Assessing the environmental impacts of renewable energy sources with emphasis on wind energy

Renewable energy (RE) technologies have become particularly popular worldwide, so as to mitigate climate change and to support addressing contemporary international energy market challenges. However, relevant projects may impact both the environment and humans. This study is based on a literature review of the environmental effects of RE projects. Wind energy, hydropower, solar energy and geothermal energy are the most common renewable energy sources. This review analyses environmental impact related data from, mainly, European countries, taking into account their commonality in Greece, considering relevant publications, articles, reports and papers with a time span of twenty-five years. This review’s main objective is to identify and organize the environmental impacts during the different phases of a RE project, which are the pre-construction phase, the construction phase, the operation phase, the upgrade phase and the decommissioning phase. The environmental components used for an environmental impact assessment and the different receptor groups of each impact were taken into consideration, to properly map the environmental impacts. The study covers the natural and man-made environment affected by RE projects and emphasizes on wind energy projects. Main research gaps are highlighted, and future research steps are proposed.