After Blade Failure, East Coast Communities Awaking to Realities of “Green Energy” Dreams
Debris from the downed Vineyard Wind unit is continuing to wash ashore, this time impacting Westport, Massachusetts….and potentially more is on its way to Rhode Island.
After a wind turbine blade failed due to a manufacturing flaw near Nantucket, the massive Vineyard Wind facility was closed, and the city was poised to sue. Nantucket’s iconic beaches were cluttered with sharp fiberglass shards, a sub-optimum condition at the height of the summer tourist season.
Debris from the downed blade continues to wash ashore, this time impacting Westport, Massachusetts….and potentially more is on its way to Rhode Island.
Vineyard Wind Spokesperson Craig Gilvarg told 12 News they received a report of debris on Knubble Beach and confirmed its from the damaged blade.
“The amount of debris is very limited and is primarily pieces of foam measuring less than one foot in size,” Gilvarg said. “We have received additional reports of debris in the area of Horseneck Beach and Westport Town Beach and are responding to them.”
Westport Town Administrator James Hartnet told 12 News a Vineyard Wind representative said the company collected about four pounds of debris from “The Knubble” (Westport Harbor).
Vineyard Wind also received reports of potential debris sightings in Little Compton. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management said it was thrown away before they could get their hands on it.
East Coast communities are now awakening from “green energy” dreams as the magnitude of the failure and the consequences of its environmental impact are realized.
Long Island officials are now asking Equinor (a Norway-based energy conglomerate) what contingency plans it has for its Empire Wind facility if a similar failure occurs.
“This only adds to the myriad concerns already expressed about the development of offshore wind,” said Brendan Finn, president of the Long Beach City Council. “I’m not against offshore wind, but this event shows how detrimental these projects can be to beach communities. There’s no reason these turbines need to be built so close to communities that depend on their beaches.”
Long Beach City Manager Daniel Creighton said the city has “not heard a thing from Equinor, unfortunately” about the blade accident, and said he’d like to know “what their remediation plan would be if a similar event happened on their project since our beaches are a major source of revenue for the city. You can be certain that this administration would seek to recover all costs and lost revenue if something like that happened here.”
Hal Riskin, a member of a Long Beach group that already had organized against Empire Wind, said the Vineyard incident raises alarms even higher.
“I’m definitely worried about it,” Riskin said. “We have 1 million people here. It’s going to be a nightmare” if a blade snaps in a hurricane or a construction accident.
I suspect that the green energy company will be less than completely responsive to the Long Island officials’ newly voiced concerns. Like Vineyard Farms’ representatives, platitudes and assurances will be given. But exactly how much will be real?
While on the subject of Equinor, I would like to recommend a fabulous piece written by energy expert Robert Bryce. He noted that The NGOs have been shameless in their collusion with foreign corporations, including Equinor, which are collecting billions in federal tax credits to construct wind projects.
But more importantly, Bryce examines the green energy realities based on the science of physics.
…Big Wind is facing a crisis caused by simple physics. The turbines now being deployed onshore and offshore are failing far sooner than expected. Why? They have gotten too big.
Yes, bigger wind turbines are more efficient than their smaller cousins. But the larger the turbine, the more its components get hit by the stresses that come with their size and weight.
The GE Vernova Haliade-X wind turbine used at Vineyard Wind stands 260 meters high and sweeps an area of 38,000 square meters. That means the turbine captures wind energy over an area five times larger than a soccer pitch.
But here’s the critical part: its blades are 107 meters (351 feet) long and weigh 70 tons. In addition, the rotor of the massive machine spans 220 meters. For comparison, the wingspan of a Boeing 737 is 34 meters.
In other words, the turbines at Vineyard Wind are nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower and each of their blades weighs more than a fully loaded 737. piece has an eye-opening piece on the physics associated with the massive wind projects that touches upon blade size.
Bryce also interviewed Bob DeCosta, a fisherman who sails this area, and had a few observations about chemistry and meteorology.
I know a thing or two about the saltwater environment. I can’t imagine what it will take to keep these things running in salt water.”
When asked about the damage a hurricane would do to the turbines, he said, “We will be picking up the pieces from this on the beaches at Nantucket for the next 20 years.”
The blade failure that occurred on a calm summer day may be a blessing in disguise. It may dissuade communities from being steamrolled by “experts” and agreeing to massive wind farms that will collapse under hurricane-force winds, creating debris fields of sharps that will ruin beaches for decades.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Between this and the way these things chop up birds (including endangered raptors) you’d think the environmentalists would be on the warpath against wind turbines. But for the most part I never hear anything about it.
I’m an enthusiastic birdwatcher and fairly often travel to different parts of the country for organized birdwatching. A few years back, I was in Cape May, NJ for a weekend of birdwatching with a “highly respected” birdwatcher. He and his wife are obsessed with the avian species. I inferred from that he would seek to protect birds from any harm.
During the weekend, someone asked him what he thought about all the birds being killed by wind turbines, particularly raptors. This jerk (and his wife vigorously nodded in agreement) said that as long as it moved us closer to a society powered completely by green energy, he was willing to accept the losses. Well, isn’t he magnanimous. I instantly crossed this clown off of the list of “highly respected” anything.
In principle, he’s not wrong. If wind power actually made sense economically and physically, then the loss of a few birds, or even a few bird species, would be well worth it. Just as the loss of snail darters or delta smelts or whatever they were would have been a price well worth paying to get the dams that were prevented or destroyed to save the useless things.
The fact that he’d put the good of the whole society ahead of his hobby speaks only well of him. The only flaw in his position is that he’s ignorant and misinformed about a topic on which he doesn’t claim to have any expertise. Wind power on a large scale makes no physical or economic sense, so all those birds are dying for nothing.
Wind power does have its place, but it’s a very small one.
“In principle, he’s not wrong.”
I’d ask what “principle” he is not wrong about, but all you could respond with is word salad.
It’s wrong, in principle, to kill birds for something that is useless. The same people close down whole stretches of beach, whole forests to logging, etc, and then chop the birds to bits as long as it is for “their” pet project.
There is no justification, but you always attempt to justify everything the marxist’s do.
There is logically not wrong which can co-exist then there is morally wrong. This pair and their ilk show that their environmentalist aims are relative to the political ends they are trying to achieve. It is awfully easy for him to “put the good of the whole society ahead of his hobby”. Fundamentally he experiences no pain from this. His “concern” just shows he’s more of an obsessive list taker than a lover of birds.
There is logically not wrong which can easily co-exist with morally wrong.
I understand that you are worried about all the birds being killed. But because of wind power in Iowa (we are a really windy state) my year round average electric bill for heat and air conditioning and all of my electrical appliances in my 2,000 square foot house is $100 a month). It’s less in the winter, and more in the summer. What is your electric bill without wind power?
Interesting. What’s your price per kWh? What’s your daily usage in kWh?
I will check when I get my new bill. Thanks for asking
You don’t need a new bill to check, just look at any previous bill. But we know the truth, the average Kwh cost in Iowa is 12-14 cents.
22% of Iowa electricity comes from – COAL. Iowa is the #1 state in wind energy with close to 65% coming from wind. And yet, the cost per Kwh is still higher than mine at 6.5 cents per Kwh with no wind in the mix. However, the state (NC) average is 13.0 per Kwh, no wind needed.
IOW’s wind isn’t cheaper.
No wind power. 1800 square foot home. Have leaky windows, leaky doors, a window open while heat and a/c are running. Average electric bill is about $90, average natural gas bill is about $105. Granted, I live alone so the electric water heater doesn’t run so much.
120-200. It has been the same in two states. It was that in blue state where I didn’t have AC and heated with mostly wood. Though in the last year before moving- when the blue state instituted a carbon tax money grab it was a lot higher.
Oddly in my much larger house (2.5x the size of our old one) in a red state heated and cooled with electricity, it’s the same.
* same as BEFORE the tax grab… so technically a lot less.
How much would your monthly electricity bill be if the wind industry were not getting subsidized?
The bill would be a lot less without green power as the money used to subsidize it comes from higher power bills.
The real danger of global warming has nothing to do with the environment. It’s giving Dems the power to control every aspect of our economy and society. They will turn the ISA into the economic powerhouse and beacon of freedom that was the USSR.
Just look at how Obama used the auto bail out to reward his supporters and punish his political opponents.. just imagine what Dems would do if they controlled every economic decision in the country permanently!p
Wind power wouldn’t exist without subsidies.
“What is your electric bill without wind power?”
Unsubsidized by the taxpayer, you pompous government lickspittle.
Hey Barry, Texas generates more than twice as much wind power as Iowa. 25.4% of all wind power generated in the US is in Texas. Iowa has a higher percentage because of it’s low population. JR- Your electric bill is being heavily subsidized.
Yes, I know. The question is about Iowa. And of course it doesn’t scale up to normal population states.
And Texas has a huge wind problem, a huge power problem as a result.
What about hurricanes and other ocean storms? This was just normal wear and tear.
What’s the old saying?
TNSTAAFL, right?
Unless you enjoy chopped seagull for lunch. Lots of that.
“This only adds to the myriad concerns already expressed about the development of offshore wind,” said Brendan Finn, president of the Long Beach City Council. “I’m not against offshore wind, but this event shows how detrimental these projects can be to beach communities. There’s no reason these turbines need to be built so close to communities that depend on their beaches.”
NIMBY……. those things have been destroying Texas farmland and pastures for nearly 20 years now….. things we sort of rely on.
I don’t know how he expects them to not be near beach communities. They must be placed in relatively shallow water. Placing them in deep water would be prohibitively costly. Besides, the more distant the wind farm, the more widely-dispersed the wreckage will be when it finally comes ashore, which it will do invariably, even if it comes ashore across an ocean.
I am originally from California and learned about Wind Farms and generators from the Altamont Pass of I580 in Northern California. I am an Electrical Engineer and these do produce the amount of energy compared for the space they take. They have negative issues with killing large amounts of birds going north/south and with maintenance plus physical connections. Overtime many die and are left in place or taken to toxic dumps.
Solar Farms also have problems that after a few years they get removed and then put into toxic dumps. Again the energy production per the space taken is not good.
Power produced by Nuclear, Natural Gas, Coal, Oil, or Geothermal is better options.
I had to do a double take at this fact-laden post which sounded nothing like anything I’d seen previously from JR. At least my instincts were good, even if my eyesight wasn’t.
I have been informed failures of this kind were due to hoarders and wreckers.
Don’t forget the technicians and saboteurs………………….
And Enemies of the People, State, and Party.
Subotai Bahadur
Kulaks?
Uzbeks.
Nevertheless I predict many will still enthusiastically support “green” energy. Because feeling good about themselves is the top priority.
Virtue-signaling by an arrogant, out-of-touch elite is easily history’s #1 killer. Every totalitarian government and every single genocide happened because a self-select group decided they were going to “save” humanity even if it meant slaughtering millions of people in the process.
As an example: the ban on DDT allowed malaria to rage out of control again and kill millions after it was nearly eliminated. But since the people who died had black or brown skin, the rich, largely white environmentalist movement that forced it on the world didn’t give a rat’s ass*.
(* – This is an extremely touchy subject for me on a personal level. I have seen up close what malaria can do to people. When you watch a toddler burning up with malarial fever and too weak to even cry, it stokes a fury inside you.)
Republican governors will never give up on “green jobs” though. They are politicians first and foremost.
At least these failures are public record and the next proposals may not be welcomed so enthusiastically.
How often are the wishes of the people affected by such projects taken into account?
Subotai Bahadur
In the first few not at all. When folks see evidence of problems closing off areas of ocean and washing up on their beaches whether it be plastic, fibreglass, Styrofoam, dead birds or marine mammals which tends to depress tourists/locals from using the area and impacts the kitchen table economic reality of locals opposition gains firmer ground to push back. Much tougher sales job from that point.
lefty article on why the ev charging system is REALLY failing
Electrify America, one of the leading charging companies in the U.S., is trying to encourage drivers to get what they need and get out, or else pay a fee.
Of all the green energy delusions there is none more insane than wind “farms” in the ocean.
Well, of course, the entire idea was to defuse the NIMBY factor. But people are discovering how big their backyard really is.
The cruelty to whales . . . For nothing but money.
Whales were only a concern until a more lucrative environmental scam presented itself.
I have a dream
where ev’s sit side by side with gas guzzlers
I have a dream
where tax subsidies no longer just favor fossil fuel corporations
but support poc green initiatives
I have a dream
where little boys can be little girls and little girls can no longer claim title iv
I have a dream
where race is no longer an issue b/c whites have all been shipped to siberia
——-dnc
Even after having read all the previous articles about this issue, this is the first time I’ve twigged to the fact that all this debris is due to a single failed blade. This is an engineering cluster**** of historic proportions.
And no one can truly count exactly how many sea birds are killed by offshore wind turbines.
Let’s say the blade snapped into six enormous pieces and fell into the sea. Offshore wave and surface wind action then broke those 6 pieces into 600 pieces. And then shore tidal action/shore waves cresting and literally crushing those pieces into 60,000+ smaller pieces etc. etc .etc.
It’s literally what the ocean does when it meets land: breaks large things into small things.
A kind of cool example of this is Sea Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, Calif.
The real danger of global warming has nothing to do with the environment. It’s giving Dems the power to control every aspect of our economy and society. They will turn the ISA into the economic powerhouse and beacon of freedom that was the USSR.
Just look at how Obama used the auto bail out to reward his supporters and punish his political opponents.. just imagine what Dems would do if they controlled every economic decision in the country permanently!
Long Island officials are now asking Equinor (a Norway-based energy conglomerate) what contingency plans it has for its Empire Wind facility if a similar failure occurs. They replied: “We intend to blame Trump for all our failures”.
Leave a Comment