Tommy explains why even wind turbines depend on the oil industry.
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Uncreative — 9 months ago(June 24, 2025 02:21 AM)
K. Now look at how much fossil fuel it takes to operate a windmill vs how much fossil fuel it takes to produce the equivalent of one windmill's lifetime power output.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2021/04/28/how-green-is-wind-power-really-a-new-report-tallies-up-the-carbon-cost-of-renewables/
In the case of wind and solar power, those emissions are nearly all front-loaded. That contrasts with fossil-fueled electric power plants, where emissions occur continuouisly as coal and natural gas are combusted.
It’s a big distinction. But how significant? Analyst Deepa Venkateswaran at Bernstein Research looked into it.
Citing data from the likes of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and Bernstein estimates, Venkateswaran determined that the biggest contributors to the carbon footprint of wind turbines are steel, aluminum and the epoxy resins that hold pieces together — with the steel tower making up 30% of the carbon impact, the concrete foundation 17% and the carbon fiber and fiberglass blades 12%.
Good news: amortizing the carbon cost over the decades-long lifespan of the equipment, Bernstein determined that wind power has a carbon footprint 99% less than coal-fired power plants, 98% less than natural gas, and a surprise 75% less than solar.
More specifically, they figure that wind turbines average just 11 grams of CO2 emission per kilowatthour of electricity generated. That compares with 44 g/kwh for solar, 450 g for natural gas, and a whopping 1,000 g for coal.
Looks like Billy Bob's rant on a fictional show targeted at aging boomers might not have been scientifically correct. -
MovieManCin2 — 9 months ago(June 24, 2025 02:38 AM)
Yeah, I've heard that before, and I think it's horseshit. And he's right, if windmills were the future, the ****in' oil companies would put them everywhere.
MAGA! FAFO!
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder. 
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Uncreative — 9 months ago(June 24, 2025 03:30 AM)
Some of them do. One of the EV charging stations by my house is owned by Shell.
https://www.shell.com/shellenergy/shell-energy-europe/renewable-energy-generation.html
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/what-we-do/renewables-and-power.html
Wind and solar are also the cheapest way to build capacity which is why most new projects are renewables now.
https://environmentamerica.org/center/updates/90-of-new-electricity-capacity-in-2024-to-date-comes-from-renewables/ -
Chicxulub — 9 months ago(June 24, 2025 02:34 AM)
Good lecture. I think a lot of clean energy virtue signalers think the electricity that charges their car magically comes out of the wall, and not from a power plant that runs on fuel.
They still had to slide in bs dialogue insinuating it's running out, though. There are trillions of barrels still in the ground. Ain't happening anytime soon.