https://www.distilled.earth/p/this-anti-renewable-energy-meme-is
"As a part of my series on clean energy misinformation, I joined about 40
anti-renewable Facebook groups across the country. One of the most common posts
I saw was what I call the “coal-powered wind turbine” post.
The post takes a passage out of an essay by scientist David Hughes, distorts
it, and leads people into thinking:
1. Wind power isn’t environmentally-friendly because turbines are made using
coal.
2. Constructing a wind turbine requires more energy than that turbine will
produce over its life.
The second claim, that wind turbines are net-negative sources of energy, is
just a flat out lie. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown that wind
turbines generate about 25 times more energy than they consume during
construction. On average they have an energy payback period of 5 to 6 months.
But the first claim, that coal is used to make wind turbines is technically
true. While companies are working on making steel out of green hydrogen and
renewable electricity, virtually all the steel components in wind turbines are
made using coking coal.
However, like many anti-renewable messaging and memes, this one lacks some very
important context.
Once a wind turbine is built, it can displace coal-powered electricity. So the
question we have to ask is how much coal can a turbine save over the course of
its life? The answer is a lot more than 255 tons."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/60-ready/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
