MIT analysis suggests wind turbines could cause temperatures to rise and fall

Turbines installed in water could cause drop in temperature; land turbines could cause rise MIT analysis suggests wind turbines could cause temperatures to rise and fall - New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena - CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Although wind power has emerged as a viable renewable energy source in recent years ? one that proponents say could lessen the threat of global warming ? a new MIT analysis may serve to temper enthusiasm about wind power, at least at very large scales. Ron Prinn, TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science, and principal research scientist Chien Wang of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, used a climate model to analyze the effects of millions of wind turbines that would need to be installed across vast stretches of land and ocean to generate wind power on a global scale. Such a massive deployment could indeed impact the climate, they found, though not necessarily with the desired outcome. In a paper published online Feb. 22 in , Wang and Prinn suggest that using wind turbines to meet 10 percent of global energy demand in 2100 could cause temperatures to rise by one degree Celsius in the regions on land where the wind farms are installed, including a smaller increase in areas beyond those regions. Their analysis indicates the opposite result for wind turbines installed in water: a drop in temperatures by one degree Celsius over those regions. Prinn cautioned against interpreting the study as an argument against wind power, urging that it be used to guide future research that explores the downsides of large-scale wind power before significant resources are invested to build vast wind farms. ?We?re not pessimistic about wind,?