|
Posted by: Michel Verheughe on 2010-02-17, 14:28:33
If a wind turbine farm has any effect on the climate, it must first have an effect on the wind pattern around it. As a light aircraft pilot, I am often flying in regions of Denmark and north Germany with a lot of wind turbines. If you e.g. look on Google Map at the airfield of BĂĽsum, you will see that it is, virtually, in the middle of a wind turbine farm. Landing or taking off a light aircraft can be very dangerous if there are obstacles around that change the wind direction or force. Those are always written on the airfield charts as a warning of e.g. gusts or downdraft to be expected with the wind of a certain direction. Aviation doesn't know of any effect those wind turbines have on the flow of air moving around them. As for birds, I understand that they are a danger mostly to bats and not birds who can avoid the rotors most of the time; exactly as they avoid colliding with my aircraft that flies very slow. Therefore I can say that wind turbines have no direct effect on any weather pattern and, as such, on any climate. A bit of the wind energy is changed into electrical one but it certainly doesn't represent a greater drag than e.g. an urban area with buildings or a forest. |
