Blowing Hot, Blowing Cold

One of the big issues, environmentally, at this time is the production of ‘green’ energy. We need it if we are to reduce carbon emissions and thereby save the planet if there is truth that man-made carbon emissions are  responsible for climate changes; another hot topic. Irregardless of that as an issue, we do need to reduce carbon emissions for public safety and health reasons.

Wind turbines dot the landscape

Extracting power from the wind. Wind turbines, or colloquially referred to as wind farms, seem to be the answer. The governments have been sold on the idea, corporations who produce the materials for them and the companies that make them have sold the government on the idea. The idea has been peddled through the mainstream media (controlled by the corporations, of course) to the populace.

Wind farms are the answer.

I, however, am not so convinced. I agree that a wind farm doesn’t produce pollution, soil contaminants, etc. But what about the energy in producing the turbines and generators? From the mining of minerals, to the smelting, to the engineering involved. ALL that produces a lot of pollution, which takes decades of wind production to recover, if the wind blows.

Then there are issues like the wind is not a constant, so fossil fuel generators have to be kept idling on-line in the event of a drop in the wind creating a shortfall.

Image from Patriot's Corner

Ecological considerations like bird-kill that is down played by the industry to be negligible, tell that to endangered species, they won’t think it is negligible. But the human need for energy is far more important than the extinction of rare raptor species. This is an ugly secret of the powerful prop-turbine wind industry, a story that you won’t see on the “feel-good” TV commercials or read about in industry-sponsored ads or mainstream media. You can read more here and on Killer Wind.

I read sometime back about the drying of farmland behind wind turbines. The disturbed wind behind turbines raises the temperature by between 2 and 5 degrees, the result is that evaporates up to 7mm (rain equivalent) from the soil during the day. In some areas that could be catastrophic resulting in the creation of arid land; land that was used for pasture and crops and can no longer support such uses.

The argument is that the turbines don’t affect so much area. But a recent photo shows the magnitude of the area involved.

Clouds forming in the wakes of the front row of wind turbines of Horns Rev wind farm, Denmark. Photograph: Aeolus

Photo from The Guardian: Are Wind Turbines Increasing Carbon Emissions?

The area is, in fact, quite considerable. Not only that but the altitude of the disturbed air can reach up to 1,000 metres (3,000ft) altitude; thereby creating climatic changes, affecting rainfall and storm direction. You can read more on Tainted Green.

Erosion is another highly contentious issue, whereas wind erosion has always existed, the erosion caused by the disturbed wind flow exacerbates the rate rate of erosion.

The military have even noted radar blackout areas associated with wind farms.

Wind power is a multi-million dollar industry, the controllers of which receive huge, and I mean colossal, subsidies, but many call the whole idea a scam.

Where there is money involved there are lies, when there is BIG money involved the lies are proportionately BIGGER.

The governments will never question it, because the corporations tell them not to; after all, who owns the governments?

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Even then, there are other issues. Wind turbines break, fall, fail, etc. 1,500 accidents and incidents are recorded over a five year period on Britain alone.

“The noise annoyance caused by wind turbines can lead to sleep deprivation, memory and cognitive issues, vertigo and dizziness, and, finally, heart issues like rapid heart rate.” From: ‘Wrecking our heaven’. Airborne dust pollution hasn’t been mentioned, how much more is there to consider when calculating the costs of wind energy.

I remain, not convinced.

Monday Moaning

Industrial Revolution in England

The world has become energy dependent. It started with coal and the Industrial Revolution and its still used today. Then came oil and the available energy increased; so our dependence. The miracle of electricity further increased our dependence until it was total. The modern world cannot live without energy.

Coal and oil were used to generate the monstrous demand, then came atomic energy, hailed as the environmental answer to belching tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Huge hydro-dam projects were the solution. Now the trend is toward wind farms with gigantic turbines blotting the landscape.

The modern wind farm

But man’s insatiable need will be his undoing. Coal and oil produce carbon; nuclear energy causes death and destruction (the Fukishima story hasn’t been played out yet, there is still the final act); Hydro power has drowned great swathes of nature, land and people; killing habitats, not to mention the detrimental socio-economic impact. Wind farms are not immune from problems either, reports of farmland becoming arid for miles behind the turbines as well as the damage caused by their support infrastructure, roads, pylons, etc.

But the turbines cause an even greater damage; not directly, but in their manufacture. This is an aspect that is not widely known; the public are not told.

The huge turbines need magnets.

Let’s take a moment to discuss their manufacture.

Nd-B-Fe magnetslook innocuous enough

The magnets are made of Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloy (Nd2Fe14B) which, thanks to its tetragonal crystal structure, is used to make the most powerful magnets in the world.

Where does this wonderful material come from?

One of the places is China, Inner Mongolia to be exact.

What are the ramifications for the Chinese whose land is destroyed, polluted and rendered useless and dead by the extraction and processing?

The lake of toxic waste at Baotou, China, which as been dumped by the rare earth processing plants in the background.

“The distinctly dirty truth about the process used to extract neodymium has been uncovered: it has an appalling environmental impact that raises serious questions over the credibility of so-called green technology.

The reality is that, as Britain flaunts its environmental credentials by speckling its coastlines and unspoiled moors and mountains with thousands of wind turbines, it is contributing to a vast man-made lake of poison in northern China. This is the deadly and sinister side of the massively profitable rare-earths industry that the ‘green’ companies profiting from the demand for wind turbines would prefer you knew nothing about.”

Quote and image from: Mail Online Read the rest of the sordid story. You’ll be shocked beyond belief.

What’s ‘green’ for the rich is death and misery for the poor.

No matter what man does to produce the energy we have become so reliant on, so dependent on, we can’t do it without some adverse impact on the planet.

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