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This Arizona wind farm is just one of many wind farms that provide renewable energy to the needs of Americans. However, a new study suggests that wind energy can also contribute to global warming. ( Pat Edwards | pixabay )
A new study reveals that wind farms have a direct and instantaneous impact on global warming, with benefits slowly accumulating over many years. Experts criticize the study, but the authors believe that this is an aspect to consider in the transition from coal and gas to renewable energy.
Wind energy warms the temperature?
Wind and solar farms are major sources of renewable energy, with wind energy providing about 8% of US energy requirements. In fact, the authorities predict that the country 's wind capacity will be multiplied by four by 2050.
A new study by two Harvard researchers suggests a closer look at wind energy and proposes a fairly controversial approach to wind energy as a contributing factor to global warming. According to researchers, if wind energy were used to generate the country's energy demand, the surface of the continental United States could heat up by 0.24 degrees. Indeed, as wind turbines generate energy from the air, they also slow down and modify the exchange of moisture, heat and momentum between the atmosphere and the atmosphere. surface, producing some warming.
Instant and long-term effects
It should be noted that the effects described by the researchers are direct and instantaneous, which means that the supposed warming would occur in decades. However, researchers note that in the long run, perhaps in a thousand years, wind energy will still have far less impact on the climate than coal or gas.
Other experts and proponents of clean energy criticize the study, claiming that the simulation they used is known to "do poorly" the flow forecast in actual wind farms and wind turbines. that more realistic simulations predict little change in temperature.
In addition, the American Wind Energy Association also challenged the research findings, claiming that renewable resources were infinitely better than fossil resources if researchers had examined global and long-term time scales rather than local and in the short term since mainland US and did not analyze impacts over periods exceeding one year.
Make a choice for low carbon technologies
Nevertheless, the authors of the study published in the journal Joule suggests looking more closely at wind energy before considering it as a major source of renewable energy. Interestingly, one of its authors, David Keith, of the Harvard Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science John A. Paulson, is actually a strong advocate of clean energy.
He also indicates that he is aware that their research will likely be used to advocate against the use of wind energy, but stresses that it would be unethical to conceal their discoveries about renewable energies.
"The wind beats coal according to all environmental measures, but that does not mean that its impacts are negligible. We need to move away quickly from fossil fuels to stop carbon emissions. In doing so, we must choose between different low-carbon technologies, all of which have social and environmental impacts, "Keith said in a statement.
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