BIGGER WIND = GREENER WIND

Wind Power Electricity: The Bigger the Turbine, The Greener the Electricity?

Marloes Caduff, Mark A. J. Huijbregts, Hans-Joerg Althaus, Annette Koehler, and Stefanie Hellweg, April 4, 2012 (Environmental Science and Technology)

“…Wind energy is a fast-growing and promising renewable energy source. The investment costs of wind turbines have decreased over the years, making wind energy economically competitive to conventionally produced electricity…[A] new study quantifies whether the trend toward larger turbines affects the environmental profile of the generated electricity…”

“Previously published life cycle inventories were combined with an engineering-based scaling approach as well as European wind power statistics. The results showed that the larger the turbine is, the greener the electricity becomes.

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“…This effect was caused by pure size effects of the turbine (micro level) as well as learning and experience with the technology over time (macro level)…”

“…The environmental progress rate was 86%, indicating that for every cumulative production doubling, the global warming potential per kWh was reduced by 14%. The parameters, hub height and rotor diameter were identified as Environmental Key Performance Indicators that can be used to estimate the environmental impacts…”

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