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Pages 1-14

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From page 1...
... Generation of electricity by wind energy has the potential to reduce environmental impacts caused by use of fossil fuels to generate electricity because, unlike fossil fuels, wind energy does not generate atmospheric contaminants or thermal pollution, thus being attractive to many governments, organizations, and individuals. Others have focused on adverse environmental impacts of wind-energy facilities, which include aesthetic and other impacts on humans and effects on ecosystems, including the killing of wildlife, especially birds and bats.
From page 2...
... The study was to consider adverse and beneficial effects, including impacts on landscapes, viewsheds, wildlife, habitats, water resources, air pollution, greenhouse gases, materials-acquisition costs, and other impacts. Using information from wind-energy projects proposed or in place in the MAH and other regions as appropriate, the committee was charged to develop an analytical framework for evaluating those effects to inform siting decisions for wind-energy projects.
From page 3...
... Apart from Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, federal and state environmental laws protecting birds and bats are the main legal constraints on wind-energy facilities not on federal lands or without a federal nexus. Wind energy is a recent addition to the energy mix in most areas, and regulation of wind energy is evolving rapidly.
From page 4...
... Environmental Benefits of Wind Energy The environmental benefits of wind energy accrue through its displacement of electricity generation that uses other energy sources, thereby displacing the adverse environmental effects of those generators. Because the use of wind energy has some adverse impacts, the conclusion that a wind-energy installation has net environmental benefits requires the conclusion that all of its adverse effects are less than the adverse effects of the generation that it displaces.
From page 5...
... However, because current and upcoming regulatory controls on emissions of NOx and SO2 from electricity generation in the eastern United States involve total caps on emissions, the committee concludes that development of windpowered electricity generation using current technology probably will not result in a significant reduction in total emission of these pollutants from the electricity sector in the mid-Atlantic region.
From page 6...
... Electricity generated from wind energy in the MAH has the potential to displace pollutant emissions, discharges, wastes, and other adverse environmental effects of other sources of electricity generation in the grid. That potential is estimated to be less than 4.5%, and the degree to which its beneficial effects would be realized in the MAH is uncertain.
From page 7...
... Nonetheless, the analyses in this report have value until such time as a more comprehensive understanding is developed. Ecological Impacts Wind turbines cause fatalities of birds and bats through collision, most likely with the turbine blades.
From page 8...
... • At the current level of wind-energy development (approximately 11,600 MW of installed capacity in the United States at the end of 2006, including the older California turbines) , the committee sees no evidence that fatalities caused by wind turbines result in measurable demographic changes to bird populations in the United States, with the possible exception of raptor fatalities in the Altamont Pass area, although data are lacking for a substantial portion of the operating facilities.
From page 9...
... Impacts on Humans The human impacts considered by the committee include aesthetic impacts; impacts on cultural resources, such as historic, sacred, archeological, and recreation sites; impacts on human health and well-being, specifically from noise and from shadow flicker; economic and fiscal impacts; and the potential for electromagnetic interference with television and radio broadcasting, cellular phones, and radar. This is not an exhaustive list of all possible human impacts from wind-energy projects.
From page 10...
... Moreover, the conclusions and recommendations concerning human impacts presented by topic in Chapter 4 should not be considered in isolation; instead, they should be treated as part of a process. Questions and issues concerning human impacts should be covered in assessments and regulatory reviews of wind-energy projects.
From page 11...
... policy guidance at local, state, regional, or national levels about the importance of various factors that need to be considered. In particular, the committee describes in Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 the reasons that led us to stop short of providing a full analytic framework and instead to offer an evaluation guide to aid coordination of regulatory review across levels of government and across spatial scales and to help to ensure that regulatory reviews are comprehensive in addressing the many facets of the human and nonhuman environment that can be affected by wind-energy development.
From page 12...
... This guidance and technical assistance, conducted at appropriate jurisdictional levels, could be developed by working groups composed of wind-energy developers; nongovernmental organizations with diverse views of wind-energy development; and local, state, and federal government agencies. Conclusion • There is little anticipatory planning for wind-energy projects, and even if it occurred, it is not clear whether mechanisms exist that could incorporate such planning in regulatory decisions.
From page 13...
... . Conclusion • Well-specified, formal procedures for regulatory review enhance predictability, consistency, and accountability for all parties to wind-energy development.
From page 14...
... The guide should be available to developers and the public. Conclusion • The environmental benefits of wind-energy development, mainly reductions in atmospheric pollutants, are enjoyed at wide spatial scales, while the environmental costs, mainly aesthetic impacts and ecological impacts, such as increased mortality of birds and bats, occur at much smaller spatial scales.


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