Renewable energy that is truly sustainable

Shantanu Roy; shantanu.roy@hotmail.com

As an end user and one conscious of the GHG guzzling fossil fuel based electricity, renewables
sounds to the alternative of choice. But green energy does not mean it’s benign to the environment
and ecology. A study outcome published recently, concluded that in areas with wind farms there are
notable reduction in predatory birds and with it, reduced bird activity. The study found that this
change leads to increase in the density of lizards on ground and also noted changes in the
morphology, behaviour and physiology of those lizards. Adding or removing a top predator has wide-
scale consequences for ecosystems and this study shows that the wind turbines are like introducing
new top predators that are reducing the activity of existing bird species like Buteo, Butastur and
Elanus.

But it is not that the impact of wind turbines on ecology and environment has surfaced for the first
time in India. While the above mentioned findings has introduced a new dimension to the
environmental impacts of wind energy, it has been previously pointed out how wind energy is
contributing to the wiping out of the critically endangered great Indian bustard. The grassland
habitat in Gujarat and Rajasthan being used for the wind turbines (and solar power projects) has
reduced the habitat for this species. Add to this the reported deaths attributed to collision,
entanglement, and electrocution due to the criss-crossing power lines.

That forestland is diverted for wind farms is another issue of concern. In 2013, it was reported that
since 1980 3,932 hectares (ha) of forestland have been diverted for wind power with no proper
environmental assessment. Therefore the impact these wind farms had on forest ecology remains
practically unknown.

With off shore wind farms in the horizon, the threat to marine biodiversity will needed to be
considered upfront and mitigation measures devised. On land, conservationists have argued for a
robust environmental impact assessment studies that considers flight paths across all seasons,
constructing underground power lines or using “bird diverters” to make overhead wires more visible
amongst the various measures proposed. Considering the GoI’s goal of 175,000 MW renewable
energy capacity by 2022 it is import to take a critical view of wind energy which then will lead to
renewable energy that is truly sustainable.

References:

http://vigyanprasar.gov.in/isw/wind-turbines-impacting-ecology-western-ghats-story.html

https://qz.com/india/1324722/renewable-energy-power-projects-are-killing-the-endangered-great-
indian-bustard/

https://www.cseindia.org/wind-power-needs-strict-regulations-to-manage-its-environmental-
impacts-says-study-by-centre-for-science-and-environment-5041