Investigating the environmental impacts of developing application of wind turbines and the need for the related policies

The share of renewable energies, especially wind power, in the energy supply basket of countries, is growing day by day. The electricity produced by wind turbines has the minimum dependency on water consumption and carbon emissions. For this reason, wind power plants are included in the category of green industries. But it should be noted that performing any industrial activity, even in a green industry, can have destructive effects on the surrounding environment. Investigating and identifying the environmental impacts of this type of power plant can play a significant role in developing more effective regulations in locating, constructing, and operating of these power plants, leading to make this industry more greener. In this study, various environmental impacts of wind power plants and the latest countermeasures to reduce these impacts, which were studied in recent references, were summarized. This can create a structure to quantify these adverse effects and make the right decision for the appropriate placement of wind turbines according to the conditions of each region. The investigated impacts are the simultaneous need for fossil power plants, noise pollution, visual impact, death of birds, shadow flickering, change in the ecosystem of the installation site during construction and operation, carbon emissions and the creation of other pollutants in the construction process, recycling at the end-of-life, and the accidents in wind power plants. Finally, the current state of the environmental regulations for the operation of this type of power plant in Iran, and the effectiveness of these policies have been investigated.