Supporting Wind When Sited Right ...
Promoting the transition to a low-carbon energy system ...
The expansion of renewable energy is expected to substantially reduce greenhouse gas and pollution emissions, water use in the energy sector, and the overall costs of electricity as a renewable and increasingly reliable energy resource.
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The wind energy Vision Report by the Department of Energy estimates wind power will
support over 20% of the US electrical grid by 2030 (Department of Energy, 2008), requiring
over 241 GW of wind power and likely covering over five million hectares of land.
Encouragingly, wind energy has become one of the fastest growing sources of power in the world (Slattery, Lantz, and Johnson 2011).
Yet we must continue to protect nature and its biodiversity ...
Renewable energy holds a spatial footprint two to eight times that of conventional energy. Specifically for wind power, poorly-sited plants can cause direct impacts such as inhibiting bird migrations and fragmenting habitats.
For example, bat collisions with wind turbines is a notable problem that kills around 500,000 bats in the US and Canada (Frick et al.,2017). Bird collisions can also be a problem for both resident and migratory birds, particularly raptors, depending on the location of residency and migratory paths to the wind turbines (Barrios and Rodriguez, 2008; Fargione et al., 2012;The Wildlife Society, 2014).
The Greater Prairie Chicken of the North American Grasslands are one of many species known to be affected by wind farm development.
The Wind Belt holds the highest wind energy potential in the US
In the central United States, the Wind Belt region (Figure 1) is home to 80% of domestic wind energy through installed and planned projects. The approximate spatial footprint of these projects is 29.7 thousand km2 (AWEA, 2017; Denholm et al 2009).
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There is 49 GW installed in the Wind Belt region today; an additional capacity of 100 GW is expected in the next 5 years.
The Wind Belt (outlined in black) holds the highest average wind speeds (15-22 mph) in contiguous United States.