#Wind turbines

[todaysbird]

a share since there’s still popular belief that wind turbines are the antichrist and the absolute worst thing we could do to birds…

[wachinyeya]

A company making wooden wind turbine blades has successfully tested a 50-meter-long prototype that’s set to debut soon in the Indian and European markets.

Last year, the German firm Voodin successfully demonstrated that their laminated-veneer timber blades could be fabricated, adapted, and installed at a lower cost than existing blades, while maintaining performance.

Now, Voodin has announced a partnership with the Indian wind company Senvion to supply its 4.2-megawatt turbines with these wooden blades for another trial run.

Wind power has accumulated more than a few demerit points for several shortfalls in the overall industry of this fossil-fuel alternative.

Some of these, such as the impact on bird life, are justified, but none more so than the fact that the turbine blades are impossible or nearly impossible to recycle, and that they need to be changed every 25 years.

Wind turbine blades are made from a mixture of glass and carbon fiber heated together with sticky epoxy resin, and these materials can’t be separated once combined, which means they go into landfills or are incinerated when they become too battered to safely operate.

GNN has reported that folks will occasionally find second-life value in these giant panels, for example in Denmark where they are turned into bike shelters. In another instance, they’re being used as pedestrian bridges.

But there are way more wind turbine blades being made every year than pedestrian bridges and bike shelters, making the overall environmental impact of wind power not all green.

“At the end of their lifecycle, most blades are buried in the ground or incinerated. This means that—at this pace—we will end up with 50 million tonnes of blade material waste by 2050,” Voodin Blade Technology’s CEO. Mr. Siekmann said recently. “With our solution, we want to help green energy truly become as green as possible.”

The last 15 years have seen rapid growth in another industry called mass timber. This state-of-the-art manufacturing technique sees panels of lumber heat-pressed, cross-laminated, and glued into a finished product that’s being used to make skyscrapers, airports, and more.

At the end of the day though, mass timber products are still wood, and can be recycled in a variety of ways.

“The blades are not only an innovative technological advancement but a significant leap toward sustainable wind production,” said Siekmann, adding that this isn’t a case of pay more to waste less; the blades cost around 20% less than carbon fiber.

Additionally, the added flexibility of wooden blades should allow for taller towers and longer blades, potentially boosting the output of turbine by accessing higher wind speeds.

Now partnered with Voodin, Senvion will begin feasibility analysis in the next few months, before official testing begins around 2027.

[reality-detective]

Compilation of reliable green energy. 🤔

[twinsfawn]

COLOSSAL GODS ON THE EXPANSES

(plainfield, iowa)

[dinoknitting]

it fucken wimdy

(Etsy link! Also, if you’re in the U.S. join a Sunrise hub to fight for environmental justice!)

[pointandshooter]

photo: David Castenson

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[reasonsforhope]

"Dear EarthTalk: What is wind repowering and why are environmentalists so bullish on it?

—H. King, Mesa, AZ

One of the most common forms of clean energy is wind power. People from around the world could recognize a wind farm from just one look. While wind power has been a staple in renewable energy since the idea’s inception, many of the original and old wind turbines have begun to show signs of aging. Wind repowering aims to fix this, by revamping old turbines with more efficient components, or putting in new, state-of-the-art turbines as a whole. These new components and units can reduce noise, more efficiently power a turbine, and a deliver a higher overall energy output.

Denmark, an early adopter of wind repowering, saw a 1.3 GW gain in capacity and a reduction of 109 wind turbines, enabling substantially increased wind energy production with fewer turbines. This promising data prompted a surge in wind repowering projects, and in 2019, 86 percent of wind energy projects there were classified as “repowered.”

These signs of success and scalability showed other countries the benefits of wind repowering. The U.S, with help from large energy corporations like General Electric, has more than 40 active wind repowering sites, with over 2,500 turbines having some type of renovation. This hefty wind repowering advancement is responsible for four gigawatts of energy, or the power for more than 30 million homes.

It’s no secret how fast wind repowering is growing, but upgrades can be made to many different types of renewable energy. Why do eco-advocates support wind repowering so strongly? Wind repowering has energy, financial, aesthetic and technological benefits. Not only does it make units more efficient, it also removes units that might be aesthetically unpleasing, or in less efficient spots than they could be. Wind repowering also increases the lifespan of turbines by as much as 20 years, and reduces the need for maintenance. Repowered turbines are also quieter, sleeker, and produce considerably more energy.

So, while there are many types of repowering efforts for other renewable energy sources, none are as comprehensive or successful as wind repowering. Not only is it a comprehensive option for revamping clean energy, but it does not require the entry costs that just building new wind farms requires.

The only barrier to wind repowering at the moment is legislation. Bills and policies cannot keep up with the demand for it. Readers should call local officials, or urge any nearby wind farms to look at wind repowering. Spreading awareness is the first and most important step."

-via E: The Environmental Magazine, April 26, 2024

[2000ghosts]

june 5, 2009

[saywhat-politics]

When former President Joe Biden first took office, the winds were clearly blowing in the right direction for the offshore turbine industry — and the Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian Group saw an opening.

The company, expecting the new administration to finally build long hoped-for wind turbines off the coast of New England, announced plans in December 2021 for a factory in Somerset, Massachusetts. The plant would make electrical cables to connect the windmills to the town’s grid infrastructure, which had connected to New England’s largest coal-fired power station until it shut down in 2010.

Last Friday, just days before President Donald Trump returned to office and halted all new offshore wind projects with the stroke of a pen, Prysmian pulled the plug on the $300 million project, which would have created hundreds of jobs.

“The decision was not tied to any political developments,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Vowing to pursue “a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump’s executive orders Monday paused any new permitting of offshore wind projects in federal waters and threatened lawsuits to revoke existing licenses. That dealt what analysts said was a crushing blow to the industry Prysmian’s factory hoped to serve.

[huariqueje]

Calm , Windstille - Hanno Karlhuber, 2003.

German, b.1946 -

Acrylic and oil on wood , 70 x 100 cm. 27.5 x 39.3 in.

[earhartsease]

we're honestly really baffled by people who call wind turbines "ugly" - every time we see them we feel incredibly uplifted

like we know they can harm wildlife - but fossil/atomic fuels, their mining and extraction and transport and conversion to energy and disposal of waste (and all of the diesel burned doing most of that and the machinery constructed to do all of that) are so incredibly more damaging to wildlife compared to a thing you build and move to a place and put up once and then it just stands there, generating power from the wind with minimal maintenance

anyway we find them beautiful and soothing

[reality-detective]

Thinking that countries can run on breezes is worse than delusional.

A two-megawatt windmill is made up of 260 tons of steel that required 300 tons of iron ore and 170 tons of coking coal, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons.

They each consume 10'000 liters (more than 2600 gallons) of crude oil based lubricants per year.

When outdated, the wind turbines are being buried deep in forests, out of public view, due to the high costs associated with recycling them.

A windmill could spin until it falls apart and it will NEVER, EVER generate as much energy as was used in building it. 🤔

[lesbianjudasiscariot]

[sixpenceee]

Storm destroying a windmill | source