Five big green energy myths busted
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Green energy is still a relatively new concept – especially when you consider the fact that the first coal-fired power station was built in London in 1882. It’s not surprising that there are still a lot of myths out there.
Here are our five favourite green energy myths to bust.
1.Windmills are too noisy
Even if you stood 300m away from one of our windmills, the only noise you’d hear from it would be similar to the hum of a fridge – it's barely noticeable.
In fact, our windmills have to be placed at least 800m away from houses to prevent noise pollution – and you definitely wouldn’t hear anything at that distance.
2.Solar panels don’t work unless it’s a really sunny day
Solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to work – they can absorb daylight, even on a cloudy day.
Whatever the weather, solar energy is generated when photons from the sun create a flow of electricity in the solar panel, which is why you’ll sometimes see them referred to as photovoltaic panels.
Technology has come on in leaps and bounds – our new sun parks use bifacial solar panels, which generate electricity from the underside as well as the top face, from light reflected off the ground. Overall, they can generate around 7 to 10% more electricity than conventional panels!
3.Windmills kill loads of birds
This is arguably one of the most common myths we hear.
We have an experienced Development team who carry out extensive research before we even get to the building stage, as it’s really important to us that we minimise our impact on nature as much as possible.
It’s also worth looking at it proportionally. Fossil fuel power plants actually kill 35 times more birds than windmills do, killing 9.4 birds per GWh compared to the 0.27 killed by windmills.
4.Windmills use more carbon in their production than they save in their lifetime
Throughout its lifetime, a windmill will save up to 50x more CO2 than is produced in manufacturing, construction, operation and decommissioning all together.
5.Solar panels negatively affect biodiversity
Just a small proportion of a solar park is permanently built on – the rest can be given over to meadows under the solar panels, open spaces, and hedgerows around the perimeter.
Our solar farms give us an opportunity to both combat climate change and boost biodiversity in local areas, restoring wildflower meadows to help pollinators, insects, birds and mammals thrive.
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