Wind

Whetherman: "Do you think it will rain?"
Milo: "But I thought you said you were the 'Weatherman.'
Whetherman: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm the 'Whetherman,' not the 'Weatherman.' Travel along. It's more important to know whether there is a change in the weather than to know what the weather - will be."

Both Wind and Solar are "Ancillary" Energies: subordinate, subsidiary, secondary, periphery. They have no ability to work all the time, and always need capture and storage devices.

Primary Energies are all hydrothermal energies, including geothermal, due to no capability to generate energy continuously.

Wind is a natural occurring phenomenon. As a resource, wind continues to be used for centuries in grinding grains and beans in windmills. A wind turbine, propellers with upright sleeves is a recent invention, were/are made to only generate electricity. Both windmills and wind turbines only work when there is wind to spin the propellers. No fossil fuels are used to produce the end product, electricity, except some industry oil used for moving parts, mainly the propellers.

As an energy source, windmills have zero emission, being able to be used for hundreds of years, with most built prior to electronics. Wind turbines, while producing conversion zero-emission energy power into electricity, create multiple emissions made through multiple amounts of materials - and travel (parts by land and ships at sea): metals to mine (sleeve towers and wires), plastic, glues, and resins to oil mine, and glass.

It is commonly known that propellers, "blades" create disorientation for all creatures. What is unknown is the magnitude of installing wind turbine "farms," that measures, "Oh My! What have be done!" to - "What have we done!" There is significant evidence that water and air creatures, destructs, and obliterates habitat and ecosystems. Vast amounts of animals don't just suddenly die for no reason. Bats and birds fly in patterns due to weather, and for bats, through echolocation. Echolocation does not work on something that not there and then suddenly appears only to appear again in modes of 3. Bats and Birds become injured by the blades, and experience slow suffering deaths. Invasive species are conquering habitat and species, eating them and making domestic species disappear. [The Chesapeake Bay is already inundated by carnivorous invasive Blue Catfish and Snakeheads, and a few others who have not gotten to startling numbers yet.] It is vital to comprehend and accept that there are other "green" zero emission output methods that do not do this. Concrete use in water is concerning as pieces can be broken off. Pollution - toxic chemical dumpings weathers concrete.

Blow air out of your mouth onto your hand. The warmth you feel is exactly what the sun does; as it directs heat through its rays. This is why windows get fogged up by breath or heat. Warm air moves.

The sun drives the daily cycle of what becomes wind in the atmosphere. Planet Earth's Moon wind cycle rule the tides. As the hot air falls, it cools. A "front" is when winds blow from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas. The meeting of fronts causes different types of wind and weather patterns. Winds are "prevailing" when winds blow from a single direction over a specific area of the Earth.

At sunset, land begins to cool when it is no longer receiving heat from sunlight, so the air above it also cools. Wind strength subsides. This does not mean that there are no high winds at night, simply that they would be much more gusty if they were during the day. Wind affects the entire world, whether there are gusts or not. Sand dunes are created by wind. Waves are created by wind. Wind moves fast, and become cyclones, tornadoes on land, and tropical storms, typhoons, tsunamis, and hurricanes, which scoop up water.

"The Taiwan government's 'Thousand wind turbine project' plans to install 600 offshore turbines before 2030. The results here reported suggest that the mass installation of wind turbines involving pile driving may substantially affect the typical chorusing patterns of some soniferous species that chorus in a diurnal pattern to deviate from their normal chorusing behavior, which may affect these species’ activities, such as spawning and foraging (Hawkins, 2005). Stakeholders should take these findings into account when establishing the construction calendar of windfarms and endeavor to avoid periods of the year when these species are known to spawn. ....
This study provides an assessment of fish chorusing of a natural habitat exposed to windfarm construction and operation noise in the ETS. Passive monitoring from 2016 to 2018 revealed that two chorusing species (Types 1 and 2) cyclically repeating their chorus over a diurnal pattern at the windfarm site. When exposed to pile driving and operation noise, the two chorusing types behaved differently. .... This study also suggests the need to provide site and species-specific impact analyses of the pile driving and operating windfarm noise. Accordingly, the conservation and noise mitigation measures can be taken up by policymakers."

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• Must Endure: Salt and other Corrosives, High winds, hurricanes, lighting strikes, netting entanglements, boat and ship collisions, and unforgivable bat and bird injuries and deaths with propeller blades.

• Short Lifespan: 20-30 years

• Materials: A lot of copper, metal, glass, carbon fibers plastic resins. Glass and carbon fibers are embedded in plastic resins to form the propellers/blades.

• Recycle: Too many turbines due to short lifespan. Metal propellers Since glass and carbon fibers are embedded in plastic resins, there is currently no economical way to breakdown the materials separately. Millions are being spent in attempts to use pyrolysis - a "chemical advanced recycling" method (unproven) for glass and carbon fibers embedded in plastic resins, but has not come to fruition.

Continuous Low frequency Noise = Sound that never stops that emits slow sound waves

Infrasound = A specific type of sound waves that have frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility.

Humans exposure to infrasound at levels generally above 110 decibels include changes in blood pressure, respiratory rate, and balance. Physical hearing damage and to the ear, is found in humans and/or animals at levels above 140 decibels.

Shadow Flicker = The effect of the sun (low on horizon) whose rays shine through wind turbine propellers, casting moving darkness. The movement of wind rotates the blades that is visually perceived as, "flickering," creating darkness over and over again, dispersing light and darkness.

HEALTH CONCERNS: Sound (Continuous Low frequency Noise and Infrasound),
Electromagnetic Field Emissions (EMFs)
Shadow Flicker

INFRASOUND = A specific type of sound waves that have frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES - United States of America Government

• 3.2 Changes in Benthic Habitat Substrate [The Seabed]
• 3.3 Artificial Reef Effects [Does not work same as reef - interrupts species composition]
• 3.4 Invasive Species Spread [Natural Habitat change = exodus of domestic, and invasives massively conquer and thrive]
• 3.5 Wake Effects and Scour
• 3.6 Suspended Sediment and Sediment Deposition
• 3.7 Release of Sediment Contaminants
• 3.8 Attraction Effects
• 3.9 Avoidance Effects
• 3.10 Acoustic Effects During Installation [NOISE POLLUTION]

"When this new hard-bottom habitat is created, it can cause the loss of soft-bottom habitat, which can affect species that are not mobile; organisms could be crushed when the structure is built or could be smothered when the installation of the foundation displaces sediment. Soft-bottom habitat loss typically occurs on less than 1 percent of a wind farm site's total area but can be up to 7 percent of the area with some gravity foundation designs ....
Soft-bottom habitat loss could affect marine mammals that use soft-bottom habitats for feeding areas, such as grey whales that feed on infauna and epifauna. Soft-bottom habitat loss might affect some diving seabirds that feed in these habitats, like scoters, which feed on benthic invertebrates, particularly when wind farms are sited in relatively shallow water. ....
Benthic habitat loss is restricted to the foundation footprint and immediate adjacent areas, where scour protection pads are installed. Effects of habitat loss due to foundation installation and operation is expected to be greatest for foundations with the largest footprint, like gravity, monopile, and suction bucket foundations, relatively smaller for tri-pile, tripod, and jack-up foundations, and smallest for jacket and floating foundations. For floating foundations, the extent to which heavy anchor chains designed to absorb wave action drag along the sea floor is unknown and could disturb a wide area of benthic habitat surrounding the anchors.

• 3.3 Artificial Reef Effects [Does not work same as reef - interrupts species composition]

The introduction of offshore wind foundations may also cause a change in the species composition in the ecological communities of an area. Epifouling organisms (i.e., organisms that grow on the surfaces of submerged human-made structures) colonize the structures and the community is initially dominated by invertebrates. Overtime, as these communities mature, more complex communities form as demersal and pelagic fishes are attracted to the increased prey available on and near the structures.

• 3.4 Invasive Species Spread [Natural Habitat change = exodus of domestic, while invasives massively conquer and thrive]

"Wind turbine foundations not only serve as hard structure for local communities, but can also be rapidly colonized by invasive species. Invasive species are defined as those that are not native to a specific area and that tend to spread, resulting in damage to the environment, economy, or human health. From a regional perspective, offshore wind foundations in a large expanse of soft-bottom substrate can provide steppingstones for invasive species to expand further. Invasive species can spread between foundations and nearby hard-bottom areas that might otherwise be too far to reach, like groups of islands or previously uncolonized sections of coastline. Many intertidal and sub-tidal species have larvae (i.e. a distinct juvenile form that many animals undergo before maturation or metamorphosis into adults) that spend a period of time drifting as plankton at sea, which allows them to disperse across long distances before they settle to the bottom and adhere to hard substrate, where they grow and mature. Spread of invasive species; like barnacles, mussels, and limpets is of particular concern because they have mobile, planktonic larvae and require hard substrate to recruit. Wind farm foundations can introduce new hard substrate into offshore waters that otherwise would have limited or no existing hard substrates, thereby providing new hard-bottom habitat that the mobile larvae of invasive species can populate, to the detriment of native species. ....

Lionfish are found in Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, even currently to New York. Warmer waters will continue their prominence. Wind turbines generate heat, offering the tropical lionfish an ecosystem. There is also evidence that lionfish are adapting to cooler waters. Demonstrative algae blooms tend to keep lionfish away, yet destroy ecosystems oh their own.

"Diving off Philippine Islands in the Pacific, I photographed what they called, 'Turkeyfish.' In places, these were the only species of fish in abundance. Members of the Scorpaenidae family, these beautiful fish remained perfectly still suspended in the water column, brightly colored red-and-white spines deployed, large mouths poised to devour prey.

Lionfish have a variety of other names, including turkeyfish in the Philippines and zebrafish. All exotic and beautiful fish to behold. They became aquarists' dream fish, decorating saltwater tanks with resplendent beauty. Their popularity waned when admirers found the species had voracious appetites and quickly devoured other small tropicals {fish...} in tanks with them. Not wanting to kill these magnificent fish thoughtless, saltwater aquarium owners dumped them into the Atlantic Ocean. When Hurricane Andrew destroyed a large sea aquarium in Miami, it was reported that six lionfish were blown into Biscayne Bay. Some postulate that ocean-going ships from the Pacific Ocean emptied them when they released water from ballast tanks.

Whatever the origins of the first lionfish invasion of the Atlantic Ocean regions off Florida and the Caribbean, they have proliferated as an invasive species and continue to menace other tropical reef fish. Not particularly large species, Pterois range from tiny juveniles about 2 inches in length to adults that can be 18 inches long weighing up to three pounds. These are long-lived fish that remain in the reef environment for some 15 years without predators. Females reproduce every month releasing upward of 15,000 eggs.

In the Philippines, I found turkeyfish to be aggressive. When I would approach to take a photograph they would aim their venomous spines at me and prepare for an attack. With specialized muscles that control swim bladders, lionfish species can remain poised in the water column or on reefs ready to attack prey. They have the aposematic coloration of bright red, brown, and white. Feathery spines contain a dangerous toxin concealed inside colorful sheaths. Lionfish are not only exotic; they are dangerous."

"Offshore wind foundations cause obstruction of water flow from prevailing currents, tides, and wave action. Accelerated water movement around a structure creates turbulence as water passes the structure, which is known as a wake effect. Some species may seek refuge from currents in wake areas or benefit from decreased visibility due to increased suspended sediment within wakes, whereas others take advantage of the concentration of prey at turbulent areas {invasive species}. Due to changes in water movement patterns, wake effects may affect demersal (i.e., bottom-dwelling) fishes and invertebrates by altering recruitment of larval life stages that settle out of the water column to benthic substrates. Alteration of water movement patterns may also change the availability of food sources for demersal fishes and invertebrates. Suspended sediment concentration and sedimentation can affect not only the availability of planktonic food sources, but also the availability of oxygen and waste removal."

"During the offshore wind foundation installation process, seabed preparation (e.g., dredging, cutting, excavation, ploughing, jetting), jack-up installation, pile driving, and anchoring support vessels can cause sediments to become suspended in the water column, increasing the suspended sediment concentration. During operations, scour and wake effects can also alter sediment composition in the immediate vicinity of foundations, which may affect organic matter associated with sediment size and benthic productivity. Suspended sediment transported by currents, tidal flow, and wave energy are moved away from the immediate vicinity of the foundation until it falls out of suspension and to the seafloor. While suspended in the water column, there is a small risk for sediment to clog fish gills and compromise organisms' abilities to search for food if they are visual predators or foragers. Deposited sediment can threaten immobile benthic species and demersal spawning fish and invertebrates, if eggs or individuals are smothered.
Foundations that require major bottom disturbance, such as by dredging, are expected to have the largest installation-related suspended sediment levels and sedimentation effects on benthic communities. Sediment deposition can also occur during installation if dredged materials from bottom preparation are discharged into the water column or directly onto the seafloor. Such spoil mounds consisting of waste material from installation activities could persist for many years if they are composed of large particles. However, discharging dredge material is usually prohibited or controlled to minimize negative effects of direct sediment deposition onto the seafloor. ....

During the operational phase of an offshore windfarm, in areas with naturally high suspended sediment concentrations, wake effects can create sheltered areas with finer particles depositing behind turbines. Alternatively, scour adjacent to foundations and/or scour pads can alter sediment particle sizes in the vicinity of foundations. It is possible that biodiversity could change in response to changes in organic matter associated with sediment particulate sizes, with an overall shift from areas with coarser sediments and low organic matter to lower-energy areas with accumulation of fine sediment and higher organic content. ....
Gravity foundations and suction bucket foundations may have larger sediment effects than monopiles because of their larger scour potential. Floating foundations are used in very deep water, where currents near the seabed are relatively weak; thus, sediment effects from their anchors would be expected to be minimal; however, movement of anchor rodes may cause similar levels of ongoing sediment disturbance effects compared to scour- and wake-associated sediment disturbance effects of monopile foundations."

"Marine sediments may contain a variety of harmful chemical substances, including: arsenic, heavy metals, oil, organotin, PCBs, and pesticides, that were disposed of in the ocean by humans. Activities that disturb the seabed can release and mobilize contaminants into the marine environment. Discharge of large amounts of sediment, such as by dredging or reverse-circulation drilling, have the largest potential for releasing sediment contaminants. Over the life of the wind farm, ongoing scour can facilitate exposure, release, and transport of contaminated sediments, although the amount of sediment affected would likely be much less compared to that affected during installation. Resuspension of contaminants at offshore sites for wind projects are therefore of most concern during the installation period.
Negative physiological effects (e.g., toxicity) and behavioral effects (e.g., avoidance) on marine species can result from sediments that are disturbed during installation. Contaminants and pollutants can also bioaccumulate (i.e., become concentrated inside the bodies of living things) and spread from benthic-oriented or planktonic-feeding organisms through the food web. The release and transport of sediment contaminants is of greatest concern in areas with high contaminant loads, like estuaries or near shore environments that historically received polluted runoff or dumping (e.g., dredge disposal sites).
If installation occurs in an area with high contaminant loads, gravity foundations and monopile foundations using reverse-circulation drilling are likely to cause more contaminants to be released than monopiles or jacket, tripod, tri-pile, jack-up, and floating foundations that are installed by piling.
Suction bucket foundations and floating foundations that use embedded anchors, suction caissons, and deadweight anchors are likely to cause even less suspension. Over the life of the wind farm, release of sediment contaminants is only likely to occur relative to the amount of scour associated with a foundation type."

"Increased predation on small pelagic species that congregate to feed on the epibenthic community could result in an 'ecological trap' where predators can hunt more efficiently, with potentially negative effects on prey populations. This could happen when habitat only aggregates individuals and does not contribute to their reproduction, as would occur if juveniles of a species recruit to a structure, but do not have adequate spawning habitat to reproduce. ....
For migratory species that use the mid-Atlantic coastal shelf as a seasonal 'flyway', such as striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus), there is concern that the introduction of wind turbine foundations in the otherwise featureless offshore environment could alter species' migration patterns by attracting them to linger at wind farm areas (Rothermel et al. 2020).
MARYLAND: Within Maryland wind energy areas, seasonal and migratory habitat uses by Atlantic Sturgeon and Striped Bass have been documented ahead of wind farm development, suggesting future wind farm development should further evaluate potential effects of wind turbine foundations on migratory species' behaviors and consider use of seasonal work windows to minimize adverse effects from installation activities (Secor et al. 2020). Ongoing monitoring surveys of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) and adult and larval American lobster (Homarus americanus) at the proposed Vineyard Wind I offshore energy project, offshore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, are collecting baseline population and distribution data to evaluate effects of wind farm construction and operation on these species' movements and spatial and temporal abundances."

"Visual and spatial disturbance from increased vessel activity, foundation installation, and ongoing maintenance activities also have the potential to cause marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles to exhibit avoidance behavior at wind farm sites. Barrier effects can occur if a wind farm is located between feeding grounds and breeding areas or along migration routes, creating obstacles to movement patterns. This is a concern for some seabirds, such as Wide-Ranging Albatross (Diomedea spp.), that forage at night across large distances, or sea ducks, like scaup (Aythya spp.), that raft at night and may commute to and from foraging sites across windfarm sites. If such avoidance changes species' energy requirements or causes disorientation during migration, there could be negative effects on overall fitness. Additionally, potential increases in time off the nest could result in increased chick predation. Some seabirds are relatively more disturbed by vessel traffic and artificial lighting, such as Northern Gannet (Morus Bassanus) and Common Guillemot (Uria aalge), and will avoid wind farms during periods of heavy human activity like during foundation installation. Such species-specific avoidance responses, like increased movement along perimeters, have been observed at Danish windfarms; however, this is unlikely to have biological consequences if foundations are not sited near nesting areas. Displacement from foraging areas within wind farm sites may occur and can result in increased competition for food resources at adjacent foraging areas.
Bird species that rely on shallow, coastal areas are considered most at risk from displacement, as these locations are currently favored for wind farm siting. Some species of diving birds and sea ducks at Danish and German wind project sites were reduced or eliminated {populations} within wind project sites, and this may have occurred because loss of open-ocean foraging habitat; such loss is a minimal proportion of available habitat in the greater surrounding areas, but could have cumulative effects if birds are forced to use larger foraging ranges to meet energetic demands. Other species, like Guillemots and Razorbills, became habituated to foundations and returned to use habitat within wind farms. Site-specific factors, like food abundance and foundation configuration, may play greater roles in observed avoidance and habituation." [Bird Food Banks, like humans]

"Most avoidance-causing effects to fishes, marine mammals, and potentially sea turtles occur during foundation installation because of increased noise and vibration from installation activities, such as pile driving. Pile driving creates underwater noise and pressure waves at levels observed to cause avoidance behavior in marine mammals, and that also may potentially cause mortality and tissue damage in fish. Fishes that have swim bladders use these air-filled organs for buoyancy control and some species’ swim bladders are connected to their auditory system.
Pinnipeds have middle ears, like humans, that are filled with air between tympanic membranes and contain middle ear ossicles. Fishes and marine mammals that have air-filled organs that are particularly sensitive to loud noises and large pressure waves due to the amplification of sounds by these organs.
Marine invertebrates have been considered less susceptible than mammals and fish to loud noise and vibration because they generally do not possess air-filled spaces like swim bladders or middle ears. Nevertheless, noise at the levels associated with pile-driving has been reported to cause short-term behavioral responses in marine invertebrates within a distance of approximately 10 m of the disturbance; bivalves, a type of mollusk, withdraw their air flow tubes or siphons, polychaetes, a type of worm, retract their appendages and also withdraw rapidly to the bottom of their burrows. Additionally, physiological damage has also been observed to be indirectly caused by underwater noise, such as DNA damage in Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis) and protein damage in Mediterranean common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis).
The two components of underwater sound, vibration and pressure, change significantly with distance from the source. Noise levels produced by hammers used for installation of offshore wind turbine foundations are sufficient to cause mortality of marine life, such as fish with swim bladders and their larva. Such effects typically occur at close range (i.e. 3 m or 10 feet) from the pile or less. ....
Non-lethal and non-injury causing noise levels and pressure waves can elicit avoidance reactions from marine animals, such as startling, hiding, or fleeing. There is evidence for behavioral avoidance in harbor porpoises during pile driving.

"Assessment of 319 wind farms in the United States provides new observational evidence for the impacts of wind farms on local climate and vegetation. Our study reconciles the inconsistent impacts reported in previous studies, which focused only on a few individual wind farms lacking representativeness. Our results from a large sample of wind farms revealed significant local warming effects at night, insignificant impacts during the daytime, and the mostly negative impacts on vegetation. The large heterogeneity in wind farm impacts highlights the role of wind farm characteristics, environmental factors, and undocumented local factors. The quantification method can be applied to other countries or regions with available wind farm information. Further studies using satellite data at finer resolution than MODIS data could reveal the impact with more spatial detail."

Millions spent in attempts to use pyrolysis - a "chemical advanced recycling" method (unproven) for glass and carbon fibers embedded in plastic resins.

"Globally, the volume of wind turbine blades reaching end of life could hit 12 billion metric tons in 2050, according to researchers at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. All those retired turbines will pose a problem for communities and the environment if they continue to wind up in the dump.

The pending pileup has a lot to do with how wind turbines are made. About 85 percent of turbine components — including steel towers and copper wiring — can be reused or recycled once the three-pronged machines cease twirling. But the blades themselves are built with materials designed to endure two to three decades {20-30 years} of spinning around in high winds and enduring lighting strikes, bird collisions, and other potential assaults from the surrounding environment. Lightweight glass or carbon fibers are embedded in plastic resins, forming sturdy shells that can stretch as long as the wings of jumbo passenger jets. This ultimately makes blades harder to break for other uses."