Comment What's the environmental impact? (Score 0) 65
Estimated Trees Felled for UK onshore wind farms: Approximately 17 million trees have been felled since the early 2000s (over ~24 years of major development).This figure comes from a 2024 Scottish Government-commissioned review of public land projects, covering ~1 million trees cut in 2023 alone.
Context: Many turbines are sited in commercial plantations (e.g., Sitka spruce) scheduled for harvesting anyway, but felling accelerates for turbine bases, access roads, and power lines. Not all are "ancient" forests—most are managed monocultures—but it still disrupts habitats and carbon sinks (each tree absorbs ~1 tonne of CO over its lifetime).
Per farm: A typical 50 MW onshore project might require felling 10,000–50,000 trees, depending on site density.
Approximately 4,000–6,000 acres directly cleared cumulatively.
Breakdown: Turbine foundations: ~0.1–0.25 acres each (UK has ~4,500 onshore turbines, totaling ~450–1,125 acres).
Access roads & substations: 2–4 acres per MW (28,000–56,000 acres total leased, but only ~3,000–5,000 acres cleared/scarred).
Studies estimate 0.5–2 acres/MW direct impact for the ~14 GW onshore fleet.
Future projections: Doubling to 30 GW onshore by 2030 could add ~2,000–4,000 more acres cleared.
- ChatGPT
