What are wind power’s other environmental impacts?
Wind power plants, like all other energy technologies, have some environmental impacts. However, unlike most conventional technologies (which have regional and even global impacts due to their emissions and fuel imports), the impacts of wind energy systems are minimal and local. This makes them easier for local communities to monitor and, if necessary, mitigate. The local environmental impacts that can result from wind power development include: Erosion which can be prevented through best practices in construction and proper installation and landscaping techniques. Erosion can be a concern in certain habitats such as the desert, where a hard-packed soil surface must be disturbed to install wind turbines. Erosion has also been raised as a concern in the eastern U.S., where wind farms typically must be installed on mountain ridgelines. However, standard engineering practices used by ski areas on the same kind of terrain are adequate to deal with any erosion issues that might be raised by
