The Environmental Fiasco of Wind Energy
Power Line,
by
John Hinderaker
Original Article
Posted By: MissMolly,
9/5/2019 5:27:12 AM
Wind turbines only last for around 20 years, so many of them are now wearing out. That raises serious questions about disposal of defunct wind turbine parts. The turbines’ giant blades are not recyclable, so they must be dumped in landfills. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports on one South Dakota landfill that is saying no mas to wind turbine blades:
[T]he Argus Leader reports that more than 100 wind turbine blades measuring 120 ft long have been dumped in a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, landfill, but there’s a problem: the massive blades are taking up too much room, according to local City officials. …
Reply 1 - Posted by:
StormCnter 9/5/2019 6:05:04 AM (No. 171819)
If you drive I-10 or I-20 across Texas, you will see big trucks ferrying the enormous blades. It's hard to believe how really huge they are. I have always worried about how to dispose of the turbines when they are no longer of use. We get frequent inquiries from companies wanting to put them along our caprock at the ranch where there is always wind, but no thank you.
24 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
lakerman1 9/5/2019 6:23:04 AM (No. 171826)
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, had a wind turbine, It exploded in the early morning hours one day, and the blades scattered all over the empty parking lot.
The Center did not replace it.
21 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Judy W. 9/5/2019 6:58:37 AM (No. 171849)
One more horror to add to the mass murder of birds and the intolerable sound frequencies and vibrations that drive neighbors of wind turbines out of their homes. Why is the government still subsidizing these things?
27 people like this.
The Regressive Left Greenies don't like to think things through, do they?
28 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 9/5/2019 7:15:14 AM (No. 171867)
What are the blades made of that can not be be recycled? It seems that most metals and plastics could be recycled.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Paperpuncher 9/5/2019 7:21:18 AM (No. 171870)
The urban lefty elite do not have to live with them in their back yard. Thus, what do they care?
12 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Clinger 9/5/2019 8:07:02 AM (No. 171924)
I did the math once calculating how many wind mills, based on the state of the art Vestas unit output, it would take to replace the KWH we get from coal and oil mostly for transportation and home heating. I excluded the use for plastics and air travel. It would take a windmill grid across the entire 48 contiguous states evenly spaced 800 yards in every direction. To avoid water mountains, rivers the grid gets all that more bunched together. Can you imagine all the energy consumed to build roads just to get where you'd have to place windmills? Where is all the copper going to come from? The infrastructure ramifications are unimaginable. It's a pure folly.
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 9/5/2019 8:17:15 AM (No. 171932)
Saw them up and burn them in a cement kiln to make cement.
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
walcb 9/5/2019 8:19:16 AM (No. 171938)
I don't believe this is a very well researched and written article. It says the material cannot be recycled--why? Why wouldn't the blade owners/electric companies cut the blades down, it would be immensely cheaper to move blades cut to 20' than getting the permits and special equipment to haul an intact blade. I know there are agreements signed by landowners, government bodies and electric companies for what happens when the windmill is no longer operable--where is that segment of the story. Windmills are a lousy alternative for generating electricity but this story is poorly done.
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Strike3 9/5/2019 8:27:06 AM (No. 171954)
How very ironic. We don't have that problem with coal ashes do we? In fact those are good for the soil. Nuclear reactor waste is only a few pounds. I had always assumed that those turbine blades were made from aluminum and could be recycled easily so maybe that's the solution. A few generations of the Green New Deal and we won't have any land left on which to live. Nice job green weenies.
11 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
HotRod 9/5/2019 8:49:27 AM (No. 171986)
Windmills are expensive, Very expensive. They are expensive to construct, erect, and maintain. There may be a reliable source for that information and I think it would be enlightening to know. I do know, from observation, that they take constant maintenance, serviced by a fleet of trucks and highly paid crews. Driving through one of these windmill deserts one can see a significant portion of them standing idle, awaiting repair.
As far as recycling the blades, it is expensive and not cost-effective. If the expense was met, it would be an added burden on the taxpayer/electricity consumer. Maybe prison work farms could be used to cut them up, grind them down, and deliver the grindings to someone who might buy, or at least take them for some purpose. But, the democrats would say we were making slaves of the prisoners...
8 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
franq 9/5/2019 8:55:15 AM (No. 171992)
There is not a single "green" energy generation scheme that works better than current, old school technology. I put hydroelectric in "current, old school technology" and not surprisingly, libs want to dismantle that too. Follow the money. Think curly light bulbs. How many dollars lined the congressman's (Republican, I believe) pockets to ram that through. Same with ethanol. Big Corn. Meanwhile we rubes just suck it up and go to work another day, trusting in God...
15 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
StormCnter 9/5/2019 9:12:00 AM (No. 172016)
There is some interesting information in this piece. The article is Texas-centered, but the turbine situation is nationwide.
https://www.energycentral.com/news/retiring-worn-out-wind-turbines-could-cost-billions-nobody-has
5 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
aasilver 9/5/2019 9:18:07 AM (No. 172021)
Wind energy works in VERY remote areas where it would not be cost effective to run transmission lines.
Wind energy is NOT schedulable.
Fossil fuel power plants must he kept online at 80% capacity so that they can be brought up to 100% quickly when the wind stops blowing. It is not even a good supplement in a diverse power grid. Solar is inefficient on gloomy days and is a supplement, at best, to a diverse power grid. Nuclear is good. Ask the Germans who banned Nucs 10 years ago and now are beholden to Russia for natural gas to keep the lights on and their house warm.
13 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 9/5/2019 9:42:37 AM (No. 172046)
In New Mexico the turbines ruin the pretty ridge tops and landscape with their looming propeller blades that I call Obama's energy solution. I hate the Ted Kennedy and Martha's Vineyard crowd of NIMNY but they sure can place them on landscape of western states with their obtrusive looks of landscape ruination. If someone wants to place a working windmill on their solar panel house then do it but I see no purpose in wind farms or the disposal of batteries which is the only way to store the power. Those are environmental nightmares too. Think about that electric car owners or future owners ask what a battery cost versus repairing an internal combustion engine you might be surprise.
11 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
VietVet68 9/5/2019 10:04:42 AM (No. 172076)
Just another example of the left and their climate fanatics pushing something on the public without looking at the eventual fallout they cause.
If alternative energy sources were truly viable the free market would be involved in the implementation, that the free market isn't involved speaks volumes.
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 9/5/2019 10:58:33 AM (No. 172122)
The sad reality is that these turbines have a short operating life and require replacement like anything else. Their carbon footprint is not nearly as green friendly as the left would lead us to believe. Research this and see for yourself. Another feel-good climate change scam.
5 people like this.
In addition, if these things weren't heavily subsidized (with OUR money), they wouldn't come anywhere near to being economically competitive enough that anybody would build or operate them.
2 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
udanja99 9/5/2019 11:56:44 AM (No. 172180)
#6, too late to offend Ted, but federal courts have given the go ahead for a wind-farm to be built off Cape Cod. Maybe they could put it right in the middle of the view from Smidgen’s new cottage.
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 9/5/2019 12:00:41 PM (No. 172184)
Perhaps we can fashion the old turbine blades into a nifty border wall with Mexico?
4 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Blue-Z-Anna 9/5/2019 12:05:17 PM (No. 172186)
Drove through the Midland-Abilene I-20 Permian Basin yesterday. Zillions of huge "spinners" everywhere. They have their own beauty.....like Holland. I work in the O&G industry but see no reason not to give the Hippies their shot at getting 'Something for Nothing'. Time will tell.
Meanwhile back in the real world......oil is at $57.50 and climbing.
Dreadnought......and fear only The Lord, thy God.
Turns out God wants me to have a new Bass Boat.......who knew ?
1 person likes this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
carterzest 9/5/2019 5:37:32 PM (No. 172487)
This was a great short article from one of my instructor in a NERC Class. The False Promise of Wind Energy: http://www.o-t-s.com/false_promises.htm?fbclid=IwAR2j7vGDDGEDxfjuMhoMvyVPC5vfHP4ppSPTdvIIWv0_ktcMPOhAbT6pC0M
2 people like this.
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