Not So Green Energy Wind Turbines

[ChemEngineer]

Brilliant Green Energy progress.

What happens to "wind farm" equipment when they wear out...they are NOT recyclable.

Got to be a better way…

Welcome To The Wind Turbine Graveyard, Casper, Wyoming.

<Hundreds of non-recyclable wind turbine blades to be buried in landfill>​

Here is your ‘Clean Energy!'

So much for clean power; note the size of the bulldozer burying the blades in comparison to the blades.

Welcome to the wind turbine graveyard. It stretches a hundred meters {328 feet} from a bend in the North Platte River in Casper, Wyoming.

California, Colorado, Kansas, and many other states are doing the same thing, the fiberglass blades will never deteriorate {Not Biodegradable for Folks in Rio Linda}.

Between last September and this March, it will become the final resting place for 1,000 fiberglass turbine blades.

These blades, which have reached the end of their 25-year working lives, come from three wind farms in the north-western US state. Each will be cut into three, then the pieces will be stacked and buried.

Turbines from the first great 1990s wave of wind power are reaching the end of their life expectancy today. About two GigaWatts worth of turbines will be refitted in 2019 and 2020. And disposing of them in an environmentally-friendly way is a growing problem.


This cost taxpayers $200,000 or more per unit, or $200 million total for the 1000 blades, to have them transported and decommissioned. That’s $200,000,000.00

 

[task0778]

" As if that’s not bad enough, NPR reports researchers estimate the US will soon have to grapple with over 720,000 tons of blades over the next 20 years, “a figure that doesn’t include newer, taller higher-capacity versions. ”

So, how long do these things last before they have to be replaced? I'm thinking they have to use fossil fuels to transport the old blades to Wyoming or wherever, and transport the new ones to the wind-power site. And what was the cost in terms of fossil fuels to construct them in the 1st place? Oh, and we have to heat the things when the temperature gets reaally cold, like in Texas a few weeks ago, which takes more in the way of fossil fuels, right?

So, add it all up. These things cost a lot, only work when the wind blows, and they kill birds too. You know what I think? I think there are some rich bitch people making buku bucks off these things via gov't subsides that the average consumer pays for. And most of those people support the democratic party that in turn supports them.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Well, have you ever bought anything from China that lasted more than a month?

 

[surada]

" As if that’s not bad enough, NPR reports researchers estimate the US will soon have to grapple with over 720,000 tons of blades over the next 20 years, “a figure that doesn’t include newer, taller higher-capacity versions. ”

So, how long do these things last before they have to be replaced? I'm thinking they have to use fossil fuels to transport the old blades to Wyoming or wherever, and transport the new ones to the wind-power site. And what was the cost in terms of fossil fuels to construct them in the 1st place? Oh, and we have to heat the things when the temperature gets reaally cold, like in Texas a few weeks ago, which takes more in the way of fossil fuels, right?

So, add it all up. These things cost a lot, only work when the wind blows, and they kill birds too. You know what I think? I think there are some rich bitch people making buku bucks off these things via gov't subsides that the average consumer pays for. And most of those people support the democratic party that in turn supports them.

They don't have to be heated. They work fine all over the world ... even in Antarctica with a little antifreeze.

They don't kill birds if you paint half the blades black.

 

[Rambunctious]

Look into sulfuric acid pools that come from EV battery production....and the amount of silver mining needed to make solar panels...you can't get away from it libs...powering our lifestyle isn't clean and maybe never will be....its just a matter of who gives the biggest check to politicians for who gets to make the messes....

So if you are serious libs...move out of your home and give it to a homeless family and go live in a cave...otherwise read and enlighten yourself...stop swallowing the bullshit....

 

[Penelope]

GE started a recycling project.
Cement production to use old wind turbine blades after GE inks deal (cnbc.com)

 

[mamooth]

"Derp! Wind power isn't 100% free of any issues, so it's totally awful!".

Kind of a dumb argument, but it's one a lot of conservatives make. The common-sense concept of choosing the best of all alternatives, even if it's not perfect, just escapes them.

 

[whitehall]

Anyone except Native American Indians could face prison time for possession of a single eagle feather but what do they do with all those eagle and other endangered bird bodies that are killed by windmills? The Obama administration issued an executive order that pardoned the windmill industry for killing migratory birds. What is the cost of de-icing windmills with fossil fuel helicopters? What happens when the gigantic blades get out of balance or screech to a halt in sub zero weather?

 

[ChemEngineer]

Anyone except Native American Indians could face prison time for possession of a single eagle feather but what do they do with all those eagle and other endangered bird bodies that are killed by windmills? The Obama administration issued an executive order that pardoned the windmill industry for killing migratory birds. What is the cost of de-icing windmills with fossil fuel helicopters? What happens when the gigantic blades get out of balance or screech to a halt in sub zero weather?

Stop confusing Democrats with facts please. Their feeling good about themselves outweighs reality, costs, common sense and America's future, you racist polluter!

 

[The Irish Ram]

"Derp! Wind power isn't 100% free of any issues, so it's totally awful!".

Kind of a dumb argument, but it's one a lot of conservatives make. The common-sense concept of choosing the best of all alternatives, even if it's not perfect, just escapes them.

Kind of dumb to get rid of your energy supplier until the other energy producers are up and running. Ask Texas...

 

[abu afak]

LOL
Already tackled that one HERE!
ChemEngineer among other MAGAs down 50 IQ points here.

Controversy over turbine blades in Casper landfill is overblown, manager says
2/16/20 - Casper Star Tribune

"...The sheer size of the equipment and the potential environmental ramifications of disposing something that can’t decompose have raised concerns among wind energy critics.​

​

But Casper Solid Waste Manager Cynthia Langston hopes to dispel some of those concerns. Despite the size of the blades, Langston said the landfill has plenty of space for them. She said the landfill won’t need to open another cell, or separate space, for the blades until 2034, at the current rate.​

​

“I wish people were so interested in all the garbage,” she said, not just the wind turbines.​

​

Accepting the blades at Casper Regional Solid Waste Facility also provides an economic benefit for the city, Langston noted. The deal has already earned Casper nearly $450,000, and when more come this spring, the total earnings for the city could reach $600,000.​

​

Turbine blades are not the only form of “special waste” the city takes in for revenue. The city estimates it gains roughly $800,000 annually from accepting special waste from various entities, including the oil and gas industry.​

Waste from oil and gas operations puts more pressure on the landfill than anything, she said, with tires and dewatering liners among the bigger drivers of waste encountered by Langston’s team at the landfill.​

​

“Truly, those turbine blades are the most Inert, Non-problematic waste we’re accepting,” she said.​

Moreover, the wind power industry generally ranks among the best at recycling and repurposing their equipment among its energy peers, Langston added. Roughly 90% of all wind turbine material is recyclable because much of the machine is composed of steel, copper or other electronic materials.""​

Controversy over turbine blades in Casper landfill is overblown, manager says

As companies replace aging wind turbines, blades are being buried in stacks at a handful of landfills, including Casper's. The blades have swept Casper into a national discussion around renewable

trib.com

`

 

[surada]

Anyone except Native American Indians could face prison time for possession of a single eagle feather but what do they do with all those eagle and other endangered bird bodies that are killed by windmills? The Obama administration issued an executive order that pardoned the windmill industry for killing migratory birds. What is the cost of de-icing windmills with fossil fuel helicopters? What happens when the gigantic blades get out of balance or screech to a halt in sub zero weather?

You are way behind... and you don't have to use helicopters to de-ice them if you do winter maintenance.


Scientists have determined that by painting one blade of a wind turbine black it can dramatically reduce the number of bird deaths from turbine impacts. Turbines with a single black blade are over 70% less likely to kill birds, based on a controlled study over three years.
Birds may not have to fear wind turbines for much longer – BGR

bgr.com/2020/08/26/wind-turbine-birds-death/

 

[surada]

" As if that’s not bad enough, NPR reports researchers estimate the US will soon have to grapple with over 720,000 tons of blades over the next 20 years, “a figure that doesn’t include newer, taller higher-capacity versions. ”

So, how long do these things last before they have to be replaced? I'm thinking they have to use fossil fuels to transport the old blades to Wyoming or wherever, and transport the new ones to the wind-power site. And what was the cost in terms of fossil fuels to construct them in the 1st place? Oh, and we have to heat the things when the temperature gets reaally cold, like in Texas a few weeks ago, which takes more in the way of fossil fuels, right?

So, add it all up. These things cost a lot, only work when the wind blows, and they kill birds too. You know what I think? I think there are some rich bitch people making buku bucks off these things via gov't subsides that the average consumer pays for. And most of those people support the democratic party that in turn supports them.

• Painting Wind Turbine Blades Black Help Birds Avoid Deadly ...
  
  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/black
  ...
  
  Aug 27, 2020 · After finding a 2002 study suggesting a single black blade may help deter birds the team decided to try it out on four turbines beginning in 2013. In the following three years, just six birds were...
• Can Painting Wind Turbine Blades Black Really Save Birds ...
  

  News

  The latest updates from the world of birds and conservation.

  www.audubon.org
  ...
  
  Sep 19, 2020 · Bird deaths at Smøla, as measured by discovered carcasses, declined by 70 percent after the blades were painted. The theory goes that the black paint made the blades more visible, especially at the tips, essentially creating dark streaks in the sky that alerted incoming birds …

 

[Flash]

The only value we get from wind farms and solar fields is it makes the stupid Environmental Wackos think they are saving the earth. They are like a drug for morons.

 

[surada]

The only value we get from wind farms and solar fields is it makes the stupid Environmental Wackos think they are saving the earth. They are like a drug for morons.

Solar hot water is very common in Israel and Hawaii. I put it up on my 5 bedroom house in 1979 an it cut my electric bill in half and paid for itself in 18 months. We were never without hotwater.

 

[Flash]

The only value we get from wind farms and solar fields is it makes the stupid Environmental Wackos think they are saving the earth. They are like a drug for morons.

Solar hot water is very common in Israel and Hawaii. I put it up on my 5 bedroom house in 1979 an it cut my electric bill in half and paid for itself in 18 months. We were never without hotwater.

Government subsides creates an artificial economic incentive. Without the subsidies the payback for these stupid systems would be astronomical.

I use solar panels to heat my enclosed pool here in Florida. That works to raise the temperature of the pool about 10 degrees during the summer months and extend the use of the pool a couple of months.

That is a big difference in replacing fossil fuels for the tremendous energy use of the country.

 

[surada]

The only value we get from wind farms and solar fields is it makes the stupid Environmental Wackos think they are saving the earth. They are like a drug for morons.

Solar hot water is very common in Israel and Hawaii. I put it up on my 5 bedroom house in 1979 an it cut my electric bill in half and paid for itself in 18 months. We were never without hotwater.

Government subsides creates an artificial economic incentive. Without the subsidies the payback for these stupid systems would be astronomical.

I use solar panels to heat my enclosed pool here in Florida. That works to raise the temperature of the pool about 10 degrees during the summer months and extend the use of the pool a couple of months.

That is a big difference in replacing fossil fuels for the tremendous energy use of the country.

I don't think we will replace fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, but I think you will see diversification of sources. You must have small panels for your pool. I didn't get any government subsidy for installing them in 1979..

 

[Flash]

The only value we get from wind farms and solar fields is it makes the stupid Environmental Wackos think they are saving the earth. They are like a drug for morons.

Solar hot water is very common in Israel and Hawaii. I put it up on my 5 bedroom house in 1979 an it cut my electric bill in half and paid for itself in 18 months. We were never without hotwater.

Government subsides creates an artificial economic incentive. Without the subsidies the payback for these stupid systems would be astronomical.

I use solar panels to heat my enclosed pool here in Florida. That works to raise the temperature of the pool about 10 degrees during the summer months and extend the use of the pool a couple of months.

That is a big difference in replacing fossil fuels for the tremendous energy use of the country.

I don't think we will replace fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, but I think you will see diversification of sources. You must have small panels for your pool. I didn't get any government subsidy for installing them in 1979..

There is no government subsidies for the solar panels we use for pool heating.

I was referring to the solar panels used to generate electricity as the ones that get the subsidies.

As an engineer I have done the economic calculations on solar electricity generation. Unless you live in Southwest and unless you get the government subsidies it is hardly worthwhile.

 

[ChemEngineer]

Brilliant Green Energy progress.

What happens to "wind farm" equipment when they wear out...they are NOT recyclable.

Got to be a better way…

Welcome To The Wind Turbine Graveyard, Casper, Wyoming.

<Hundreds of non-recyclable wind turbine blades to be buried in landfill>​

Here is your ‘Clean Energy!'

View attachment 463751
View attachment 463752

So much for clean power; note the size of the bulldozer burying the blades in comparison to the blades.

Welcome to the wind turbine graveyard. It stretches a hundred meters {328 feet} from a bend in the North Platte River in Casper, Wyoming.

California, Colorado, Kansas, and many other states are doing the same thing, the fiberglass blades will never deteriorate {Not Biodegradable for Folks in Rio Linda}.

Between last September and this March, it will become the final resting place for 1,000 fiberglass turbine blades.

These blades, which have reached the end of their 25-year working lives, come from three wind farms in the north-western US state. Each will be cut into three, then the pieces will be stacked and buried.

Turbines from the first great 1990s wave of wind power are reaching the end of their life expectancy today. About two GigaWatts worth of turbines will be refitted in 2019 and 2020. And disposing of them in an environmentally-friendly way is a growing problem.


This cost taxpayers $200,000 or more per unit, or $200 million total for the 1000 blades, to have them transported and decommissioned. That’s $200,000,000.00

 

[Stryder50]

It's possible that Homer-Dixon might at least be honest, though a bit biased ...
Excerpt:
...
The twin crises of climate change and peaking oil production are converging on us. If they are not to cook the planet and topple our civilization, we will need informed and decisive policies, clear-sighted innovation, and a lucid understanding of what is at stake. We will need to know where we stand, and which direction we should start out in. These are the questions Carbon Shift addresses.Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of The Ingenuity Gap and The Upside of Down, argues that the two problems are really one: a carbon problem. We depend on carbon energy to fuel our complex economies and societies, and at the same time this very carbon is fatally contaminating our atmosphere. To solve one of these problems will require solving the other at the same time. In other words, we still have a chance to tackle two monumental challenges with one innovative solution: clean, low-carbon energy.Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada’s world-class experts to explore the question of where we stand now, and where we might be headed. It explores the economics, the geology, the politics, and the science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what they think are the most important facets of the complex problem before us.There are no experts in Canada better positioned to explain the world that awaits us just beyond the horizon, and no better guide to that future than this collection of their thoughts. Densely packed with information, but accessibly written and powerfully timely, Carbon Shift will be an indispensable handbook to the difficult choices that lie ahead.
...

https://homerdixon.com/writing/books/carbon-shift-book/