Is this so great? There was some wind power controversy with the Gibbs documentary Planet of the Humans. As I've understood, there are some concerns also with solar power, especially due to the rare earths needed for the construction of such panels. I mean, sure, I love the thought of being self-sufficient and get off the grid, but why are they then also taxing solar cell panels to death?
No these are baseless claims it seems. Similar with the MIT study about carbon costs from making a BEV. A blog that was funded by some PR firm paid by oil companies took that story and ran with it. The points of that blog were refuted by the MIT team later on but no-one listened of course. It has caused significant damage as it managed to stick to the brains of a lot of people.
I wouldn't be surprised if that "documentary" was also paid for.
IDK. A municipality of Kvaløya in Norway were warned against even touching their own tap water, after highly toxic machine oil used to lube windmills had leaked into their reservoire of drinking water. I know this, because I grew up there. So windmills aren't all fun and games, and IMHO their power efficiency is questionable compared to their many alternatives. Norway used to rely solely on hydropower, and were self-sufficient on this resource for many years, but in the latter years, the developement of windmills instead of hydropower seems to be more of a political move than a scientific, or even economic one. Or, well, it's certainly good for someone's economy... But for most people it's just far more expensive, and far less efficient. And, as I've already stated, it can even be dangerous. On top of this, the blades cut down all kinds of birds, and in particular eagles, which is kind of a big deal in Norway since many of these species are on the "Red List" (i.e. in danger of becoming extinct).
