Post B58k7rnfWixPRj2Pxo by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
(DIR) More posts by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
(DIR) Post #B58jcJTr4mt41qiyWG by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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So green and clean"We may think that the wind turbines we see blowing in the wind up and down the country will last forever, but that's not the case at all. These blades do need to be replaced and some 11,000 tons of wind turbine blades are due to be decommissioned in Ireland by the end of this year. Unfortunately, the glass fibre materials used in the construction of these blades are not biodegradable."https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2026/0401/1491819-wind-turbine-blades-recycling-reuse-podcast/
(DIR) Post #B58jcJnhsylb1Q0pSi by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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@gerrymcgovern Yikes! For some reason, I thought they were metal. That's not good.
(DIR) Post #B58jcK4Mt25tr5o8Qq by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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@gerrymcgovern But at least there's this..."Wind turbine blade reuse in civil engineering and other applications is in its infancy, and is not utilised on a larger scale, mainly because there is no information on the current stock of these blades in Ireland and their mechanical fitness to be reused in second life structures."
(DIR) Post #B58jcKGm8u1ETZc2ls by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@DoomsdaysCW there are millions of them dumped in toxic graves that will poison for thousands of years. They just don't design this stuff to be reusable or recyclable. And we don't calculate these total costs to the environment. Once you can tick the box "reduces CO2" you can do practically any other harm you want.
(DIR) Post #B58jcKVfFXvdDkZvyi by slothrop@chaos.social
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@gerrymcgovern Siemens Gamesa is selling recyclable blades, it seems:https://www.siemensgamesa.com/global/en/home/explore/journal/recyclable-blade.html@DoomsdaysCW
(DIR) Post #B58jcKjUQ8zHud2yWm by billiglarper@rollenspiel.social
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@slothrop @gerrymcgovern @DoomsdaysCW Also wind turbine blades are not toxic.
(DIR) Post #B58jcKu7mbUiRc1T6W by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@billiglarper Wind turbine blades are not toxic?"Trace elements (TEs) from turbine corrosion-protection systems could generate significant ecosystem, economic, and human health risks. We calculate annual inputs for current European OWF capacity (30 GW) as: 3219 t aluminium, 1148 t zinc and 1.9 t indium, but these will increase ~12× by 2050, eclipsing known discharges.""Paucity of industry data" allows harms to be hidden, as usualhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44183-024-00101-6@slothrop @DoomsdaysCW
(DIR) Post #B58jcLCChNxLLgTuHg by billiglarper@rollenspiel.social
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@gerrymcgovern @slothrop @DoomsdaysCW You linked an article on corrosion protection of offshore wind farms, not on wind turbine blades.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344924004695About 70% of wind turbine blades (WTBs) are fiber reinforced polymeres(FRPs). "In addition to FRPs, WTBs typically incorporate polymeric adhesives, sandwich core materials such as balsa wood, as well as bonded joints, coatings (such as polyurethane), and metal lightning conductors"
(DIR) Post #B58jcLS9k4iU99we9I by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@billiglarper The idea that wind turbine blades are not toxic and do not pollute doesn't stand up to scrutiny.Leading Edge erosion and pollutionfrom wind turbine bladeshttps://docs.wind-watch.org/Leading-Edge-erosion-and-pollution-from-wind-turbine-blades_5_july_English.pdf@slothrop @DoomsdaysCW
(DIR) Post #B58jcLfcvzUYowFP96 by billiglarper@rollenspiel.social
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@gerrymcgovern @slothrop @DoomsdaysCW Are you trolling?https://cleanpower.org/resources/microplastics-and-bpa-in-wind-turbine-blades/
(DIR) Post #B58jcLnmRg0vEE3ur2 by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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TBH, I'm always a bit suspicious of lobbying associations, @billiglarper . #FollowTheMoney @gerrymcgovern @slothrop
(DIR) Post #B58jcLxLs5fbhuXYm0 by billiglarper@rollenspiel.social
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@DoomsdaysCW @gerrymcgovern @slothrop But making up fantasy amounts of unhardened resin is ok?Sorry, this is just made up flooding-the-zone-with-shit disinformation.There's not much to say about fibre-reinforced plastic when using carbon or glass as fibers. It's very inert once hardened. It's simply not toxic. Just think about the use cases outside of wind farms. From boating to lightweight planes and helicopers, to bycicles, car parts and sports gear. 🤷♂️
(DIR) Post #B58jcMBX1N0qPtAssK by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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Gotta love that block button, @billiglarper . It's great for folks who like to argue and shout down folks. @gerrymcgovern @slothrop
(DIR) Post #B58jcMNaIYeb1GoVf6 by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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Heh... So, "Bill" sounds like those pro-nuclear trolls who used to harass me on the Bird site, @gerrymcgovern . Once, I managed to track down who was paying them (it was NEI).
(DIR) Post #B58jcMcTPCYzlRmOrw by anubis2814@friendica.myportal.social
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@DoomsdaysCW @gerrymcgovern At this point, nuclear is only viable for grids with tons of growth, or cold and dark like say finland As dirt cheap as solar and battery are getting, nuclear is overpriced for most stable economies. India and China and maybe Pakistan and Indonesia will find nuclear to be viable, the rest of the world not so much
(DIR) Post #B58jcMpacR3UQ7usJU by DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social
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Nuclear is never viable. Not until we can find a way to deal with nuclear waste, @anubis2814. And not while uranium mining is still polluting Indigenous lands. @gerrymcgovern
(DIR) Post #B58jn1B1TAMORj1JLs by mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org
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@DoomsdaysCW @gerrymcgovern at least some are being reused for bicycle stands that are rain-protected. But, ouch, I had no idea it was this bad.
(DIR) Post #B58k3ZjYkrcMFx4Nd2 by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@SolarDavy The overall story of rare mining is atrocious. About 2,000 tons of toxic sludge, gases for every ton of rare earth. Rare earths tend to be found beside uranium and thorium, I believe, so much of this is radioactive. But overall, it's horrible, horrible waste that creates dead Green Sacrifice Zones wherever its mined. How can this stuff be described as green and clean? It just doesn't make sense.
(DIR) Post #B58k7rnfWixPRj2Pxo by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@slothrop I'm sure there's examples but the general thrust of the "renewable" industry is in the very opposite direction. They're building EVs now with all sorts of strange wholly unrecyclable alloys. Every year, modern tech becomes less repairable and less recyclable. Yet the branding always wins. Just stick a "sustainable" label on it and everything is ok.@DoomsdaysCW
(DIR) Post #B58kTzrgDtNspTSzhI by j2bryson@mastodon.social
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@DoomsdaysCW @gerrymcgovern yeah, I was wondering, I know nothing about reuse of fibreglass, but it seems like the kind of substance you out to be able to recycle, at least a few times, like paper. Had a fight about how cyclic photovotolic was on bsky lately (for even asking the question!) so guess I should get informed about wind too. Do you know any comparitive on footprint across all energy tech, pref including geothermal , fossil, nuke?
(DIR) Post #B58kU0G8kwwy3KuWp6 by gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green
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@j2brysonI have tried to get true total environmental costs and found it almost impossible. For example, what's the cost of wiping out entire Andes ecosystems for lithium? What's the cost to enslaved Uighur for building Chinese solar? Any time I hear "cheap" solar or batteries, I shudder. @DoomsdaysCW
(DIR) Post #B58kU0XViMqQvD2Otk by anubis2814@friendica.myportal.social
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@gerrymcgovern @j2bryson @DoomsdaysCW Why just replacing all cars with electric, is not sustainable. We need to drastically cut car dependency.
(DIR) Post #B58kU1NyZIoPXvaIfw by stephan324ppm@mastodon.no2nd.earth
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@anubis2814 @j2bryson @gerrymcgovern @DoomsdaysCW you mean only replacing a part of the cars and the rest stays ICE? Yes, less cars, less flights, less of everything. But on the individual level: why should I have no car if my neighbour has one? And regulatory: politicians are still mainly bribed by fossil companies - no chance to get anything done ...
(DIR) Post #B58kU1crfwioI6YBsm by mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org
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@stephan324ppm @anubis2814 @j2bryson @gerrymcgovern @DoomsdaysCW yes, less of everything may be a good idea. There’s more and more of compute around people, this trend has started with “smart homes” and IoT and them having to put a computer into things where some discrete logic or the tiniest µc would have sufficed… and the dual horrors of disposable electric cigarettes (which in itself is a triple horror already) and “AI”… I guess the industry does not know the definition of “less”