Trade body counters claim wind farms cause climate change

The UK’s trade body for renewable energy has rushed to the defence of wind farms, after some commentators claimed new research said they added to global warming. Over the weekend, […]

The UK’s trade body for renewable energy has rushed to the defence of wind farms, after some commentators claimed new research said they added to global warming.

Over the weekend, a paper released in the US suggested wind farms in Texas could warm the air over wind farms by 0.72 °C at nighttime.

Some anti-wind groups seized upon this research as a reason to criticise wind power.

But RenewableUK says their concerns are unfounded, pointing to one of the report’s author’s comment that the warming may even have positive effects.

Dr. Gordon Edge, Director of Policy at RenewableUK said: “This is an interesting report on the areas it covers, but as the authors say, it doesn’t draw conclusions about climate change as a whole, other than to state that wind power is part of the solution to it.

“It’s also important for British media to recognise that this looks at large scale wind farms in Texas – not the much smaller developments we have in the UK”.

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