“Wind energy kills birds!”
“Solar energy has dangerous radiation!”
“It's not even economically viable!”
With the world heating up abnormally fast as a result of human-made climate change, renewable energy has appeared like the light in the dark. Across the world, there have been increasing calls for renewable energy to make up more of our power portfolios. But as those calls have grown louder, the cries of climate change deniers have grown as well.
At the heart of those cries are misunderstandings and myths. You can find many of these circulating across social media, and chances are you've heard at least a few of them. So let's dive into these disingenuous arguments.
Solar Energy Has Dangerous Radiation
This myth stems from a misunderstanding of what radiation really is. There are two types of electric and magnetic fields, ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing EMFs can be very harmful; however, solar energy uses non-ionizing EMFs, which are largely considered harmless to humans. In fact, people come in contact with these fields every day via radio waves, cellphones, and microwaves.
It's Not Economically Viable Without Government Subsidies
Compared to fossil fuel technology, renewable energy is relatively new. As a result of its age, it has continued to evolve in recent years. The more it evolves, the more cost efficient it becomes. For example, between 2010 and 2023, solar energy dropped in price by 90%, offshore wind by 63%, and onshore wind by 70%. Even without government subsidies, renewable energy is an increasingly affordable option. However, one must remember that the fossil fuel industry also receives many government subsidies.
The Impacts of Making It Outweigh the Reduction of Emissions
This is a pure myth. The lifecycle emissions for renewable energy are substantially lower than fossil fuels. Solar and wind energy also require less mining than fossil fuels, and the total mineral demand for renewable energy if there were to be a large-scale deployment would still be lower.
Wind Energy Kills Birds and Bats
This is less of a myth, and more of a misunderstanding. Wind turbines do kill birds, that's true. In fact, they kill about 700,000 to 1 million birds every year in the US. However, the thing that is usually left out of this argument is the fact that building and window collisions alone kill over a billion birds every year in the US. While wind energy causes bird deaths, it is not known to be a meaningful amount compared to the leading causes of bird population decline.
If you are experiencing bird collisions with your windows, try putting stickers or other similar items on them. This breaks up the image so they know the window is there.
Wind and Solar Are Unreliable
It's true that things like the weather can affect the output of certain renewable energy sources. As mentioned before, renewable energy is evolving and becoming more efficient the longer it exists. This also applies to its reliability. In recent years, renewable energy has increased its capacity to take in energy, and battery technology has also evolved in that time as well. We have made technology that's increasingly able to store renewable energy for those days when the weather does affect it negatively. However, it is also a myth that things like solar energy are completely useless if it's cloudy. It is still very possible for it to take in energy, though it will be less than usual.
Offshore Windfarms Hurt Marine Life
This is once again more of a misunderstanding than a myth. It's true that the construction of offshore windfarms can and does harm marine life by disrupting their natural habitats. However, this is also the case for offshore oil and gas constructions. The fossil fuel industry has also consistently caused pollution that harms marine life, such as oil spills. Another added point is that offshore windfarms can actually serve as artificial reefs for marine life, and there have been instances where populations have come back larger than they were before.
There are also technologies to reduce the effects of construction, and techniques for making sure they're not being placed in a location that affects migratory species.
The Effects of These Myths
Regardless of how small myths or misunderstandings may seem, they have a real effect on the world. They park themselves in the backs of people's minds and slowly take over. In the case of renewable energy, it slowly convinces people that maybe fossil fuels are a better option, when that's not true.
The goal of these myths is not to immediately override anyone's opinions of renewable energy; their goal is to slowly erode your trust in better options. Whenever you hear these myths, it's important that you call them out, because you might end up being the thing that prevents the erosion in someone's mind.
References
33 Myths about renewable energy. (2024). In Columbia Magazine. https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/33-myths-about-renewable-energy
Alliant Energy illuminate | stories that inform and inspire. (2025a). In Alliantenergy.com. https://www.alliantenergy.com/news/illuminate/
American Bird Conservancy. (2024). New study confirms building collisions kill over one billion birds annually in U.S. In American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org/news/bird-building-collisions-study-2024/
Caplan, E., & Ahmad, M. (2023). ACORE blog: Setting the record straight on renewable energy myths. In ACORE. https://acore.org/resources/setting-the-record-straight-on-renewable-energy-myths/
Correspondent, E. R. (2025, September 30). Solar: Main source of EU electricity in June with 22%. Eureporter.Co. https://www.eureporter.co/energy/2025/09/30/solar-main-source-of-eu-electricity-in-june-with-22/
Eisenson, M., Elkin, J., Fitch, A., Ard, M., Sittinger, K., & Lavine, S. (2024). Rebutting 33 false claims about solar, wind, and electric vehicles. Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/217/
Mateo, S. (2025). Common myths about renewable energy, debunked | SmartEnergy. In SmartEnergy. https://www.smartenergy.com/energyguides/common-myths-about-renewable-energy-debunked/
Rethinking wind turbines - American bird conservancy. (2025b). In American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org/solutions/rethinking-wind-turbines/
Team, Z. (2025). Debunking common renewable energy myths - Zero Carbon Analytics. In Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/energy/debunking-common-renewable-energy-myths/