From: Alan <nuh-uh@nope.com>
Newsgroups: alt.global-warming,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,can.politics,alt.politics.liberalism,alt.politics.democrats,alt.politics.usa.republican
Subject: Re: Soooo Efficient!
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2025 15:46:39 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
On 2025-09-01 21:14, AlleyCat wrote:
>
> Thinking that country 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.
Wind turbine. A windMILL is a mill for grain that uses the wind to power it.
>
> They each consume 10'000 liters (more than 2600 gallons) of crude oil based lubricants per year.
No. They don't.
>
> When outdated, the wind turbines are being buried deep in forests, out of public view, due to the high costs associated with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 it was used in building it.
Sorry, but that's just false.
A 2 MW wind turbine generates generates 2 MWh of electricity every hour
the wind is blowing. It takes about 3,300 - 4,100 MWh of energy to build
one.
So 1,650 - 2,050 hours of wind will pay that off.
A year has 8,766 hours.
>
> Wind turbines Don't last forever. The metal towers can be recycled normally, but the blades, a mixture of fiberglass, wood, and
> plastic, cannot.
Also false.
> In the US, the cheapest option is to send fiberglass blades to landfills, which has caused some controversy. Just
> one blade is about as long as the wingspan of a large commercial jet like a Boeing 747. And that's just on land. Offshore turbine
> blades can be twice as long.
And you think they're impossible to cut into pieces?
> By 2050, there could be more than 40 million metric tons of blade waste piling up worldwide.
"Could be"? You seem to object to the word "could" when others use it.
But for the record, there are something between 380,000 and 500,000 wind
turbines in use worldwide. If the were all using the largest turbine
blades currently made (Mingyang Smart Energy MySE 18.X-20MW) at 54
metric tonnes...
...that would still only be 27 million metric tonnes.
>
> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1962372644738613248/vid/avc1/720x1280/BxjIC5Mz6OEdw4Xl.mp4
Companies Recycling Wind Turbine Blades
Several companies are actively involved in recycling wind turbine
blades, utilizing innovative technologies to address the challenges
posed by the composite materials used in their construction.
Key Players in Wind Turbine Blade Recycling
COMPANY NAME KEY FEATURES AND SERVICES
Carbon Rivers - Commercializes technology to recycle fiberglass from
decommissioned blades. - Achieves 99.9% purity in recycled glass fiber.
LM Wind Power - Offers a range of recycling solutions for turbine
blades. - Engages in partnerships to develop recycling technologies.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy - Focuses on innovative approaches for
blade life cycle management. - Develops technologies to reclaim
materials from blades.
Vestas Wind Systems - Implements advanced recycling methods to recover
valuable materials. - Explores sustainable solutions for repurposing
blades.
Veolia Environnement - Provides comprehensive waste management
solutions, including blade recycling. - Targets turbine blade disposal
and recycling.
REGEN Fiber - Processes wind turbine blades into materials for concrete
and asphalt. - Aims to recycle around 3,000 blades annually.
Recycling Technologies
Pyrolysis: Used by Carbon Rivers to break down organic components of
blades, separating fiberglass for reuse.
Mechanical Processing: Employed by companies like REGEN Fiber to shred
blades for incorporation into construction materials.
These companies are crucial in developing sustainable solutions for
managing the end-of-life phase of wind turbine blades, contributing to a
circular economy in the renewable energy sector.