4 ms·

Wind power is a bad joke. In my home state, i see the things everywhere, and I know its a giant waste for one reason: steel. There are independent studies that

Wind power is a bad joke. In my home state, i see the things everywhere, and I know its a giant waste for one reason: steel. There are independent studies that quantify this and prove it, its been in the papers. The environmental/carbon impact of having a windmill megawatt over existing natural gas production is slim. The carbon cost of refining several dozen tons of steel and metal for the thing, ruins the benefit. The things dont work very well for the cost, and they dont last. They require service all the time. They have a crane to take the generator/transmission out of the whole thing to work on it. Whenever you consider the total "carbon cost" most of the zero emission green tech falls flat. Hydroelectric, geothermal, and nuclear are still the only commercially feasible zero carbon. Everything else is being subsidized. In place upgrades to existing fossil fuel plants is the best short-term solution. Profitable natural gas, with carbon offset trade (forestry/tree-planting) is the best long-term solution imo.

gruez 6y ago
>There are independent studies that quantify this and prove it, its been in the papers. Source? Also, there was a study[1] published recently that found natural gas polluted worse than expected. [1] https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/gas-bridge-fuel_n_5f7f74f0c5b664e5babb0ea8?ri18n=true https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/gas-bridge-fuel_n_5f7f74f0...
janekm 6y ago
Citation please? According to here a typical offshore wind turbine will pay back its life cycle energy cost in 0.57 years: https://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org/energy-balance-analysis-7.html https://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org/energy-balance-analysi... (0.55 for on-shore) Here is another article stating a payback time of 12.3 months: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257564430_Life_Cycle_Assessment_of_Energy_Balance_and_Emissions_of_a_Wind_Energy_Plant https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257564430_Life_Cycl...
sergeykish 6y ago
Check your facts [1] > The life cycle analysis focuses on the wind power plant as the basic functional object instead of a single wind turbine. Our results show that present-day wind power plants have a lifetime emission intensity of 5.0–8.2 g CO2/kWh electricity, a range significantly lower than estimates in previous studies. > Our estimate suggests that wind is currently the most desirable renewable energy in terms of minimizing CO2 emissions per kWh of produced electricity [2]. 2014 IPCC, Global warming potential of selected electricity sources [3]: +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ | Technology | Min. | Median | Max. | +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ | Biomass – Dedicated | 130 | 230 | 420 | | Coal – PC | 740 | 820 | 910 | | Concentrated solar power | 8.8 | 27 | 63 | | Gas – combined cycle | 410 | 490 | 650 | | Geothermal | 6.0 | 38 | 79 | | Hydropower | 1.0 | 24 | 22001 | | Nuclear | 3.7 | 12 | 110 | | Ocean (Tidal and wave) | 5.6 | 17 | 28 | | Solar PV – rooftop | 26 | 41 | 60 | | Solar PV – Utility scale | 18 | 48 | 180 | | Wind Offshore | 8.0 | 12 | 35 | | Wind Onshore | 7.0 | 11 | 56 | +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+power+co2+footprint https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+power+co2+footprint [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148112000043 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09601... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_greenhouse_gas_emissions_of_energy_sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_greenhouse_gas_emis...

gruez 6y ago

>There are independent studies that quantify this and prove it, its been in the papers. Source? Also, there was a study[1] published recently that found natural gas polluted worse than expected. [1] https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/gas-bridge-fuel_n_5f7f74f0c5b664e5babb0ea8?ri18n=true https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/gas-bridge-fuel_n_5f7f74f0...

janekm 6y ago

Citation please? According to here a typical offshore wind turbine will pay back its life cycle energy cost in 0.57 years: https://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org/energy-balance-analysis-7.html https://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org/energy-balance-analysi... (0.55 for on-shore) Here is another article stating a payback time of 12.3 months: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257564430_Life_Cycle_Assessment_of_Energy_Balance_and_Emissions_of_a_Wind_Energy_Plant https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257564430_Life_Cycl...

sergeykish 6y ago

Check your facts [1] > The life cycle analysis focuses on the wind power plant as the basic functional object instead of a single wind turbine. Our results show that present-day wind power plants have a lifetime emission intensity of 5.0–8.2 g CO2/kWh electricity, a range significantly lower than estimates in previous studies. > Our estimate suggests that wind is currently the most desirable renewable energy in terms of minimizing CO2 emissions per kWh of produced electricity [2]. 2014 IPCC, Global warming potential of selected electricity sources [3]: +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ | Technology | Min. | Median | Max. | +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ | Biomass – Dedicated | 130 | 230 | 420 | | Coal – PC | 740 | 820 | 910 | | Concentrated solar power | 8.8 | 27 | 63 | | Gas – combined cycle | 410 | 490 | 650 | | Geothermal | 6.0 | 38 | 79 | | Hydropower | 1.0 | 24 | 22001 | | Nuclear | 3.7 | 12 | 110 | | Ocean (Tidal and wave) | 5.6 | 17 | 28 | | Solar PV – rooftop | 26 | 41 | 60 | | Solar PV – Utility scale | 18 | 48 | 180 | | Wind Offshore | 8.0 | 12 | 35 | | Wind Onshore | 7.0 | 11 | 56 | +--------------------------+------+--------+-------+ [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+power+co2+footprint https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+power+co2+footprint [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148112000043 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09601... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_greenhouse_gas_emissions_of_energy_sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-cycle_greenhouse_gas_emis...