not so USELESS RAMBLINGS not so USELESS RAMBLINGS Brown Energy

The tree huggers, certain factions within the government, special interest groups, and some of the globalist elites keep pushing for green energy. Everywhere you look there are wind powered generators popping up. Massive wind turbines dotting the countryside making you question whether the farmers are growing corn and beans or windmills. Homes are having their roofs covered in solar panels, companies are filling excess property with small solar fields, and then there are the large solar fields being installed by counties and states. Even auto manufacturers have been pressured into “going green” and are pumping out more and more battery powered vehicles. All of this in the name of saving the planet from the boogeyman known as fossil fuels, but is it all really worth it in the end?

Solar panels used to be fairly expensive, but over the years the technology has improved dramatically. The panels have become smaller, lighter, and much more efficient; they have also decreased in price. Over the past 10 years, the conversion efficiency of the panels has increased as much as 0.5% each year.

The government offers a Solar Investment Tax Credit to those that install solar panels at businesses and on homes, which defrays costs. What started at 30% in 2006 then dropped to 26% in 2019. This year the credit dropped to 10% for commercial installations, but disappeared completely for home installations.

When the technology gets better there are financial incentives for upgrading to the newer, cheaper, more efficient panels. The downside to this is the increase of discarded panels. The officials in the industry and government offices do not want to admit that large amounts of annual waste are expected by the 2030’s; reports suggest that we’re looking at 78 million tons by the 2050’s. The possibility of recycling the panels could be a multibillion dollar industry, provided that an efficient way of collecting the valuable materials is found. Recycling a single solar panel is estimated to cost about $30, but this only recovers about $3 worth of material. It costs less than $5 to dump that same panel in a landfill.

Wind turbines were frozen in place back in February of 2021 during a rare deep freeze that hit western Texas. Due to Texas’ green energy advocates, natural gas and coal powered electric generation stations had been either taken offline or had severely reduced production leaving a large amount of people without power for several days. If Texas has an issue with frozen wind turbines, shouldn’t that also be a concern for Iowa based wind turbines?

I have found estimates that say a wind turbine costs about $1.3 million for each 1 megawatt of power. A typical wind turbine produces between 2 and 3 megawatts. Most offshore turbines cost 10’s of millions of dollars to erect. Let’s also add in around $50,000 a year of routine maintenance for the smaller units.

Now, because these turbines rely on the wind to actually do their job, we are forced to look at the power generation aspect. Just like riding a bicycle, the amount of force you exert on the pedals translates into how fast you are going to travel. Likewise, the stronger the wind, the faster the blades spin, the more power is generated. Just because a single wind turbine is capable of 3 or more megawatts of power, doesn’t mean it will always be producing that much.

The generators that sit atop of those 300+ foot tubes require massive magnets and miles of copper. The tubes themselves are made of steel. The huge batteries used for the storage of the power generated are made of more rare earth minerals. All of these materials are pulled from the earth with massive diesel powered machinery, moved to processing plants with more diesel powered machinery, processed with coal and natural gas fired machinery, shaped with coal and natural gas fired machinery, then transported to sites and then erected with more diesel powered machinery. By the time that single turbine is operational, what is its total carbon footprint? Will it ever produce enough energy to offset that footprint before the entire thing is decommissioned?

A single wind turbine has an operational lifespan of approximately 20 years. Thankfully a lot of the parts can be recycled, but the blades pose problems. A typical blade is between 165 and 290 feet, depending upon whether it is an onshore or offshore application. These blades are mostly fiberglass, which is not totally recyclable. It’s nonbiodegradable and made up of a composite of very fine strands of plastic and glass, which is extremely difficult to process at the point of recycling. Instead, it’s usually discarded as waste in landfills or incinerated. However, engineers and scientists have found ways to turn fiberglass into a key component used in the production of concrete, so not all of the used blades are ending up in landfills.

Another downfall of wind energy seems to be health related issues for humans and wildlife. There have been reports of an increasing number of whales washing up on shores and some advocacy groups are claiming that this is due to the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines. The news has been filled with articles about birds being hit by the spinning blades ever since the first one was completed. Other articles can be found claiming that cattle in the fields around the turbines have been affected. People living close to the turbines have reported various adverse effects; sleeplessness, headaches, ear pressure and tinnitus, just to name a few. Other complaints of noise, vibrations, and the shadow flicker from the spinning blades.

Electric vehicles, or EV’s, are another part of the green movement that is growing in popularity. Many of their current owners speak nothing but praise, while others question their sanity when they decided to buy it.

Once again we’re forced to look at the carbon footprint created in the manufacture of the vehicle and the massive battery required to operate it. Cobalt, manganese, lithium, graphite aluminum and nickel are used in the construction of most EV batteries. Every one of these are extracted from the ground in much the same manner as the iron, steel, and copper used in the construction of the EV and the wind turbine. The cobalt, manganese, copper, and lithium mines in foreign countries have a habit of using children for about 17% of the labor force.

There are a ton of arguments for and against EV’s. The direct versus indirect emissions argument is a rabbit hole that would take several pages to discuss and I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around it, so I’ll leave that alone for now. I will admit that the power and speed of Tesla is pretty impressive, but I still think every one of their models is just ugly. Plus, let’s not forget that the sound of a nicely tuned V8 has zero comparison.

Renewable energy, wind and solar, make up about 13% of the annual production sources, where coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear make up the rest. Our current demand for energy uses up all of what we produce. Since we already know that wind and solar are not a constant, sustainable source, and that there are already blackouts and brownouts due to those demands, how can anyone honestly believe that we can “Go Green” completely and set a date for it to happen?

Do I believe these energy sources have a place in society? Of course, I do. Do I believe that we will ever get away from fossil fuels? No, not in my lifetime and not in my childrens’ lifetime.

In my opinion, the only thing green in the green energy movement is the stacks of cash that those that are pushing the narrative are raking in by selling the bullshit.

David McCoy

- david@thunderroadsiowa.com

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