Wind power and the environment

Impact Visual impacts Noise levels Birds and wildlife (from collisions with wind turbines) Land use

Wind power produces no emissions. It uses very small amounts of water, primarily for cleaning rotor blades. And according to the U.S. Renewable Energy Policy Project, a non-government organization supporting renewable energy technology, wind power plants take up relatively little space. A 25-megawatt wind farm may occupy between 475 and 1,150 hectares, depending on the arrangement of the wind turbines. The machines themselves only require five to 10 per cent of the area, leaving the remainder for other activities, including ranching, farming and forestry.

Nevertheless, wind power plants can affect the environment in other ways.