New research finds that wind farms actually warm up the surface of
the land underneath them during the night, a phenomenon that could put a
damper on efforts to expand wind energy as a green energy solution.
Researchers used satellite data from 2003 to 2011 to examine surface
temperatures across as wide swath of west Texas, which has built four of
the world's largest wind farms. The data showed a direct correlation
between night-time temperatures increases of 0.72 degrees C (1.3 degrees
F) and the placement of the farms.
"Given the present installed capacity and the projected growth in
installation of wind farms across the world, I feel that wind farms, if
spatially large enough, might have noticeable impacts on local to
regional meteorology," Liming Zhou, associate professor at the State
University of New York, Albany and author of the paper published April
29 in Nature Climate Change said in an e-mail to Discovery News.
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2 comments:
Must be the same phenomenon that the orange orchards use when a freeze is expected. They hire helicopters to hover above the groves which raises the temps above freezing and saves the fruit.
not good for somerset county. these windmills kill birds by the millions in this country and they warm up the earth around them. now considering the problem with the dry wells; i wonder if this could be an added burden. there may be no connection here at all, but just a question. according to reports from citizens that have to live near these wind mills, they say they make a constant humming noise that is very annoying.
in addition to all that they are not profitable; in fact they cost the taxpayers a fortune because we are paying for them through subsidies just to maintain them. isn't our government wonderful?
somerset county citizens, you need to "follow the money". someone is making a tidy sum and it isn't you.
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