Larger wind turbines effective but riskyThe U.S. wind industry has expanded at an unprecedented rate with 6.8 GW added in 2011 alone, according to Wind Energy Update. Further, 42 percent of turbines installed in 2011 were bigger than 2 MW. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that the size of wind turbines has increased from 1.67 MW in 2008 to 1.97 MW in 2011. Manufacturers are producing more large scale wind turbines to make the industry most cost efficient, according to Wind Energy Update. Wind turbines could power half the world's future energy demands with minimal environmental impact, according to research published by University of Delaware and Stanford University scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. With the proliferation of wind, health and safety managers in the energy industry are faced with completing more complex projects on time and budget while ensuring worker safety. But these types of projects utilizing larger wind turbines have brought rise to worker safety concerns associated with bigger blades, taller towers and more complex logistics and electrical systems. For more:
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