Effects of offshore wind farms: environmental and social perspectives from Uruguay
The installation of offshore wind farms is rising, driven by the goal of changing the global energy matrix. However, many of their possible impacts are still unknown. Increased noise levels, disruptions to food chains, pollution due to traffic, and impacts on fishing communities and tourism are all...
| Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad de Jaén |
| Repository: | RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/6660 |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/9057 https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209057 https://hdl.handle.net/10953/6660 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | environmental impacts social impacts offshore wind farms 621.35 |
| Summary: | The installation of offshore wind farms is rising, driven by the goal of changing the global energy matrix. However, many of their possible impacts are still unknown. Increased noise levels, disruptions to food chains, pollution due to traffic, and impacts on fishing communities and tourism are all potential effects to consider. Marine habitats are essential carbon dioxide sinks. Therefore, losing marine biodiversity due to offshore wind farms can be counterproductive in mitigating climate change. Balancing biodiversity conservation, wind potential, and political interests is challenging. Today, Uruguay has significantly decreased the fossil share in its electricity generation, incorporating electricity generation from wind, solar, and biomass energy alongside hydroelectricity. In line with this, the country’s Hydrogen Roadmap highlights green hydrogen as relevant, potentially serving as a fuel for both domestic and export transportation. Combining the country’s strong base of wind energy production experience with its sustainable policy, it plans to implement offshore wind farms to produce green hydrogen, making studies of its impacts crucial. This paper reviews the current social and environmental information on the Uruguayan coastal habitat, analyzes onshore wind farms’ ecological studies, and examines offshore wind farms’ global environmental and social impacts. Finally, it proposes studies for environmental approval of offshore wind farms. |
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