Abstract
Wind energy is one of the most mature renewable energy technologies and has been developing rapidly in recent years. Many countries have shown interest in utilizing wind energy, but its impact on the environmental is a concern. The primary environmental impacts include avian safety issues, biosystem disturbances, noise, visual pollutions, electromagnetic interferences, and local climate changes. This chapter provides a review and summary of the environmental impacts caused by the wind energy industry. Available mitigation technologies to minimize these adverse environmental impacts are also discussed. In addition to environmental impacts, structural safety is becoming an issue as many structural failures of wind turbines have been reported. A summary of studies related to these structural safety problems are included in this chapter; the focus here is on the structural performance of wind turbine towers under wind and seismic loads together with health monitoring and vibration control technologies. The intention of this chapter is to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about the aforementioned issues associated with wind energy development as well as strategies for wind energy planners and developers to mitigate the negative effects.
A chapter from Wind Energy Engineering: A Handbook for Onshore and Offshore Wind Turbines.