What are the environmental and economic impacts of a wind power system on a small rural community in East Galway?

Abstract

As the world is getting increasingly more concerned about the environment and the fear that the end of fossil fuels is coming soon; people are researching into different ways of meeting our energy needs in the future. One of these ways is wind energy as it is one of the most efficient and effective methods of generating electricity. Wind energy has the ultimate advantage; its primary fuel is the wind which is a renewable source of energy. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the positive and negative environmental and economic impacts of a wind power system are, on a small rural community in East Galway. The author intends to achieve this by interviewing people involved in the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind power systems as well as people who have installed wind power systems. As a result the author should gain a greater understanding of the impacts of wind power systems. On completion of the thesis the author hopes to have provided the reader with the main environmental and economic impacts of wind power systems.