a third party engineering firm to carry out Environmental Assesment as per Federal and Provincial guidelines, the completed work along with public input is submitted to various government agencies. After their review and comments further work is carried out to address any deficiencies or additional requirements. This is resubmitted to government agencies for evaluation. Once they are satisified that the quality of work meets the requirements, the completed study is put out in public domain. Depending upon the comments from the Public a further round of additional work and consultation with the government agencies is triggered, before any permits are granted. For more information see Wind Power Authorizations and Wind Power Regulations
16) How is the economical size of a wind project determined?
A) Wind projects in Ontario for the most part are bid in a competitive tender process with the Provincial government. Although economy of scale matters, the most feasible size of wind project depends upon factors like, the maximum size allowable in the bid, minimum size being procured by the Province, electrical grid capacity, cost of infrastructure, quality of wind resource, prospective bids from competitive wind project in Ontario, and a viable land mass available; more so since the bidding opportunity is limited and the project has to be competitive to be selected in the bid. Since these variables change from year to year depending upon the policy and guidelines, the economical size will vary as per the rules governing the procurement policy.
17) I hear that the wind project will be starting in a year, what is the certainty of wind project happening?
A) The project cannot start in a year. Several steps have to occur for any wind project to proceed. Foremost, Ontario needs to have a procurement process in place and the least of it is that the project has to be successfull in a competitive bid. In a recent news release, the Ministry directed Ontario Power Authority to roll out procurement for upto 500MW within a year. Participation of wind proponent in this procurement process will be subject to the rules of procurement and only if one happens. As for any certainty of wind project happening, it is subject to how competitive the project is in relation to other land based projects in Ontario, and also dependent upon the project meeting and securing all the studies, permits, and approvals mandated by federal, provincial, and municipal regulations.
18) Does use of wind turbines lead to idling of a fossil fuel power station?
A) Wind power projects are spread throughout the province and there is little overall impact if the wind stops blowing in one particular place, as it is always blowing somewhere else. To put it in perspective, the power system itself is inherently variable, since electricity flows – both supply and demand – are influenced by a large number of planned and unplanned factors. Changing weather makes people switch their heating and lighting on and off, millions of consumers expect instant power for TVs and computers, this means that the supply of power on the grid is always being varied to meet the constantly changing demand needs. This is done by always keeping some amount of power generation operating as standby called spinning reserves, regardless of whether the grid has any wind turbine connected to it or not. Also, wind turbines like any coal, nuclear or gas powered generator are induction machines, meaning that they all need an external source of power called excitation current to induce power in the generators to start – just like we would need a match to start campfire. For more information see Wind Power Myth 7
19) I hear that the province has no regulations and they leave complicated technical issues to the decision of local councils?
A) First, local councils comprise of very knowledgeable individuals; after all we did collectively elect them. To elaborate, very recently Essex County commissioned a background research study on wind power and is in the process of developing planning guidelines. Furthermore, Federal and Provincial government have very comprehensive rules and guidelines in place for wind project development and approval process. These are necessary requirement prior to seeking any Municipal council approvals. For more information see Wind Power Authorizations
20) I hear wind turbines can fall, and can catch fire?
A) Planes can fall from sky, ships can drown, and vehicles can have accidents, there is nothing accident proof. However, rules, codes, and certification bodies are in place to make sure that the risk of an accident is not present, as is supported by safety statistics of wind turbines around the World. Modern wind turbines & their components undergo certification from International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM), ANSI, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American Gear Manufacturer's Association (AGMA), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), International Energy Agency (IEC), International Standards Organization (ISO) etc. For more information see Wind Power Myth 5
21) Who supports wind projects?
A) Public opinion survey shows 84% of Ontarians support wind projects. This is in addition to National and Local government around the World, Leading Scientists and Researchers investigating Climate change, and Citizens around the World. Wind industry is growing at a rate of 30-35% around the World and is one of the fastest growing sources of new energy. For more information see Wind Power Opinions
22) I hear that in Europe, especially Germany the wind projects are coming to a halt, is it true?
A) The complete opposite is true, as wind energy around the world has been growing at a breath taking pace. Infact, Canada has been far behind in regards to the use of wind power with only 1,460 MW installed which accounts for approximately 0.5% of our power needs. Infact, wind power in Germany grew by 12% in 2006 and it currently provides 6% of power needs in Germany. For more information see Wind Power Myth 9
23) I find several rumours or myths on wind power on Internet, can I draw conclusions from those rumours to form an opinion on wind projects elsewhere?
A) It is important to keep things in perspective, when you see isolated negative stories on wind power or pictures showing accidents on the internet. Stories around wind project at any location are governed by how old is the project, what is the turbine technology used, what are rules and policies governing the project, how did the neighbours view the project, who owns the project, how the project was built, does anyone has vested interest to spread or fabricate rumours regarding the project etc. Only when all this information is at hand, can a true comparison be made – else it would be like comparing oranges to apples and unfortunately Internet has been a good resource for the spread of rumours. For example when people mention past bird death due to wind turbines at Altamont pass in California (most often cited), they fail to mention that the turbines were installed in 80’s on lattice towers, rotated very fast, at comparatively lower height; a very different technology to today’s modern wind turbines on tubular towers, comparatively slow moving (around 21 rotations per minute), and at a much higher height.
24) I hear that boosted tax revenues due to wind turbines will be swallowed up by the need for extra services, such as firefighting and road maintenance, is it true?
A) It is hard to understand what these extra services will be; wind turbines do not travel on Ferry everyday, they contribute to school taxes without contributing to extra kids in school, one fails to find documented cases of fire fighters putting out fires in wind turbines either in Canada or United States on a regular basis or even one off basis, wind turbines do not run on the roads. As for any construction, the roads are left in much better shape than they are before project construction begins. Proof is in the pudding, travel to see a wind project - see the roads in the project area are in better shape, are better maintained, people in neighbourhood are building new houses, economy of the region is doing well - the reality will be very apparent.
25) Are wind turbines very inefficient, is it true that they are only 20% efficient?
A) Efficiency and capacity factor are two different things. Wind turbines are very efficient when it comes to converting wind into power during the time wind blows. For a project to be economically viable, its capacity factor has to be at least 30%, meaning it should produce enough power in a year, as if it was running at its full capacity at least 30% of the time in a year. At places in Canada this capacity factor is even higher than 40%. If one was to look at Lennox Gas/Oil Electricity Generating Plant, one would notice that the generators are not running all the time during the year - infact they only run when the power is needed - as such it does not mean that they are inefficient, and the same rationale holds for wind turbines whose operation displaces the need to ramp up power from coal or gas fired generation.
26) I hear that Politicians are biased towards green energy, Ministry of Environment's noise guidelines are inaccurate, Ministry of Environment's methodology of accounting for bird death due to wind turbines is inaccurate, local politicians do not know enough about wind turbines, their are no laws Federally or provincially to define setbacks, developers have a free reign to do their own environment review, wind turbines use subsidy, wind turbines are costly, wind turbines produce noise, wind turbines kills birds, wind turbines throw ice, wind turbines reduce property values, wind turbines have no net tax benefit, wind turbines produces flicker, wind turbines produce Vibro-Acoustic Disease, wind turbines produce dangerous vibrations, wind turbines produce infrasound, wind turbines contaminate water table, wind turbines look like industrial park, wind turbines reduce tree cover, wind turbines contaminte soil, wind turbines do not reduce carbon emissions, wind turbines are expensive to decommission, wind turbines are grossly inefficient etc. IF WIND TURBINES ARE SUCH A MONSTER, WHY IS THE WHOLE WORLD CONSPIRING TO HAVE THEM?
A) We wish we knew the answer.
