Efficiency & Environment, Infrastructure
Vladimir Putin claims wind turbines are harming birds and worms
The Russian President said there are "serious consequences of the application of these modern methods of obtaining energy"
Image: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock
Vladimir Putin has blamed wind power for killing birds and harming worms.
Speaking at an industry conference in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, which suffers from severe levels of air pollution, the Russian President questioned the environmental credentials of the renewable energy source.
He said: "Everyone knows that the wind generation is good but is it that birds are remembered in this case? How many birds are killed? They are so shaking that the worms crawl out of the ground. This is not a joke, in fact, it is the serious consequences of the application of these modern methods of obtaining energy.
"I do not say that it is not necessary to develop it, of course, it is necessary, but we should not forget about the problems that are associated with it."
Russia is among the world's largest fossil fuel producers and is lagging behind other developed nations in terms of cleaning up its energy mix.
Mr Putin also noted that people do not want to 'live on a planet lined with a picket fence of wind turbines and covered with several layers of solar cells'.
Donald Trump has previously claimed noise from wind turbines can cause cancer.
birds renewable Vladimir Putin wind turbines worms