A comprehensive look into the sustainability of wind power

Abstract

While the idea of sustainability has caught the attention of public, planners and technologists in a big way, assessment of sustainability is not a straightforward matter. There are just a few works covering all aspects of sustainability in wind energy conversion technology. As three main pillars of sustainability are economic, environmental and social aspect, this review tries to summarize all three aspects of sustainability for wind turbine energy in a comprehensive manner. From the vast body of published literature, data has been collected and presented for economics and environmental performance of wind power vis-à-vis conventional power generation. It is observed that greenhouse gas emissions, water requirement and environmental index potential are indeed in the lower band for wind power among all energy resources. Despite replacing fossil fuel and thereby reducing carbon footprint for power generation, there are several negative sides for the wind power. The issues include handling large volume of waste, effect on biodiversity and human health and effect on human settlement. While no general methodology for evaluation of overall sustainability is presented herein, the focus is to compile the issues extensively so that an appreciation of the performance of wind energy in terms of sustainability can be realized.