WMOD00522

• Title: Projected Impacts of a Very Large Windpower Complex
• Date: 9/26/1978
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

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Subtle biological effects might arise from the partly electrical
nature of living cells and their components. Nerve cells communicate
through electrical impulses and electrochemical substances, and macromolecules
assembled within cells have characteristic resonant electrical frequencies,
The assembly process may be affected by electric fields. There is suggestive
empirical evidence for biological effects of electric fields but basic
research on the subject is just beginning. The Department of Energy has
initiated research on possible pathology associated with electrical fields
and expects to have preliminary results before 1981 ~2. The possibility of
mitigation to reduce the ground-level electric field to those of the natural
environment has not yet been investigated. Shielding by grounded conductors
strung beneath the high-voltage conductors would appear to be a simple means
of mitigation,

The environment exposed to these effects would be mostly the forests
and tundra of arctic North America, In forested zones, the largest environ-
mental disturbance would be tree-cutting under the transmission line and the
building of access road. In tundra country, the problem of roadbuilding
would become more acute because of sensitivity of tundra vegetation to
disturbance, In transition regions, forests are restricted to low, sheltered
habitats and placement of powerline towers on elevated points would minimize
the need for cutting,

If the project were to speed commercialization of superconductive
transmission lines, the impacts of constructing these lines (not unlike
those of today's large pipelines) would be substituted for those of overhead
transmission lines, not only in the project area but probably elsewhere in
the country and the world,

4, Cumulative Impact of the Whole Projected Complex

By far the greatest environmental impact of the projected complex
taken as a whole would come from displacement of fuel-burning, fossil and
nuclear, in conventional power plants. It would at least temper the growing
impacts of air pollution, waste disposal" acid rain, and atmospheric carbon
dioxide. 'As world fuel prices rise, the beneficial effect on the cost of
electricity and the international balance of trade could be considerable,
and would spread a ripple effect to all parts of the economy. Diminished
reliance on foreign resources and trade routes would strengthen the national
defense. The inexorable exhaustion of fossil fuels and petrochemicals would
be at least delayed.

Adverse impacts of the project as a whole would be mainly those
incident to construction. These also may be considered as displacing the
impacts of constructing conventional power plants that would otherwise be
built to serve the same demands. Most of the projected construction would
be in remote, unpopulated areas where. it would be least objectionable,
Although there are unresolved questions of long-term indirect effects on
some elements of the environment, especially wildlife, these are far less
acute than those posed by great enlargement of conventional power plants.

D, Conclusions and Implications

It is essential to recognize that it has been appropriate within the
frame of reference of this presentation to visualize the environmental