A new study by Politecnico di Milano makes a compelling case for full-lifecycle environmental benefits from floating turbines.
The work was conducted to ascertain the feasibility of a new offshore wind farm close to the Sicilian coast. Procurement of materials, transport, assembly, installation, maintenance, disassembly and end-of-life were all assessed for damage to the planet, making this one of very few scientific papers to look at this vital issue.
Researchers have concluded almost all impact types would be significantly improved for every 1GWh of energy produced offshore compared to Italy’s alternatives. In the ‘climate change’ category, there would be a 92% reduction in impact from the windfarm against onshore infrastructure feeding the national grid.
Only one area would the turbines perform worse – abiotic depletion, which relates to the extraction of natural minerals from the ground. However, the team’s report also points out this is misleading, as the windfarm itself would result in significantly less fossil fuels being mined over time. Within three years the greenhouse gases saved would counterbalance any abiotic debt.
‘Overall, the results of the analysis provide a rough indication that helps make us aware of the environmental loadings of a renewable electricity generation system and to compare it with other energy sources’, said Gaia Brussa, researcher at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Politecnico. ‘However, it must be kept in mind that this is currently a preliminary estimate based on the design choices presented for the scoping phase of the Environmental Impact Assessment.
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Image: Nicholas Doherty