Weird on Wind

On this blog we’ve already covered many of the common objections to wind power, ranging from cost to wind farms requiring electricity to start up. But there’s quite a few odder myths out there – let’s have a look at some of the strangest.

Weird Myth 1: Wind turbines make their own clouds.

The source for this particular myth appears to be this Daily Mail article. It covers a peculiar phenomenon that occurs during intermittent low-wind conditions at an offshore wind farm. The movement of the turbine blades pushes up warmer air from just above the sea into the colder, drier air above. This causes the moisture in the warm air to condense, creating low-level fog around the turbines – even when there’s none on land.

Of course, this phenomenon only occurs with offshore turbines – the air above land doesn’t contain as much moisture as the air above the sea, for obvious reasons. Even then, it only occurs when the wind is very low, as otherwise the air around the blades would be pushed away too quickly for the moisture to condense.

Myth status: True – but only with offshore wind!

Weird Myth 2: Wind turbines kill newts

This myth seems to be based on misinterpretations of reports from several sites around the UK where wind farm development has been controversial because of the presence of rare newts. For example, the power from the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm will come ashore at Weyborne, when the farm is completed towards the end of 2011. The sub-station for this project was sited on land occupied by Greater Crested Newts, which are protected under British law. To ensure minimum disruption of the newts’ habitat, AREVA secured a Newt Licence from Natural England and constructed a newt fence, to give them safe corridors through the habitat while keeping them away from the construction area.

Like many myths around wind, this one is founded on a lack of understanding of the Environmental Impact Assessment developers are required to carry out before constructing any new wind farm. Developers have to show that the ecological impact of construction will not negatively impact on local wildlife populations, like birds and bats.

Myth status: False

Weird Myth 3: Wind turbines are targeted by UFOs

A wind turbine at Fen Farm in Lincolnshire was briefly the source of significant national interest when, following a mysterious crashing noise heard in the middle of the night, local residents awoke to find that one of the turbines on the nearby farm had lost one of its blades and severely bent the remaining ones.

Reporters on the scene heard reports from residents claiming that they’d seen mysterious lights near the wind turbine in question the evening before. This led to The Sun splashing the story with the headline ‘UFO hits wind turbine’.

Unfortunately, the reality was significantly less exciting – the report of mysterious lights happened well before the turbine broke, and investigation discovered that the breakage was a consequence of freak material failure.

Myth status: False

We’re always interested to hear your stories of the bizarre things people say about wind power – let us know if you hear anything!