Wind as a source of energy sounds like a good thing, but there still seems to be some controversy. Like most things, it is important to look at a larger picture.

Location is very important for some obvious and not so obvious reasons. The obvious would be that there needs to be a substantial amount of unobstructed wind, and they need to be up high to catch the most amount of air. They should not be too close to populated areas, due to the vibrational reaction as well as noise (similar to a 10 mph wind). Many claim they suffer from headaches and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Some say that sleepiness is increased from the ‘white noise’ they produce.

The amount of co2 used to produce them and the return on investment is directly related to the location and how much energy is produced from the wind available at that location.

One of the not so obvious location issues is staying out of migratory paths of birds. Altamont Pass in California has an unusually high bird mortality rate due to its proximity to the migratory paths of our winged population. They didn’t know at the time they built this wind farm that it would turn out to be such a big problem. Utility lines, collisions with automobiles, tall buildings, residential houses, lighted communication towers, bridges, jet engines and smoke stacks all contribute to the demise of our feathered friends. In Wisconsin, Cats (both feral and domestic) are reputed to be killing millions of birds each year.
(awea.org).

Offshore wind farms are popular in many parts of the world where it is densely populated on land, but still have relatively large areas offshore with shallow water. The wind tends to blow harder and longer on the ocean. But they are more costly to install at sea, and challenging to maintain. It is a longer run to bring the power back to shore. The farther out to sea it tends to be deeper, and the deeper it is the more costly it is to install.

They are still testing for long term effects of sea life and sea beds.

To take a virtual tour, I’ve included a video that will take you up into one of these enormous windmills. I had no idea that they are so big! WOW!