{"id":338945,"date":"2024-08-09T08:27:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T06:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338945"},"modified":"2024-08-09T08:27:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T06:27:16","slug":"what-wind-turbines-are-made-of-endless-mountains-of-minerals-and-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338945","title":{"rendered":"What Wind Turbines Are Made Of: Endless Mountains of Minerals and\u00a0Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From STOP THESE THINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The way the wind cult tells it, you\u2019d think these things were made in heaven using moonbeams and fairy dust. The reality is altogether more industrial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every wind turbine is the product of a myriad of minerals consumed in enormous quantities, along with staggering amounts of energy needed to combine them all into a machine that \u2013 weather permitting \u2013 might occasionally generate electricity in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Keith Henley-Smith outlines below, there is absolutely nothing clean or green about giant industrial wind turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind turbines? What they want to put in your backyard<\/strong>
The Spectator
Keith Henley-Smith
25 June 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that wind turbines are the best thing since people started tilting at windmills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever wondered how wind turbines are manufactured?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we start with the tower itself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the structure that holds everything up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is typically made out of rolled steel. At the moment the cheapest supply is from China and we have all heard anecdotes about the \u2018quality\u2019 of Chinese products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steel is made in two ways. Firstly, by the integrated method which is where the metal, known as cast iron, is made from iron ore in blast furnaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blast furnaces use massive amounts of coke in the process which in turn is made in large ovens by roasting coal, all the time churning out vast amounts of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coke supplies the carbon element in the cast iron product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The liquid iron is transferred to a converter which is a vessel into which oxygen is forced to react with carbon to form carbon dioxide thus reducing the carbon level in the metal and thereby creating steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other steelmaking system that is used is the electric arc method which is a steel scrap-based method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The electric arc method produces molten steel in enormous furnaces by the use of electrical energy in vast amounts combined with oxygen gas and a great deal of cooling water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been said that it requires approximately 25 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of steel and this applies to most forms of electric steel-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many operations, water is chemically treated to inhibit corrosion within the cooling systems and only be used for that purpose, thus making reclamation very difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the steel is made it is transferred by ladles in a molten state to a casting machine to form up the required shapes for processing in rolling mills and forging operations. All of which are massive users of electrical energy and cooling water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the top of the wind turbine towers are huge cones and gearboxes which house the turbine blades and electrical generating units. The generators are made from tonnes of copper and steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the major gearbox manufacturers is a Belgian company and all their material is made within a 1,500 km radius of their operation. This includes some former Soviet Bloc operations with minimal pollution control requirements, but all desperate for foreign currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cones and gearboxes casting made from a material called Spheroidal Graphite iron a type of cast iron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These castings can weigh over 60 tonnes each depending on the size of the turbine and at the moment the majority are made in foundries in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Poland they are made by two methods. One is the Cupola system, which is a process like a blast furnace which uses steel scrap and coke to produce iron which is converted into SG iron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG Iron is a metal produced when Magnesium is introduced into molten iron to create the product by affecting the shape of the carbon at a molecular level. This type of metal has properties similar to steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other method of iron production is the electrical induction system where the melting is carried out in induction furnaces that are electrically powered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollution controls in Polish melting operations leaves a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Poland, a large proportion of electrical energy is supplied from the largest Lignite burning power station on the planet with one of the poorest reputations for pollution outputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these castings have to be further machined to fit the relevant requirements carried out in massive machine shops using enormous amounts of electrical energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turbine blades are made from carbon fibre and plastic compounds which come directly out of the petrochemical industry with all the associated H&S issues associated with some of the toxic compounds used in the production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this material has to be located on site with enormous transportation and fuel bills and generally these areas are fairly remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The added costs of electric welding on site and in fabrication are phenomenally expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wind turbines can weigh hundreds of tonnes when fully assembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you will appreciate, the amount of resources and energy that goes into manufacturing is incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accepted life span of a wind turbine is about 25 years so there is a constant replacement system in operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Note to Keith: the economic lifespan for a wind turbine is less than 15 years<\/a> and large numbers of them are being replaced after 12 years<\/a> \u2013 in a scam known as \u2018repowering\u2019]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should the wind speed reach 85km\/h then they will automatically shut down because of stability problems associated with the height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Note to Keith: the automatic shutdown of turbines is explained on German turbine maker, Siemen\u2019s  website<\/a> \u2013 which has this to say about the automatic shutdown of wind turbines when wind speeds hit 25m\/s (90km\/h):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature presents us with different kinds of challenges. High wind can create extremely high loads, and as a result wind turbines are normally programmed to shut down if the 10-minute mean wind speed exceeds 25 m\/s. This may pose a significant challenge for the grid system \u2013 for example, if turbines in large wind farms shut down simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a means of self-preservation, partly because in high winds the turbine is at risk of losing \u2018yaw control\u2019 which results in the turbine\u2019s inability to face directly into the wind. If yaw control is lost, the nacelle will turns to be at right angles to the wind direction, at which point the machine\u2019s brakes are incapable of slowing the turbine rotor and the machine will self-destruct \u2013 as in this video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n