IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v3y2010i7p1383-1422d9026.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Coastal and Offshore Wind Energy Generation: Is It Environmentally Benign?

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer C. Wilson

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
    Amec, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 8QZ, UK)

  • Mike Elliott

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Nick D. Cutts

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Lucas Mander

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Vera Mendão

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
    Projecto Delfim, Centro Português de Estudo dos Mamíferos Marinhos, Rua Alto do Duque, 45, 1400-009 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Rafael Perez-Dominguez

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Anna Phelps

    (Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK)

Abstract

Offshore and coastal wind power is one of the fastest growing industries in many areas, especially those with shallow coastal regions due to the preferable generation conditions available in the regions. As with any expanding industry, there are concerns regarding the potential environmental effects which may be caused by the installation of the offshore wind turbines and their associated infrastructure, including substations and subsea cables. These include the potential impacts on the biological, physical and human environments. This review discusses in detail the potential impacts arising from offshore wind farm construction, and how these may be quantified and addressed through the use of conceptual models. It concludes that while not environmentally benign, the environmental impacts are minor and can be mitigated through good siting practices. In addition, it suggests that there are opportunities for environmental benefits through habitat creation and conservation protection areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer C. Wilson & Mike Elliott & Nick D. Cutts & Lucas Mander & Vera Mendão & Rafael Perez-Dominguez & Anna Phelps, 2010. "Coastal and Offshore Wind Energy Generation: Is It Environmentally Benign?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 3(7), pages 1-40, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:3:y:2010:i:7:p:1383-1422:d:9026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/7/1383/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/7/1383/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2009. "Contextualizing avian mortality: A preliminary appraisal of bird and bat fatalities from wind, fossil-fuel, and nuclear electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2241-2248, June.
    2. Boyes, Suzanne J. & Elliott, Michael & Thomson, Shona M. & Atkins, Stephen & Gilliland, Paul, 2007. "A proposed multiple-use zoning scheme for the Irish Sea.: An interpretation of current legislation through the use of GIS-based zoning approaches and effectiveness for the protection of nature conserv," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 287-298, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Dorrell & Keunjae Lee, 2020. "The Cost of Wind: Negative Economic Effects of Global Wind Energy Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    2. Francisco Haces-Fernandez & Hua Li & David Ramirez, 2018. "Assessment of the Potential of Energy Extracted from Waves and Wind to Supply Offshore Oil Platforms Operating in the Gulf of Mexico," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-25, April.
    3. C, O. Mauricio Hernandez & Shadman, Milad & Amiri, Mojtaba Maali & Silva, Corbiniano & Estefen, Segen F. & La Rovere, Emilio, 2021. "Environmental impacts of offshore wind installation, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning activities: A case study of Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. Vaissière, Anne-Charlotte & Levrel, Harold & Pioch, Sylvain & Carlier, Antoine, 2014. "Biodiversity offsets for offshore wind farm projects: The current situation in Europe," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 172-183.
    5. Diego Fernando Bernal-Camacho & Jassiel V. H. Fontes & Edgar Mendoza, 2022. "A Technical Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy in Mexico: A Case Study in Tehuantepec Gulf," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-28, June.
    6. Hooper, Tara & Ashley, Matthew & Austen, Melanie, 2015. "Perceptions of fishers and developers on the co-location of offshore wind farms and decapod fisheries in the UK," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 16-22.
    7. Ziemba, Paweł, 2022. "Uncertain Multi-Criteria analysis of offshore wind farms projects investments – Case study of the Polish Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    8. Mingming Tang & Kexin Zhang & Jixin Huang & Shuangfang Lu, 2019. "Facies and the Architecture of Estuarine Tidal Bar in the Lower Cretaceous Mcmurray Formation, Central Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Christie, N. & Smyth, K. & Barnes, R. & Elliott, M., 2014. "Co-location of activities and designations: A means of solving or creating problems in marine spatial planning?," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 254-261.
    10. Anne-Charlotte Vaissière & Harold Levrel & Sylvain Pioch & Antoine Carlier, 2014. "Biodiversity offsets for offshore wind farm projects: The current situation in Europe," Post-Print hal-01692356, HAL.
    11. Nyman, Elizabeth, 2017. "Maritime energy and security: Synergistic maximization or necessary tradeoffs?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 310-314.
    12. Paweł Ziemba & Jarosław Wątróbski & Magdalena Zioło & Artur Karczmarczyk, 2017. "Using the PROSA Method in Offshore Wind Farm Location Problems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albara M. Mustafa & Abbas Barabadi, 2022. "Criteria-Based Fuzzy Logic Risk Analysis of Wind Farms Operation in Cold Climate Regions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Gorsevski, Pece V. & Cathcart, Steven C. & Mirzaei, Golrokh & Jamali, Mohsin M. & Ye, Xinyue & Gomezdelcampo, Enrique, 2013. "A group-based spatial decision support system for wind farm site selection in Northwest Ohio," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 374-385.
    3. Walston, Leroy J. & Rollins, Katherine E. & LaGory, Kirk E. & Smith, Karen P. & Meyers, Stephanie A., 2016. "A preliminary assessment of avian mortality at utility-scale solar energy facilities in the United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 405-414.
    4. Kaldellis, John K. & Zafirakis, D., 2011. "The wind energy (r)evolution: A short review of a long history," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1887-1901.
    5. Enevoldsen, Peter, 2016. "Onshore wind energy in Northern European forests: Reviewing the risks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1251-1262.
    6. Pranovi, Fabio & Monti, Marco Anelli & Caccin, Alberto & Brigolin, Daniele & Zucchetta, Matteo, 2015. "Permanent trawl fishery closures in the Mediterranean Sea: An effective management strategy?," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 272-279.
    7. Meng-Tsung Lee & Chin-Cheng Wu & Ching-Hsien Ho & Wen-Hong Liu, 2014. "Towards Marine Spatial Planning in Southern Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Siyal, Shahid Hussain & Mörtberg, Ulla & Mentis, Dimitris & Welsch, Manuel & Babelon, Ian & Howells, Mark, 2015. "Wind energy assessment considering geographic and environmental restrictions in Sweden: A GIS-based approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 447-461.
    9. Tabatabaei, Sharareh Majdzadeh & Hadian, Ebrahim & Marzban, Hossein & Zibaei, Mansour, 2017. "Economic, welfare and environmental impact of feed-in tariff policy: A case study in Iran," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 164-169.
    10. Sumper, Andreas & Boix-Aragonès, Oriol & Villafáfila-Robles, Roberto & Bergas-Jané, Joan & Ramírez-Pisco, Rodrigo, 2010. "Methodology for the assessment of the impact of existing high voltage lines in urban areas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6036-6044, October.
    11. Castro-Santos, Laura & Garcia, Geuffer Prado & Simões, Teresa & Estanqueiro, Ana, 2019. "Planning of the installation of offshore renewable energies: A GIS approach of the Portuguese roadmap," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1251-1262.
    12. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    13. Habtemariam, Bereket Tesfamariam & Fang, Qinhua, 2016. "Zoning for a multiple-use marine protected area using spatial multi-criteria analysis: The case of the Sheik Seid Marine National Park in Eritrea," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 135-143.
    14. Miao, Ruiqing & Ghosh, Prasenjit N. & Khanna, Madhu & Wang, Weiwei & Rong, Jian, 2019. "Effect of wind turbines on bird abundance: A national scale analysis based on fixed effects models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 357-366.
    15. Wachs, Elizabeth & Engel, Bernard, 2021. "Land use for United States power generation: A critical review of existing metrics with suggestions for going forward," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    16. Levitt, Andrew C. & Kempton, Willett & Smith, Aaron P. & Musial, Walt & Firestone, Jeremy, 2011. "Pricing offshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6408-6421, October.
    17. McCubbin, Donald & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2013. "Quantifying the health and environmental benefits of wind power to natural gas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 429-441.
    18. Sascha Samadi, 2017. "The Social Costs of Electricity Generation—Categorising Different Types of Costs and Evaluating Their Respective Relevance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-37, March.
    19. Tessa Mazor & Hugh P Possingham & Dori Edelist & Eran Brokovich & Salit Kark, 2014. "The Crowded Sea: Incorporating Multiple Marine Activities in Conservation Plans Can Significantly Alter Spatial Priorities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    20. Jianwen Zhang & Jacob Cherian & Ashak Mahmud Parvez & Sarminah Samad & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Mohammad Athar Ali & Mohammed Arshad Khan, 2022. "Consequences of Sustainable Agricultural Productivity, Renewable Energy, and Environmental Decay: Recent Evidence from ASEAN Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:3:y:2010:i:7:p:1383-1422:d:9026. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.