Wind-farm illness in sharp decline
Whatever happened to wind-turbine syndrome (WTS), that mysterious range of ailments caused by exposure to wind farms? Well, wind farms in Australia, anyway.
It’s been attributed as the cause for 247 diseases and symptoms in humans and animals, ranging from heart attacks and haemorrhoids to chicken-egg abnormalities and disorientation in echidnas.
Australia’s federal government was so concerned about the effect of WTS that it established the office of National Wind Farm Commissioner in October 2015 to manage complaints and investigate further.
Politicians in the governing coalition, led by then-prime minister Tony Abbott, even called for a moratorium on wind-farm development while the commissioner did his work. The 25 scientific reviews conducted around the world since 2003 that have concluded there is very poor evidence of wind turbines being the direct cause of any disease clearly don’t apply to Australia.
Two years on, it would be fair to say that the commissioner, Andrew Dyer (A$205,500 or US $157,500 a year, part-time), has not been exactly overloaded with work, with a grand total of 145 complaints, though his office declines to provide the number of complainants.
Of those 145, 84 were complaints about proposed wind farms, and another nine did not specify any particular project at all. Only 52 complaints related to operating wind farms — 29 in Victoria, 16 in South Australia, and seven in New South Wales. Wind farms in Queensland and Tasmania seem curiously immune from WTS. And of those 52 complaints, 49 have been closed.
The creation of the office was always a fig leaf to cover the federal government’s commitment to fossil fuels. Now, even that has gone.
Good news for the south, bad for north
Research published in scientific journal Nature Geoscience predicts that climate change will have a profound effect on global wind speeds by the end of this century.
It looks particularly bad for the central US, where wind energy is predicted to fall by 17%. And not so good in Japan either, with a drop of 10%.
But the (very) long-term outlook looks rather better south of the Equator, with eastern Australia, eastern Brazil and western Africa all forecast to see high rises in wind speeds by 2100.
EUROPE SNAPSHOT — FIGURES AND FACTS
17.8% Wind power’s share of electricity demand in Europe on 14 December 2017. Onshore wind provided 1,652GWh, offshore wind 209GWh
753GWh Wind-generated electricity in Germany on 14 December. Onshore wind provided nearly 90% of that total
49% Average capacity factor for Europe’s onshore turbines on 14 December. The highest was Ireland at 86%
69% Average capacity factor for Europe’s offshore turbines on 14 December. Belgium’s fleet achieved 83%, just ahead of Germany on 82%. The UK’s figure was 61%
Quote of the month
"While state governments and utilities are replacing polluting coal power with clean energy, the prime minister is bending over backwards to keep dirty coal in our energy system longer"
Kelly O’Shanassy, CEO, Australian Conservation Foundation
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