Wind Energy

Windenergy is considered clean.
Sustainable.
Without alternative.

Is that really true? Even though almost no one asks the crucial question:
→ What happens when we extract energy from the climate system itself on a large scale?

Because that is exactly what wind turbines do.

Wind turbines cannot generate energy; they can only convert existing energy.
In doing so, they interfere with the global circulation system.

A system that governs our weather, our water cycle, and our climate.

Wind turbines extract kinetic energy from the wind.
This means, in concrete terms:

• Airflows are slowed down and their range is reduced
• Energy flows are altered and the natural balance is disrupted
• Flow structures are disrupted, laminar flows give way to turbulence

→ Behind every wind turbine, an “energy shadow” forms — growing larger the more energy is extracted.

A zone with less wind, less energy, and altered dynamics.

The kinetic energy of wind is calculated using the following formula:

Let us first consider an area of 1 m². This gives, using

• air density: ρ ≈ 1.2 kg/m³
• wind speed: 10 m/s
• area: 1 m²

a volume flow of 10 m³/s or a mass flow of 12 kg/s

According to the formula above, this yields a power density of 600 W, i.e. 0.6 kW per second.

This may sound small — and it is indeed the reason why wind turbines are built so large. However, when large air masses are involved, this adds up to enormous energy flows.

If we increase the area in the example to 10,000 m², the theoretical power increases by a factor of 10,000 to 6 MW.

In practice, only around 30 to 40 per cent of this power is converted into electrical power. The remainder is dissipated through friction and air turbulence.

To generate an electrical output of 6 MW, the swept area would have to be increased to 25,000 m² or more, assuming an efficiency of 40 % or less. 
Comparison with actual data: Vestas V172-7.2 MW → rotor diameter: 172 m → swept area: approximately 23,200 m²

In addition to the rotor diameter, which is subject to physical constraints, the velocity of the airflow plays a decisive role. The following relationships apply:

Rotor diameter and wind speed are key factors for rated power:

• Double diameter → 4× power
• Double wind speed → 8× power
• Triple wind speed → 27× power

Renewable Energy??

The term “renewable energy” creates the impression that energy can be renewed. In reality, energy can only be converted. Even if wind is available again the next day, it is not “renewed” energy, but newly supplied energy.

The order of magnitude involved is shown below. For the years 2023 to 2025, the first column shows the annual energy output in TWh. Dividing this by the number of hours in a year (8,760 h/a) gives the average output. 

Europe:

• 2023: 428 TWh → approx. 49 GW average output
• 2024: 475 TWh → approx. 54 GW → roughly equivalent to ~50 large power stations operating at full capacity
• 2025: 585 TWh → approx. 67 GW → roughly equivalent to ~67 large power stations operating at full capacity

Worldwide:

• 2023: 2,304 TWh → approx. 263 GW
• 2024: 2,494 TWh → approx. 285 GW → equivalent to ~ 280 large power stations operating at full capacity
• 2025: 2,715 TWh → approx. 310 GW → equivalent to ~ 310 large power stations operating at full capacity

Assuming an average efficiency of around 30%, the actual impact on wind flows is approximately three times the amount of electrical power generated.

For 2025 and beyond, this means that, on average, human activity is already continuously disrupting the global climatic wind-flow system on a scale of approximately 1 TW. This is equivalent to the power generated by roughly 1,000 large power stations.

Moreover, the continued expansion of wind power is being actively pursued as a matter of policy. Its climatic impacts are already visible, but they are simply being attributed to climate change.

Although Europe accounts for only about 6.8% of the Earth’s land area, it consumes approximately 20% of the aforementioned energy within this relatively small area. The finding, repeatedly confirmed by Copernicus in recent years, that Europe is warming faster than any other continent may well be linked to this.