3 ms·

What is the full lifecycle plan for the turbine? Is this special airplane to land in the same dirt field that's now a housing development? Are they only pairing

by 1970-01-01 1y ago

What is the full lifecycle plan for the turbine? Is this special airplane to land in the same dirt field that's now a housing development? Are they only pairing these megaturbines with airfields? How exactly will a new blade arrive on-site in 2050?

Goronmon 1y ago
Are they only pairing these megaturbines with airfields? That seems like the logical solution. Given the complexities involved overall, a step for "don't build over this patch of dirt" seems relatively achievable.
foota 1y ago
They plan to be able to land the planes in a short distance over rough fields according to the article.
- 1970-01-01 1y ago
  Rough fields tend to grow rough trees.
  - Jedd 1y ago
    You're coming up with some pretty flimsy reasons that this can't work, and that you believe the people funding, designing, and building these systems haven't contemplated -- such as 'trees'.
    - 1970-01-01 1y ago
      Yes. These trees aren't flimsy obstacles for airplanes. Long term infra funding is very often cut if there isn't an immediate problem. Look around the US and you see power infra literally falling down and sparking wildfires from lack of maintenance.
      - foota 1y ago
        It doesn't really need to be maintained, it's an active construction site for the time it'll be needed?
      - Jedd 1y ago
        Being about 10,000 kilometres from the US, I can't conveniently look around there. I expect these guys had 'trees' on their risk register, and have suggested to the site owners to purchase a chainsaw / rent an excavator for a day or two. Either way, I'm pretty confident on a project the size we're talking here - somewhere upwards of USD $5 billion? - they've probably spent a couple of afternoons pondering logistics.
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      You've reminded me of my favorite letter to the editor I've ever come across. A while back, we had a whiteout on the highway by the local airport. Someone wrote in to propose - in apparent seriousness - planting trees at the end of the runway to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
  - margalabargala 1y ago
    Not in the timespan relevant here
bluGill 1y ago
Nobody is putting wind turbines near housing developments. Wind turbines are noisy up close (you don't want your house next door), and they build to a lower safety standard on the assumption that even in the worst case failure nobody is close enough to be hurt (they still build to a high enough standard that I'm not aware of any failure that could kill someone if they had be there, despite tens of thousands in the world) They put them in farm fields, you just rent the whole field for the year from the farmer, land the planes, and next year it is framed again. (the farmer will likely be allowed to plant hay in the field and work with you to cut that)
- ooterness 1y ago
  > Wind turbines are noisy up close... Citation needed. I toured a wind farm a few months ago, and they were barely audible at ground level.
  - bluGill 1y ago
    The noise isn't loud - but it is constant and annoying to listen to all day.
- krisoft 1y ago
  > they still build to a high enough standard that I'm not aware of any failure that could kill someone if they had be there There is a bunch of very energetic windturbine collapses captured on video. In each case someone standing at the wrong spot could have been crushed by falling debris. (Altough i also must admit an overspeeding turbine looks so plainly obviously deadly that anyone with a healthy dose of self preservation would evacuate the danger zone. At least in the cases where we have video of the collapse. There might be a bias to that of course, because nobody would think of filming an unexpected sudden collapse.) A particularly well documented one is the Hornslet wind turbine collapse. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornslet_wind-turbine_collapse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornslet_wind-turbine_collap... https://youtu.be/jvHBUSSAzyw?si=NDpN-ZgXqPrTavvk https://youtu.be/jvHBUSSAzyw?si=NDpN-ZgXqPrTavvk There was this one in Oklahoma: https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-turbine-collapses-on-calm-day-in-oklahoma-another-is-struck-by-lightning/amp/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-turbine-collapses-on-calm-d... This i believe happened in Italy: https://youtu.be/af9Mm5nkNAQ?si=wajCXTCpN19z9okJ https://youtu.be/af9Mm5nkNAQ?si=wajCXTCpN19z9okJ Just a few days ago there was a collapse in Perth: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5330408/blades-perth-aviva-wind-turbine/ https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5330408/blades-perth-av... There is also a widely shared very dramatic video with horses running away from the turbine just before it collapses. But because i can’t figure out where it happened, and if it even happened, i’m reluctant to include here.
Onavo 1y ago
Why not use a series of cargo drones and lift it with ropes? These blades are pretty damn aerodynamic (they are not much different from an airplane wing).

Goronmon 1y ago

Are they only pairing these megaturbines with airfields? That seems like the logical solution. Given the complexities involved overall, a step for "don't build over this patch of dirt" seems relatively achievable.

foota 1y ago

They plan to be able to land the planes in a short distance over rough fields according to the article.

1970-01-01 1y ago
Rough fields tend to grow rough trees.
- Jedd 1y ago
  You're coming up with some pretty flimsy reasons that this can't work, and that you believe the people funding, designing, and building these systems haven't contemplated -- such as 'trees'.
  - 1970-01-01 1y ago
    Yes. These trees aren't flimsy obstacles for airplanes. Long term infra funding is very often cut if there isn't an immediate problem. Look around the US and you see power infra literally falling down and sparking wildfires from lack of maintenance.
    - foota 1y ago
      It doesn't really need to be maintained, it's an active construction site for the time it'll be needed?
    - Jedd 1y ago
      Being about 10,000 kilometres from the US, I can't conveniently look around there. I expect these guys had 'trees' on their risk register, and have suggested to the site owners to purchase a chainsaw / rent an excavator for a day or two. Either way, I'm pretty confident on a project the size we're talking here - somewhere upwards of USD $5 billion? - they've probably spent a couple of afternoons pondering logistics.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    You've reminded me of my favorite letter to the editor I've ever come across. A while back, we had a whiteout on the highway by the local airport. Someone wrote in to propose - in apparent seriousness - planting trees at the end of the runway to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
- margalabargala 1y ago
  Not in the timespan relevant here

bluGill 1y ago

Nobody is putting wind turbines near housing developments. Wind turbines are noisy up close (you don't want your house next door), and they build to a lower safety standard on the assumption that even in the worst case failure nobody is close enough to be hurt (they still build to a high enough standard that I'm not aware of any failure that could kill someone if they had be there, despite tens of thousands in the world) They put them in farm fields, you just rent the whole field for the year from the farmer, land the planes, and next year it is framed again. (the farmer will likely be allowed to plant hay in the field and work with you to cut that)

ooterness 1y ago
> Wind turbines are noisy up close... Citation needed. I toured a wind farm a few months ago, and they were barely audible at ground level.
- bluGill 1y ago
  The noise isn't loud - but it is constant and annoying to listen to all day.
krisoft 1y ago
> they still build to a high enough standard that I'm not aware of any failure that could kill someone if they had be there There is a bunch of very energetic windturbine collapses captured on video. In each case someone standing at the wrong spot could have been crushed by falling debris. (Altough i also must admit an overspeeding turbine looks so plainly obviously deadly that anyone with a healthy dose of self preservation would evacuate the danger zone. At least in the cases where we have video of the collapse. There might be a bias to that of course, because nobody would think of filming an unexpected sudden collapse.) A particularly well documented one is the Hornslet wind turbine collapse. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornslet_wind-turbine_collapse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornslet_wind-turbine_collap... https://youtu.be/jvHBUSSAzyw?si=NDpN-ZgXqPrTavvk https://youtu.be/jvHBUSSAzyw?si=NDpN-ZgXqPrTavvk There was this one in Oklahoma: https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-turbine-collapses-on-calm-day-in-oklahoma-another-is-struck-by-lightning/amp/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-turbine-collapses-on-calm-d... This i believe happened in Italy: https://youtu.be/af9Mm5nkNAQ?si=wajCXTCpN19z9okJ https://youtu.be/af9Mm5nkNAQ?si=wajCXTCpN19z9okJ Just a few days ago there was a collapse in Perth: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5330408/blades-perth-aviva-wind-turbine/ https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/5330408/blades-perth-av... There is also a widely shared very dramatic video with horses running away from the turbine just before it collapses. But because i can’t figure out where it happened, and if it even happened, i’m reluctant to include here.

Onavo 1y ago

Why not use a series of cargo drones and lift it with ropes? These blades are pretty damn aerodynamic (they are not much different from an airplane wing).