Environmental and social impacts of wind energy: a view point with reference to India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/EQ.2019.009Keywords
renewable energy, socio-economic impacts, environmental impact assessment, animal mortality risk, biodiversity conservationAbstract
Energy is a basic requirement for economic development and is an integral part of every sector of Indian economy. Renewable energy is increasingly seen as the energy choice of the future as it offers an alternative yet effective solution to reduce carbon emissions and minimize the tradeoffs between environment and energy development. India is increasingly adopting responsible renewable energy technologies and taking positive steps towards carbon emissions, cleaning the air and ensuring a more sustainable future. A large body of literature addressing the issues regarding large negative environmental externalities caused by electricity generation from fossil fuels based energy is available; yet, literature dealing with environmental and social impacts of wind power energy plants, especially in developing countries like India is almost absent. This study is expected to contribute towards filling this gap by synthesizing information about the environmental and social impacts of the wind power projects especially in Indian context.References
Abbasi T., Premalatha M., Abbasi T. & Abbasi S.A., 2014, Wind energy: Increasing deployment, rising environmental concerns. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 31: 270–288.
Aparna P., 2011, Wind farm threat to forests. Down to Earth, A publication by CSE magazine, New Delhi.
Barclay R.M.R., Baerwald E.F. & Gruvera J.C., 2007, Variation in bat and bird fatalities at wind energy facilities: assessing the effects of rotor size and tower height. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85(3): 381-387
Bernard E., Paese A., Machado R.B. & de Souza Aguiar L.M., 2014, Blown in the wind: bats and wind farms in Brazil. Natureza & Conservação 12(2): 106-111.
Bhushan C., Singh S.K., Sambyal S.S. & Agrawal K.A., 2013a, EIA Guidelines Wind Power. Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi.
Bhushan C., Hamberg J. & Agrawal K.K., 2013b, Green Norms for Wind Power. Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi.
Christensen T.K., Hounisen J.P., Clausager I. & Petersen I.K., 2004, Visual and radar observations of birds in relation to collision risk at the Horns Rev offshore wind farm. NERI report by National Environmental Research Institute. Ministry of the Environment Denmark, Copenhagen.
Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Report, 2010, The Potential Health Impacts of Wind Turbines. Proceedings of the European wind energy conference, Ontario.
Dai K., Bergot A., Liang C., Xiang W.N. & Huang Z., 2015, Environmental issues associated with wind energy – A review. Renewable Energy 75: 911-921.
David B., 2010, How Wind Turbines Affect Your (Very) Local Weather. Scientific American, October 4, 2010.
Deal W.F., 2010, Wind power: an emerging energy resource. Technology and Engineering Teacher 9: 9–15.
Dimitris K.A., 2012, A review of the environmental and human impacts from wind parks. A case study for the Prefecture of Lasithi, Crete. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16(5): 2850-2863.
DONG Energy, Vattenfall, Danish Energy Authority & Danish Forest and Nature Agency, 2006, Danish Offshore Wind: Key Environmental Issues. Published by DONG Energy, Vattenfall, The Danish Energy Authority and The Danish Forest and Nature Agency.
Ellison L.E., 2012, Bats and wind energy—A literature synthesis and annotated bibliography. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1110.
Finnveden G., Hauschild M.Z., Ekvall T., Guinée J., Heijungs R., Hellweg S., Koehler A., Pennington D. & Suh S., 2009, Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment. Journal of Environmental Management 91(1): 1-21.
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), 2016, Developments in Renewable Energy- Current Trends & Future Prospects. Power Market in India – Way Forward. A working paper, 2nd March 2016. IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Garvin J.C., Jennelle C.S., Drake D. & Grodsky S.M., 2011, Response of raptors to a windfarm. Journal of Applied Ecology 48: 199–209.
Goel G. & Shrivastava S.K., 2011, Koyna sanctuary plundered. Down to Earth. A publication by CSE magazine, Delhi.
Kikuchi R., 2009, Risk formulation for the sonic effects of offshore wind farms on fish in the EU region. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60(2):172-177.
Kumar A. & Thapar S., 2017, Addressing Land Issues for Utility Scale Renewable Energy Deployment in India. A Report by TERI School of Advanced Studies, Plot No. 10 Institutional Area Vasant Kunj, New Delhi - 110 070, India.
Langston R.H.W. & Pullan J.D., 2003, Windfarms and birds: an analysis of the effects of wind farms on birds, and guidance on environmental assessment criteria and site selection issues. Report T-PVS/Inf (2003) 12, by BirdLife International to the Council of Europe, Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. RSPB/BirdLife in the UK.
Leung D.Y.C. & Yang Y., 2012, Wind energy development and its environmental impact: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16: 1031– 1039.
Long C.V., Flint J.A. & Lepper P.A., 2010, Insect attraction to wind turbines: does colour play a role? European Journal of Wildlife Research 57 (2):323-331.
Loss S.R., Will T. & Marra P.P., 2013, Estimates of bird collision mortality at wind facilities in the contiguous United States. Biological Conservation 168: 201–209.
Manohar D P J and Jayaprakasam Dr. T., 2010, Solar Energy for Green India. International Journal of Research – Granthaalayah 4: 21-24.
Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MOEF & CC), 2004, (http://forestsclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/public_display/schemes/2146926545$guildeline%202.pdf).
Myers N., Mittermeier R.A., Mittermeier C.G., da Fonseca G.A. & Kent J., 2000, Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403(6772): 853-858.
Ministry of Power (MOP), 2018, (https://powermin.nic.in/en/content/power-sector-glance-all-india), [Accessed Aug 6, 2018].
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 2013, Developmental Impacts and Sustainable Governance Aspects of Renewable Energy Projects.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 2016, State wise % of Wind Potential Utilized (As on 31.03.2016). MNRE, Delhi.
NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, 2015, Report of the Expert Group on 175GW RE by 2022,Government of India, New Delhi.
Paliwal A., 2011, Killing ground. Down to Earth, A publication by CSE magazine, New Delhi.
Pande S., Padhye A., Deshpande P., Ponkshe A., Pandit P., Pawashe A., Pednekar S., Pandit R. & Deshpande P., 2013, Avian collision threat assessment at ‘Bhambarwadi Wind Farm Plateau’ in northern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(1): 3504–3515.
Philip H, Jen S & McCarty J.K., 1978, Bats avoid moving objects more successfully than stationary ones. Nature 275: 743–744.
Roy S.B. & Traiteur J.J., 2010, Impacts of wind farms on surface air temperatures. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107(42): 17899-17904.
Saidur. R., Rahim N.A., Islam M.R. & Solangi K.H., 2011, Environmental impact of wind energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15(5): 2423-2430.
Shepherd D., McBride D., Welch D., Dirks K. & Hill E., 2011, Wind turbine noise and health-related quality of life of nearby residents: A cross-sectional study in New Zealand. The Fourth International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise, 12-14 April 2011, Rome, Italy.
Stewart G.B., Pullin A.S. & Coles C.F., 2005, Effects of Wind Turbines on Bird Abundance. CEE review 04-002. Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation - School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston –Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Suchitra M., 2011, Suzlon windmills on tribal land. Down to Earth. A publication by CSE magazine, New Delhi.
Sushma U.N., 2013, India is finally moving to tap the wind energy potential on its seas. QUARTZ India, publication April 13, 2013.
Wang C. & Prinn R.G., 2010, Potential climatic impacts and reliability of very large-scale wind farms. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10: 2053-2061.
World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), 2018, Wind power capacity reaches 539 GW, 52.6 GW added in 2017. WWEA, Bonn.
Zhou L., Tian Y., Roy S.B., Thorncroft C., Bosart L.F. & Hu Y., 2012, Impacts of wind farms on land surface temperature Nature Climate Change 2(7): 539–543.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 2875
Number of citations: 0