The Glaring Engineering Mistake That Made Wind Turbines Inefficient | Massive Engineering Mistakes

Scientists and engineers detail the glaring mistake that rendered wind farms inefficient and costly.
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[@Tom-us9yb]

Who would have thought a wind turbine In the ocean would experience salt water corrosive damage ? Or excessive wind , or storms , what a shock !

[@robinsattahip2376]

Political correctness means saying the "right" thing, in this case, it will be maintenance-free and last forever.

[@etarepsedllits48]

Made for TV quotes, Tom....... I'm no engineer, but I can recognise PR hype at 100's of meters.........

[@fosphor8920]

Why did we invest so heavily in it when we got nuclear energy? Why not just keep the wind mills in testing for the past 15 years? Did we just throw a bunch of the tax payers money at something that doesn't work?

[@martinschulz9381]

Good point. Doesn't take an engineer, or Rocket scientist to have come to that conclusion.

[@andya2665]

NO WAY! I thought salt made all things better.

[@Chopper153]

No engineer would ever say that a rotating machine will be maintenance free.

[@captsirl]

No. But CNN would for the green adjenda

[@richardkeen5828]

Well, from what iv seen they usually grind themselves into firery spiraling death before " Maintenence" has any effect on them. JMHO✌🌎

[@BruceBoschek]

The thought was that the blades would be maintenance free. Erosion by dust is not altogether obvious.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@captsirl Yea, and what CNN won't talk about is the environmental disaster from the used blades piling up, they're fiberglass so there's no recycling them. So as usual poor people are getting stuck with the mess, in places like rural Appalachia they're buying land to pile those things up on and the poor have them on the edge of their communities, a pile of those things is an environmental disaster all in it's own that no one seems to be willing to talk about, they're just sweeping it under the rug of course, not very "green" if you ever see one.

[@panan7777]

They all have MASSIVE gearbox to get the revs up for generator to work. I haven't checked, but at least three stages, meaning three pairs of gears, each pair turning a couple of percent of torque into the HEAT. A couple of percent from 3MW turbine, means approx. 100KW or enough heat for about three houses in winter. Amount of oil? Just about 100 gals of oil or more. What can go wrong??? NOT a detailed analysis, but a ballpark one. We all MUST stop this sheet madness, before the idiots destroy the industry and send us all back to dark ages.

[@alexthegordonhighlander1159]

I graduated from Mechanical Engineering in 2002 from the University of Toronto specializing in aerospace and environmental engineering and we knew then that they would be an expensive, high maintenance, high break rate machine that also had significant negative environmental effects. At such massive scale, each unit requires as much maintenance as an airplane. This was common sense 20+ years ago.

[@the_udmurt]

This world doesn't use common sense anymore

[@ThePlazmapower]

The government is forcing electrification

[@isaiasgarcia]

Hi Alex, I'm a local investor from Toronto as well. Any chance I could message you regarding the topic of wind farming in the Azores Islands? Very much new to all of this, but curious to learn more about the feasibility of installing wind turbines (smaller scale) on an plot of land in these islands, and thought you might be able to shed some light on this. Anyways, hope you see this! Cheers!

[@jimdavison4077]

Actually much of the maintenance is automated and observed by human hands. Wind tubines give long trouble free service. Blades need to be changed and the gear oil needs changing but both the blades and oil are recycled. Blades removed are checked for cracks then resurfaced ready to be put back on for another cycle. Its not rocket science.

[@rodgermcnamer8278]

Hey go down highway 218 in Iowa I just take them down there and move those dirt over him and wish him good luck

[@casualguy3938]

I doubt the engineers didn't know there was going to be pitting problems on the blades. To say that they didn't is an insult to their intelligence. Anyone who has driven a car and gotten rock chips in the paint on the front of their cars could have told you that a blade spinning at up to 180mph is gonna get damaged.

[@willdsm08]

But, Renewables. Renewables will save the world. All rubbish of course, as renewables (in the right place) are a good idea, but will never be the whole solution. Anyone that says they will, has large holdings in the renewable energy sector.

[@Dyl482]

@@willdsm08 What about the much more powerful non renewable energy sector and its more powerful influence

[@anxiousearth680]

@@willdsm08 Then what do you suggest?

[@wbtittle]

The managers listening to them may not have heard them...

[@jonahbert111]

The blades need a bra, just like a car hood. There I solved it. Or paint with tungsten carbide particles. Something like that, no?

[@amineaiffa]

I work with engineers all the time. Claiming that they "thought it was maintenance free" is basically calling them idiots, which they aren't. Engineers 100% knew they required maintenance, but maybe they underestimated the lifetime of the blades.

[@jotatsu]

I am an engineer on a different field. No we are not stupid, but we cannot tell the flaws on products to customer or the public, because we are under heavy NDAs and a contract. I got fired from my last job because i pushed against a shitty product where the company was practically screwing the customer.

[@jcsjcs2]

I don't think the engineers claimed it was maintenance free. Sounds more like what marketing and sales people would come up with when trying to promote the technology.

[@patricklindsay1688]

DigitalDreams the biggest problem with the marketing strategy is politics. Politicians have been pushing wind power as the be-all and end-all of Green energy. They purposely cover up the down side in order to extract billions from taxpayers to subsidize wind power, and then they pat themselves on the back for saving the planet.

[@docholiday7758]

Wind turbines have been in operation for decades. The problem has been known for decades, but they decided to keep making them that way. Sell more blades that way. Sounds like something the suits decided, not the engineers.

[@pentachronic]

@@docholiday7758 GE to blame here. They have the contracts to build them. Just like Boeing has to fix their aircraft systems and aircraft defects. At the end of the day The Engineers were rushed without there being a proper study. That's what placing a product in the field too early does.

[@NickHey]

"Believe it or not when engineers first installed wind turbines they thought it would be maintenance free. It's not." Yeah i don't believe that for a second lol im sure any engineer would realise any man made object requires maintenance.

[@Hanoitami]

Maybe the engineer, probably not the people who were funding it. Ppl who think wind powerplants can actually solve our energy demands are delusional.

[@gunners4129]

Right, im still waiting on the aliens to stop in and give us some updated tech..

[@gunners4129]

Whats delusional, is not trying, and continuing to rely on nonrenewable resources and believing we'll never run out of them or cause adverse negative effects as a result of combusting them..

[@Aus10McNeal]

I'm just scared by the fact that, that guy never blinked. His eyes were popping out of his head.

[@joshuabarlow9048]

@@gunners4129 you can ram your head into a brick wall all you want if you need a hole to escape through... but your still just gonna break your skull. Maybe try something that might help you not just anything...

[@poker345611]

I worked at Home Depot and had to help customers load their vehicles. One time i had a guy want me to help me load a sheet of plywood. I asked him if he had a big enough vehicle for the 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plywood. He replied rudely that he was an engineer and he knew what he was doing. When we arrived to his compact car i laughed and asked him how he would fit inside his tiny car. He ended up returning the sheet of plywood because he didn't want to rent a truck or cut the wood down to fit.

[@jayjaynella4539]

Engineers are notorious for overlooking the obvious. Ask me how i know.

[@leadboots72]

How do you know?

[@doodlegassum6959]

@@leadboots72 asks people to ask. Overlooks response to his ask. Just a guess but, He must be an engineer

[@leadboots72]

@@doodlegassum6959 LOL Perfect!

[@Sylvershade]

He knew exactly what he was doing. He wasted your time in the most effective and efficient way possible.

[@0HelgeJensen]

I have been developing monitoring systems for wind turbines for ~15 years. The wear is (of course) real, but nobody expected maintenance free! That being said, the maintenance is more than expected, especially offshore (and other hostile environments like deserts and Sub-Zero tundra). Reasonable estimates would be between 1.1 and 2.5x expectations. Only a small portion of that comes from blade edge wear. I have never met an engineer that thought "small things can't wear out big machines". Wear/load is integrated over the life time of the turbine. I continue to be amazed with how good the engineering on most of the turbines is. These machines are facing load of megawatt, continuously, in some of the harshest conditions any machine are placed in. It is amazing they require as little service as they do.

[@ADOENDRA]

The " maintenance free " is to attract investors ;-)

[@JoeSmoe1]

guess they shouldve talked with plane prop engineers. as a pilot myself, the first thing i thought of was damage over time from erosion

[@0HelgeJensen]

@@ADOENDRA i haven't seen any marketing for maintenance free wings (i mostly know the bigger vendors). Do you have any links or a specific experience yourself?

[@ADOENDRA]

​@@0HelgeJensen It works the same like selling any item on the Globe. Something like the printer and the inkt. They will never tell you the inkt is € 4000 per Liter for the € 80 printer.

[@carmenschumann826]

@@ADOENDRA . . . if already you know it then every idiot else can know it, too . . .

[@xandersafrunek2151]

The only time anything is "maintenance free" is when you're trying to sell it.

[@stephenchase9261]

That was good 😂

[@geoffb5665]

Excellent observation

[@mammutMK2]

Like the maintenance free car battery = no need to fill up water = cant fill up water = throw away product

[@Brandtphenom]

Bet

[@noneyaratman714]

Maintenance free is code for disposable.

[@wildmikefilms]

Lumps of frozen water. If only we had a word for that

[@luciankristov6436]

Maybe we should call it ice? But lumps of frozen water makes it sound like you know what youre not talking about

[@w.s.soapcompany94]

@@luciankristov6436 as a frozen American I'm offended when people use the i word. That's our word.

[@TheGeorgeAtkisson]

Oh, hail yes! Let’s just check the dictionary. 🤔

[@simonmcneilly55]

A solid matrix of dihydrogen monoxide molecules

[@timkis64]

the military would designate its title as LOFW.& if you call it anything else you will pay dearly for it.

[@stevensims3342]

The problem with materials that are industrial strength is they typically require heavy chemistry to create them and then become "forever materials" like FEP. Dupont (now renamed) has been selling the stuff for years and is amazing for industrial spec application but once you create the final product it is then very difficult to recycle or destroy. The kapton tape stuff technically doesn't even burn.

[@eco-hot3231]

Funny you should mention burning ! I created a wood burning stove that burned so hot that I was going through grates made of 1/4" thick stainless steel about once every 10 hours of burning. I started putting cans of old nails and screws on the grill to protect my SS grills - the design was based on the "Turbo Jet Engine" principal which is seldom stated or taught which is "Reintroduce a large portion of your output energy to drive the input" This principal can be used in many other areas like SAVING MONEY - You know - Interest or Rent are good examples or a business in which the owner does not spend the money made but just builds a bigger business to put out more money .... It's the basis of FIRE and many other runaway chemical reactions or any runaway reaction. Just take a large percent of the exhaust heat and reintroduce it to the combustion chamber via the Fuel And Air ... done right you can burn almost anything!

[@jimmycraze6353]

But they are "Eco Friendly" lol

[@martinschulz9381]

I worked in an area a few years ago that a lot wind turbines and to my surprise I learned that they actually require a lot of expensive maintenance. During winter windstorms when they need the power most, they actually have to shut them off.

[@witoldschwenke9492]

Still other power sources are far more costly to operate than wind turbines. The lifetime electricity generation costs per kwh are quite low

[@martinschulz9381]

@@witoldschwenke9492 I am a proponent of wind power, but it's expensive and has to be subsidized to start and stay in business. Wind turbines are spread out and are expensive and time consuming to maintain. I worked in north Dakota a few years ago, and I talked to some of the maintenance contractors who worked on them.

[@garybulwinkle82]

The problem is the size. The perfect pitch should change with the varying speed of the wind, but with such size, the tip of the blade is traveling so much faster than the near center portion of the blade! The money bags investors want as much money as possible so they need them all huge!

[@murilovsilva]

The only glaring mistake here was the misleading title.

[@daltonbedore8396]

framing. an essential method of misinformation and propaganda

[@PS-Straya_M8]

Yep ... click bait for 10 year olds. Fkn BS video !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@RWBHere]

Thanks for the warning. I'll not waste time watching the video.

[@brothersoulshine]

Thanks. You've saved me from watching the vid.

[@TheChadPad]

Murilo Vidal well, the erosion made them inefficient by slowing them down, but I'm not sure I would say that's a design flaw. Rather an oversight in preparation

[@Dynoids]

Engineers didn't claim it was maintenance free, the marketers did.

[@Iseenoobpeoples]

I worked to build one of the park, I was amaze to know that the manufacturer only gave a 14 years warranty and recommended disassembling the whole park after 24 years.

[@jamescaley9942]

Well nobody should have believed them unless they provided the warranty.

[@JD-jl4yy]

@rats arsed re

[@Iseenoobpeoples]

@@JD-jl4yy sheep

[@marct7905]

It is maintenance free for the life of the turbine lol

[@steelshepherd6843]

Quick searches show that it takes about 20 years for a wind turbine to pay for itself...which coincidentally is their estimated effective lifespan...then their is the cost of maintenance ant the amount of energy and resources put into them besides the actual cost...

[@Deontjie]

What nobody will tell you , is that the coal power plants still operates normally while the turbines spin. You can't power up a coal plant when the wind drops. Turbines are there only for government subsidies.

[@obsoleteprofessor2034]

I worked on helicopters. One of the high experience pilots told me he could tell when his rotors were getting pitted. Of course for one, preflight but he could tell that extra power was needed.

[@johncholmes643]

Watching Discovery channel videos makes me glad I don't have cable Tv anymore.

[@kingelvis7035]

Hahahahaha! Right on the money there.

[@rudolfskrasovskis6790]

Those random people in between clips being all like “and that means that it means what it means”... Yeah, no shit

[@stevefromsaskatoon830]

Lol so true

[@wardenpotato]

Yeah the amount of surface level dramatised brainrot is astounding

[@valsgardegaming68]

It's crazy how surface level this video is. The entire time I was watching I was waiting for an actual explanation or something worth bringing a professor and an engineer in to explain. I understand that you have to appeal to a wider audience, but I was unaware that kindergartners watch Discovery UK.

[@burnttoast6974]

“We did a google search and apparently things break sometimes. Useless technology.”

[@learning3dprinting636]

you summed up my thoughts pretty well. also: - this material is not pleasent to touch. -ok now say it more than once and have a shot of you putting gloves on to touch it.

[@TubesForNoobs]

Essentially we should just go nuclear, I don’t know why we still pour billions in this unreliable crap when we can just improve nuclear and make it safer than it already is

[@user-zk5jn4br7u]

Do you think they read these comments? I hope they read these comments. For their own sake

[@michaeljwoodwi]

@@TubesForNoobs Fukushima Daiichi, Chernobyl, Yucca Mountain.

[@spudit2003]

I grew up in Norfolk and remember seeing scroby sands windfarm being built. This video explains why in the following years the turbines were off so often, we had assumed it was bad weather or something.

[@jonathanj8303]

Not necessarily. You have to take all the power that wind gives you or none at all. So turbines are disconnected and static if there's no demand for that power. No engineer has ever claimed they'd be maintenance free, and blade erosion was expected and designed for. Yes, in some cases it's more than expected, that's the nature of making predictions. Sales people oversell thing once in a while too. The video is sensationalist attention grabbing with at best a tenuous link to the truth.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

@@jonathanj8303 "You have to take all the power that wind gives you or none at all. " EXACTLY!

[@AtheistPhoenix]

As an engineer hearing perfectly designed 30 seconds in kills all confidence in this video

[@user-nx1pe2cs1t]

"Give us money, and we will 'save' the planet."

[@JensHove]

Nice try. Wind turbines are as much a religious symbol to commies, as crosses are to Christians. Unreliable energy technology is a waste of money. Nuclear is the future.

[@diytwoincollege7079]

Wait, stuff wears out over time? That's news to all of us.

[@portlyoldman]

The other thing I really can't get to grips with is that these, so called, engineers can't make things that are perfectly efficient and totally perfect the first time they make them. I'm sure everything else in history was perfect first time, one hundred percent efficient and lasted forever. I couldn't be wrong about that, now could I? 😆🤣😂

[@englishteacher2711]

@@portlyoldman First windmill 1500 years ago. Still don't work. Go back to the drawing board with your comment. Also, there are girls on youtube.

[@portlyoldman]

NewSnow Duck - oops, that wascan autocorrect for "now".. Edited

[@portlyoldman]

NewSnow Duck. - sadly I think you either missed the rather obscure humour in my comment OR I don’t understand yours 😳

[@englishteacher2711]

@@portlyoldman Oh.

[@privateperson5054]

4 min for Dust damages the wind turbines blades.

[@michaelpettersson4919]

Anyone but virtue signalling eager politicians realise that instinctably.

[@justinmiller129]

Same turbine blade on a *_highway_* kzbin.info/www/bejne/raq3Z3-FrN-ifNk&vvq

[@0s0sXD]

this video was so bad this institution is a fat joke. what kind of low iq normie do I have to be, to be actually entertained by this

[@hellssurprise9338]

@@0s0sXD It felt they were talking to me as if im demented IDIOTS Dust can be absolutely tiny even micro size, so of course its going to travel everywhere. In The UK from where i am in the middle we get sand from the sahara in the wind and sand is bigger than dust i think, XD i should have known having watched discovery before they're useless commentary, taught me a lesson LOLS

[@0s0sXD]

@@hellssurprise9338 lmfao

[@charlesfulcrum3170]

A video that is 7.46 minutes long and we have to wait until 7.08 to be shown the problem. No, it’s not a “Glaring engineering mistake”, it’s called a lesson learnt. Blade design, including the materials it’s made of, is an ongoing process and they are getting more efficient and more resistant to the elements every year

[@ddd228]

Yes, I tried a wind turbine. Huge maintenance costs and time. I sold it and got PV panels instead.

[@970357ers]

Engineering surprise: Machines need maintenance.

[@thisaccountisntreal107]

They just need to build them out of living tissue and let it heal itself

[@MrMaxitaple]

@@thisaccountisntreal107 bruh

[@syazyukki8378]

@@thisaccountisntreal107 so..cyborg wind turbines?

[@thisaccountisntreal107]

@@syazyukki8378 no theyre turbines made out of living meat

[@syazyukki8378]

@@thisaccountisntreal107 i....love...this idea..hahaha

[@jacobjay7018]

Back in 1990 a friend of mine was shouted down as a typical panic breeder because he brought up this point during a discussion regarding wind power. The engineer giving the lecture belittled him in front of 70 other people by asking him, "Don't you think these companies and their professionals have not thought about the most basic of problems then"? Well John, wherever you are you can now say "I told you so"!

[@danmartens8855]

When the shouting starts the science has left. It is like shouting over the sum of a column of numbers. You don't get to advocate for your favorite result. The result is the result.

[@honkhonk8009]

@@danmartens8855 Moment anyone gets emotional over something, you can tell their covering shit up

[@eco-hot3231]

"You can't wake someone who is pretending to sleep" The biggest research firms working on wind energy and other renewables are paid by "BIG OIL" do you really thing they are awake? They don't give two Shts about saving our planet or capturing renwables. I have tried to reach these organizations for 15 years and NO ONE THERE CARES TO EVEN LISTEN ! ! real renewable capture is going to have to come from GRASS ROOT EFFORTS. YOU AND ME ! ! NO CORPORATION IS GOING TO DRIVE THE BUS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION .... it's just not profitable

[@jimdavison4077]

Where is the issue, blade are removed, checked for major structure integrity, major cracks, then resurfaced and put back on. Large wind farms keep the means to do this and are always in the process of changing blades or repairing them. Much like you change tires on a car or a roof on a house. Everything needs some degree of service. Nuclear reactors, oil or gas fired generators or coal fired generators all need to temporarily shut down for service. Where is the big deal about serviceing wind turbines?

[@mukhumor]

Anyone who lives by the sea will know something about the corrosive power of the sea.

[@stephenjacks8196]

Denmark has Vertical Axis Wind Turbines on its downtown buildings so no need for towers to be built. Usually continuos wind across country between North Sea and Baltic Sea. A Farmer's Grange added Solar to their farm style windmill, when they added a new wing. Prevailing wind and am/pm onshore/offshore breezes, and Solar is still 60% on a stormy day.

[@OHFORPEATSAKES]

You could have told me all of this in less than 10 seconds.

[@UltraGamma25]

This is why we don't watch tv anymore. Waste, of, time

[@autumnleaf2976]

Wrong mate... 3 seconds - "They need maintainence".

[@pulsar22]

@@autumnleaf2976 "3 seconds - "They need maintainence"" More like 1 and 1/2 seconds.

[@jd1700]

What's amazing is that TV channels are still editing informative pieces in the cringe format that was popular in the 00's

[@SF-li9kh]

Haha true. Same tense tune from Fear Factor, Ripley's Believe it or not

[@h4ro457]

It doesn't matter if you think it's cringe or not. They get more views by using that dramatic/tense style. That's what really matters.

[@jd1700]

@@h4ro457 I disagree, KZbin channels that cover subjects like this a massively popular without creating fake tension.

[@kennethgiunchedi1149]

Śßs3

[@WynandLens]

I know, right? The ridiculous action drum sequences, the Hollywood American accent. Like, I'm actually interested enough in the content already, dude!

[@dartskipper3170]

The Scroby Sands installation is quite close to the shore. Holidaymakers in Great Yarmouth were told by some locals that the turbines were really fans to keep sunbathers cool.

[@pdfbrander]

Going forward, everyone should realise that when the words "experts say" are uttered. It really means "we have no idea".

[@skatatataatje]

No amount of music will this make this exhilarating. Especially when your scientists talk to you like you're in sesamestreet.

[@haydn-db8z]

Well, their forced diversity has got to be worth at least something.

[@iagree7388]

@@haydn-db8z Racist triggered lol, you small backward mind is eroding like these blades, update yourself with knowledge. Anyone can be a scientist not just a white man...

[@haydn-db8z]

@@iagree7388 Yeah, buddy. I'm actually a liberal. I just hate PC culture, as does an overwhelming majority of Americans, both on the left and right. But by all means, please keep signaling your virtue.

[@prahjex2501]

@@haydn-db8z Your assumption that the diversity was forced is indicative of your personal perspective, more than the show’s intent. Don’t worry, we all have cognitive barriers to work on.

[@haydn-db8z]

@@prahjex2501 When the prevalence of PoC in media has skyrocketed to the extent it has, it certainly feels forced - and yes, that is my perspective. If you don't like the word "forced," then maybe suggest another to describe the phenomenon where almost every show/ad is seemingly required to have representation, even if it harms suspension of disbelief. And please worry about your own cognition, not mine.

[@mmaldonadojr]

For almost a century now it's well known that airplane props erode at the leading edge, so I doubt that the wind generator designers didn't figure this out in the first place.

[@xm210c]

You have to consider what the engineering knowledge overlap was. Were aerospace engineers working on these structures or did the infrastructure engineers go at it with and how much cross-discipline information sharing and employing happened while these projects were designed. It's not that unlikely imho that no one on the teams designing these structures had intimate knowledge of leading edge abrasion in airplane props or they had but siginificantly underestimated it.

[@chucknorris277]

Judging by the video it was student engineers lol. But all materials deterioriorate and decay over time and elements. If anyone suggested no maintainence it was media and governments to push thier construction for the climate change nazis. Make the message more pallitable for the uninformed public. I have been helping build these farms for over 20 years. One unit is down every day at min for repairs and maintenance. Usualy 5 to 10 percent of the operation is down for repairs.

[@leeowen4989]

@@xm210c They probably looked at the erosion rates of aircraft propellers and thought because they run at around 2500rpm, a wind turbine would take a lot longer to erode. If it were me designing an upgrade, I would use an aircraft grade aluminium laminate to protect the leading edge just as they are used to protect the leading edges of aircraft wings and engine fan cowlings. Downside would be a significant increase in blade mass but they would last considerably longer.

[@incargeek]

no leading edge protection = planned obsolescence.

[@blogengeezer4507]

@@chucknorris277 -It requires Five Wind Turbines, generating their full energy potential, in order to achieve enough Total energy involved, to replicate the lifespan of ..... One functioning Wind Turbine. 'The law of diminishing Returns' {Physics 101} will not be overlooked, in order to placate the whims of dreamers, their Leaders.. ;} Energy to recycle the worn, outdated [ref to life span] of blades alone, is enormous and has not yet become cost realistic.. Blade 'Dumps' accumulating, around the world? Note: The Pyramid builders, mound builders, kept their masses, the proletariat busy, involved. Wars were largely avoided, during heavy construction periods... around the world. Not enough time, energy,.... funds to sustain warfare,.... as long as massive public construction projects, requiring highly involved social infrastructure, were required ;}

[@WhiteCandle]

Sadly, the energy it takes to construct and assemble all the mechanical components of a wind turbine EXCEEDS the amount of energy that it will ever create during it's entire operational "lifespan".

[@jayjaynella4539]

We never hear about that from the greenies idiots.

[@teranfirbt]

Have a source or some numbers for that claim?

[@mart34]

That's false. The energy returned on energy invested (EROI), is approx 20.

[@riliash]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

[@joshdenton611]

@4:09 i love how she's trying to keep a straight face while explaining it. 😅😆🤣😂🤣 and @4:25........he's laughing his ass off too.

[@beebsisme233]

It took a scientist to realise saltwater would damage fiberglass I'm dead

[@scottcroce5277]

Matthew Moser just ask any boat owner Nahhhhhh

[@beebsisme233]

@@scottcroce5277 lol I mean salt in the air vs a fiberglass blade spinning at high speed why did you not just sand blast it

[@testi2025]

I’m sure these issues ware know, people making these are not stupid. But people buying these, with taxpayers dime, they are. Only way to make them have any reasonable EROI, is to not calculate maintenance, network balancing, and decommissioning. The real benefit of these is so low, in a large scale energy production, that even hard greenies would not have them, if they would know about it.

[@LucasRodmo]

@@testi2025 So what is your suggestion? Using coal and petroleum and expect a miracle when those deplete?

[@testi2025]

Lucas Rodmo using what ever is reasonable, meaning it has a high EROI. Having more resources (using the ones you have efficiently) is what has driven modern advancement. So let’s keep advancing until we have cheap and clean energy. It’s obviously something people are trying to achieve. There are plenty of coal, gas and oil, so that we can get there. There is no other solution, because building a low EROI system, or lowering energy consumption, will definitely make most people poor(er). In democratic countries, the leaders making people poor would be voted out. So in order to make it happen, you would need some global eco fascism system that could force people.

[@RamLaska]

“Glaring mistake” = weathering Next video: Title: “The Glaring Engineering Mistake That Made Cars Inefficient | Massive Engineering Mistakes” Content: you have to refuel

[@tubester4567]

or you have to change the tyres.

[@billbowboggins8854]

@@tubester4567 *Tires

[@tubester4567]

@@billbowboggins8854 In my country its Tyres. "Tires" is US spelling

[@sanderbos2209]

Thanks dude, saved me from wasting 7 minutes of my time

[@zolikoff]

@Jeff Peate Unfortunately that is literally the level of hype which is sold to the population. It's free energy. Never mind that even if well maintained, you still have to replace the infrastructure after a couple decades anyway.

[@TheGordo1996]

They must have known that if they told the people what is would cost to do it right, the answer would have been "absolutely not". But now the green energy goblins have their foot in the door.

[@Steve1734]

The salesman forgot to say the blades need replacing every 5 years. And solar cell salesmen didn't tell you that the panels only last 7 years.

[@icedriver2207]

And that recycling Solar cells is very hard to do

[@westwonic]

Solar panels can last more than 25 years, but their efficiency wanes with time.

[@christopheblanchi4777]

This is typical of most reports that talk about engineering or science. Make it dramatic, scary and threatening or else. Pathetic.

[@kenbellchambers4577]

Like 'Turbine Blade Derails Train!'

[@lewisticknor]

@@kenbellchambers4577 LOL

[@heidiwilks5316]

And more than likely funded by Big Oil.

[@thesupertendent8973]

Christophe Blanchi: your insane

[@frankm3214]

This jackass forgot to mention that wind turbines are giant bird blenders.

[@SNoCappidona]

Narrator: Engineers claimed it would be maintenance free Science writer: The engineers were wrong actual engineer: "These things are going to have a large maintenance fee."

[@ghostinthesystem3872]

ironically it uses oil to be maintained XD

[@shadesmarerik4112]

@@ghostinthesystem3872 but this oil isnt burned and doesnt emit carbondioxide which will eventually boil the next generation of humanity. Looks like u havent gotten the difference between carbon free and carbon emission free

[@ghostinthesystem3872]

@@shadesmarerik4112 how do you think lubrication oil is made.......

[@shadesmarerik4112]

@@ghostinthesystem3872 so u revealed ur ignorance in carbon emission, and now u add ur ignorance of the difference between combustion and destillation? how stupid are u?

[@pumkinface1]

@@shadesmarerik4112 Don't break your shoulder with that back pat bud....

[@CONNELL19511216]

There was never any doubt about the occurrence of blade wear; the only unknown was just how much - an empirical amount highly dependent on the degree of wind pollution

[@doyouwantsli9680]

It's millions of birds and bats being smashed to death against the blades as well.

[@eagerlawncare3700]

There can never be and will never be a "wind turbine manufacturing plant" powered by wind turbines

[@benghazi4216]

"It's amazing that these tiny pieces of dirt can cause such huge problems for these giant machines" Wait until you realize what tiny drops of water can do to a mountain. You will be floored.

[@TTM77]

More amazing how far people go to ignore the problem until it become a crisis. Also amazing how far people will go to create a crisis for gain.

[@benghazi4216]

@@TTM77 Create a crisis for gain? Don't tell me you are one of those idiotic climate change deniers..

[@Plasmafox]

They very conspicuously weaseled around mentioning bird strikes

[@benghazi4216]

@@Plasmafox But that is a problem for only some birds. But for them it is, the problem is large. Buzzard and red kite populations are affected in a measurable negative way in Germany for example.

[@grandmalovesmebest]

😂😂😂

[@kevinbroderick3779]

I wish KZbin had a laughing button.

[@pectenmaximus231]

Amazing, truly amazing comment. Revolutionary.

[@WilliamHollinger2019]

Same

[@smokeystarr]

Also maybe a FOH button

[@smokeystarr]

@@nottingtohide lol

[@appletree8441]

😅😅😆😆

[@properfpv7160]

Had the same problem with helicopter rotors. They have a coating they apply to the leading edge if they’re used in sandy areas.

[@lilgrlQ1]

My question is with so many of these turbines so close together in the ocean, what's the effect on surrounding marine life?

[@deeb3272]

"Maintenance free"? WTF. a gradeschooler would get mad at you.

[@Jan_372]

@FlamQ Dbltap sometimes it's also because of the power being used. If not much power is needed some are shut off.

[@queefyg490]

I think every engineer in the entire world would start laughing when someone said “maintenance free”

[@JackMott]

Not really, plenty of things are maintenance free for their usable lifetimes. Maintenance free is only absurd if you also claim infinite lifetime. The solar panels on my house will be maintenance free, but only last 25-35 years.

[@jamesmeppler6375]

I think every maintenance person in the world is here making the same comment, something tells me you dont check if fellow workers make the same post before leaving one yourself... No wonder errors happen so much, no one checks the notes from the previous workers

[@ocadioan]

@@JackMott On private scales, things can be maintenance free because it isn't considered worth the effort to fix a 5-10% drop in power output on a single unit. However, on an industrial scale, a 5-10% drop that is fixable with a little maintenance is definitely worth it if you have enough units.

[@k9aid514]

Not when the engineers are trying to sell the product lol

[@PM-qp5he]

@@JackMott so you have never washed your solar panels? You do realize if you don't clean them the inefficiency goes way down right? Do you have a battery or connected to the grid. If you are connected there's still maintenance. If you are on battery your dumb for not checking it every so often, there's probably a maintenance check list from the manufacturer.

[@maxbrazil3712]

Constant exposure to salt water can damage machinery? What a shock!

[@jayjaynella4539]

Oil platforms for years used sea water for their fire system water supply. And then, one by one, the fires systems stopped working due to salt water corrosion. Nobel prize there.

[@MrBusunglueck]

1:10 Stunning how the professor is able to accurately dial in 22.5°

[@thinkingoutloud6741]

I’ll bet it wasn’t the engineers that suggested they would require no maintenance. I’m an engineer and can’t conceive of ANY system that could offer that. I’ll bet it was the politicians spending the taxpayer’s money that offered up that blatant lie.

[@europaeuropa3673]

Of course, they are the same con artists who keep demonizing harmless CO2.

[@deadheadadd9778]

„ lets use that material, should save some money“.

[@stick9648]

Maintenance free to the end user .

[@ninjaslash52_98]

*me the entire video* “YoU dOnT sAy?!” “...caused by particles... in the wind” *gasp* what an unexpected turn of events!

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

Easy to say after the fact, when it's demonstrated to you by others. However, if you were one of the engineers who designed it at the time, I doubt very seriously you would have foreseen it either....

[@ninjaslash52_98]

MaskedMarvyl 1. It’s their job to predict these things they get payed well 2. Weathering effects everything if bridges have to be taken care of very often they should’ve figured “maybe a giant windmill will be subject to a lot of weathering

[@ForestNinjaZero]

Yes, they should have foreseen it, because it's obvious that, at the pressures which are required to generate the desired amount of energy, even the gaseous isotopes, within the atmosphere, will create enough friction to destroy the blades within years.

[@ninjaslash52_98]

ForestNinjaZero that’s a very fancy way of saying small particles like sand dirt water damages the part of the fin it hits I mean not like you can see this in household fans... oh wait you can

[@ForestNinjaZero]

No, my point is that the atmosphere alone (oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, various heavy molecules), will erode the blades, in the same manner that aircraft bodies are 'sanded' at supersonic speeds.

[@stuegg7554]

I like how they talk to an audience like a kinder garden teacher talks to a bunch of kids..

[@dougerrohmer]

Back in the day, when I was in the aircraft industry, they put blade tape on the edge of helicopter rotor blades. The tape wasn't particularly strong, but it was cushiony so dust particles and hail stones wouldn't chip away at the blade. And of course the tape can be changed.

[@keithlea6804]

I seen this back in the day. Always wanted a roll of that tape.

[@shirshakbt]

7 mins of buildup just to say “They’re trying to fix it.” Well what’s the solution???? Or at least some of them?

[@bengreen2329]

Dunno about these, but on carbon panels on fast jets they put a thick plastic tape on the leading edge to stop rain etc delaminating the panel. So I'd assume they'd put some kind of sacrificial strip on them

[@joshualandry3160]

There isn't one. Every type of turbine or prop has a short lifespan and dies quickly. Only hubris would ever suggest that wind farms would be different. This happens in literally all the "green energy" ideas. Once you actually track what it takes to make, maintain, and dispose of the equipment it doesn't come close to paying off by any metric. The only exception is nuclear but everyone throws a fit because of a few accidents with a handful of deaths.

[@dacoelec]

@@joshualandry3160 Just remember that you're arguing with idiots. "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead"

[@joshualandry3160]

@@dacoelec Fun though ;)

[@zgrb]

@@joshualandry3160 hi! You’re an idiot

[@K9River]

I would think after having observed decades of airplane wings traveling at speeds much higher than 150 mph that would provide some level of insight into the longevity of windmill blades.

[@user-fw2dd2cy3c]

Guess not!

[@ricksanchez7459]

They knew, it was a cash grab.

[@James-sk4db]

Lots of money was given in government contracts for these. What did they expect to happen.

[@iamthetinkerman]

Airplanes are higher altitude with less particles!

[@ricksanchez7459]

@@iamthetinkerman Airplane props spin faster/more, negating the advantage.

[@JMorris216]

When I was a kid there were many different kinds on the Altamont pass in California . Even some that looked a peice to a food mixer

[@knightsljx]

Everyone who lives near the sea: Salty air destroys and corrodes EVERYTHING Engineers: Wind turbines will be maintenance free

[@novalogix]

I bet they can also make a 7 mins video about me re tying my shoelaces.

[@bermudarailway2411]

If you do that eventually the laces will wear out.

[@dingdong2103]

And that's because it takes you that long to do it? :D

[@2KXMKR]

"But then the wearer drops the lace, a catastrophic event that will cost him seconds out of his day. More seconds means less money, which has a devastating impact on the global economy."

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

There are organized gangs of small pranksters that unknowingly tie shoelaces of a seated classmate in a not conventional manner. Shoelace tying engineers (also known as Parents) have told their children to tie the laces of the same shoes together. These packs of murderous crinimal elements have learned the art of tying a lace from a right sided shoe to the left sided shoe. The results can be disastrous. The damages of a fall from personal height is devastating. Hands can be scruffed, noses can be broken, even teeth can be dislodged.

[@k9aid514]

What the engineers said when they developed shoe tying... Shoe laces are maintenance free. lol

[@dougselsam5393]

This video presents a warped picture of reality. Blade erosion has always been a known, and very routine factor for wind turbines. Look at the lower part of your car after 250,000 miles - one year for a wind turbine, but the blade is going 3 times as fast. Another factor is the buildup of dead bugs - special airfoils tolerant of the resulting rough surface of dead bugs (think of your windshield if you always drove 150 MPH in a rural area and never washed the windshield) are used. There are many approaches to preventing blade erosion: leading edge tape, special coatings, etc. were all well known in aviation, with off-she-shelf solutions available. They each have their positives and negatives. Different solutions work better in various climates, locations, types of blades, budgets, expected lifespans, etc. There is one system that coats the blades in layers of alternating colors, so you can see if there is erosion at a glance, by the color change. Seems like a hard surface (metal) insert might help but it would be expensive and introduces more problems. The last thing you want is crap hanging off your blades causing the machine to be unbalance,d either by mass or aerodynamically.

[@harleyme3163]

they're fault, vertical axis turbine's dont have those problems.. minus wear... mine is pulling 300 watts in a very very still day... dousn't need a 300 foot wingspan either.

[@dougselsam5393]

@@harleyme3163 I think you seldom see leading-edge erosion on a vertical-axis machine because they would have to remain in operation continuously for a few years for that to happen, which they do not, since they usually break a blade long before then, assuming they are even mounted in a windy location, which they are often not. We had a big, heavy-duty, industrial-scale one down the street - lasted about a year - it gets windy here. Meanwhile the market-leader 10 kW wind turbine here has constant noise issues from loose leading edge tape, and the leading edges of the wooden blades on my 1 kW machines always look like they have termites after a couple or three years. Lots of dust in this here desert. :)

[@rocket41792]

Doug Selsam well put buddy

[@julianbrock6198]

So ordinary people will be priced out of driving and using fossil fuels, whilst massive amounts of fossil fuels are wasted building all this useless crap ?

[@kenbellchambers4577]

You bring up a very good point. Like with planes, the leading edge of the wings are continuously falling off. My solution to the bird problem is to have an alligator farm under every turbine.

[@kenc3288]

Tell us about the huge cost of maintenance, the landfills filling up with junk blades, the fires.

[@MacGyver-1]

" honey..... Is the wind blowing? I want to watch the news...."

[@djhutchison]

Interesting stuff. I could do without the "urgent" music...

[@andrewcool4587]

Wow Karen.

[@nielsbouman1383]

And the dramatic looks and voice intonations, partically of the black guy and women.

[@Dee-Eddy]

@@andrewcool4587 .... I dont think that works here, makes you the karen if you ask me, and maybe this makes me the Karen, but the original one was a fair point. It is kinda cut like a 90s "Yellowstone will blow at any moment" kind of feel, but the real story is more like "engineers up safety standards and efficiency on decades old technology with newer materials and dynamic modeling."

[@justinmiller129]

Same turbine blade on a *_highway_* kzbin.info/www/bejne/raq3Z3-FrN-ifNk&vvvq

[@grinsword7101]

They thought it was just thin air..... DUNdunndunndunndunnDUNdunndunndun

[@bricefleckenstein9666]

5:40 Some of the larger turbines hit more like 200 MPH at the tips in a medium-to-high wind. I once timed the blades for the Clipper Windpower 2.5 MW unit installed at Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), at just over 17 RPM - on the shortest blade that model of turbine had available, it works out to over 280 km/hr (almost 175 MPH) at the tips of the 88 meter (IIRC) blades - if it had the longest available blades (97 meter IIRC) it was doing about 195 MPH at the tips. It might have LOOKED like the blades weren't spinning all that fast, but do the math....

[@paxundpeace9970]

Es gibt auch nocj deutlich größere Anlagen mit 4 oder 5 Megawatt, welche auch längere Rotoren haben.

[@bricefleckenstein9666]

@@paxundpeace9970 Try that in English, I don't speak whatever language (German? Dutch? Afrikanners?) that comment was made in.

[@annettemeyer1393]

@@bricefleckenstein9666 Have you tried the translation function that KZbin provides? Put the pointer on the three dots on the right of the comment. Right click. Select autotranslate from the menu. Then select your language of choice. Its a great help, although the translation is sometimes a little clumsy. We English speaking folk can't expect the whole world to communicate in our language alone.

[@claywebb8199]

@@bricefleckenstein9666 - have you any idea how stupid your comment makes you sound? Or maybe a better word would be ignorant. And from someone with the name Fleckenstein no less! You have just GOT to be from the U.S. right?

[@jaimelima2420]

The claim that engineers thought the blades were supposed to be maintenance free is just absurd. Maybe the salesperson said that?

[@mikemc4549]

I could just imagine a baseball sized hail storm going through a group off these.

[@hsvr]

I hate this style of documentary, talking to their audiences like they are children

[@roadie3124]

Even so, they're probably talking above the comprehension level of the vast majority of the population.

[@MiddletoM]

its a very Americanised presentation style. Its what ruins Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares USA.

[@academyofshem]

And how else are you supposed to talk to climate-change deniers?

[@codetech5598]

@@academyofshem You talk to deniers of man-made climate change by presenting scientific facts on how Earth's climate has constantly changed, like the Milankovitch cycles show, which of course supports their claims. You talk to believers of man-made climate change by using overly-dramatic videos, or whining schoolgirls.

[@19leeryan]

@@academyofshem Climate Fraud will be abolished in the next 10 years, tread lightly.

[@acmefixer1]

Title says "glaring engineering mistake" but that sounds like clickbait. It could have been more truthful.

[@Mr5thWave]

Craptacular engineering mistake?

[@AngryHateMusic]

Truth from productions made for television... LOL! Good one.

[@stevesteve7089]

Nothing the turbine companys is true. All thet dl is lie. At max thet 18% efficiency and cost Australian tax payer 5 billion dolloars a year in subidizing

[@gabrielsierra865]

The mistake was just simply underestimating mother nature, like they said near the end of the video. I would say that mistake repeats itself in many other areas of engineering. A wise engineer will take mother nature into account, at least to minimize its effects.

[@dougselsam5393]

Yeah and it says "scientists and engineers detail it"... Where are they?

[@josemilian4167]

thank you very interesting video!

[@fibonaccisrazor]

Often one truly gifted engineer is better than a thousand experienced ones.

[@minirmc]

Please name one.

[@lwaynewalker]

The video doesn't live up to its title. "The Glaring Engineering Mistake That Made Wind Turbines Inefficient | Massive Engineering Mistakes" . There was no glaring mistake. It was an underestimation of the rate of wear and tear. 7 minutes of my life I could have spent on far more informative, or entertaining, media.

[@sdrfz]

You can call it what you like -- underestimation is still a mistake.

[@randbarrett8706]

Blame editors

[@markspc1]

Yeah Wayne in 7 minutes you could vape few grams of high grade cannabis oil extract !

[@the51project]

It took me 15 seconds to read this comment. You could have used fewer words saving my time. You owe me 10 seconds.

[@dougselsam5393]

@@sdrfz You are still believing the video's claim that the blade-wear was unknown, or underestimated. It is well-known, and always has been. :)))

[@lukamodric1020]

Fun fact : None of these folks are actual Engineers or science people.

[@marczoeteweij552]

Jep, put some colored people in there talking some smart talk

[@chaoticconqueror]

Are they all Ancient astronaut theorist?

[@adityauddagiri9533]

@Joshua Miguel De Rivera Nuclear is more efficient than wind, but Solar is not more efficient than wind. Read or Watch more to know the reasons behind why, I can straight up tell you but I'm just a guy on the internet who can't explain complex topics, even though I'm Indian.

[@michaeljoseph741]

@@marczoeteweij552 What exactly is the context here. I see a group of people discussing some real problems with wind turbines. If you have ever had to deal with turbines in general you would understand. This is why for steam turbines, the steam must be dry. The droplets in wet steam damage the turbine blades.

[@michaeljoseph741]

@Boco Corwin Maybe, just maybe you are!

[@orppranator5230]

It’s not a mistake, it’s not an accident. It’s a fundamental problem of wind power that was ignored by everyone EXCEPT the engineers.

[@georgevue8175]

On the bright side the fiberglass blades are an oil based product & will give off much energy if they are sent to a trash to energy facility at their end of life. Question: If you build a 100MW windmill farm what is used for backup power for when the wind is not blowing? Here on Cape Cod there is often a brisk wind during the day but as the sun sets the wind becomes calm & this is when most people are at home running the AC, TV's, swimming pool pumps, etc..

[@enterpriset]

The phony dramatics are so painful.

[@notthedroidsyourelookingfo4026]

Moving parts -> not maintenance free. High stresses -> not maintenance free. You learn that in the third semester, latest.

[@howardbaxter2514]

You also learn in engineering that the more parts there is, the more likely something will go wrong and break. These people act like engineers and scientists don't know anything and think that we live in an ideal world. News flash, after your first year of college, engineers immediately start learning about real world aspects in designs.

[@aphilipdent]

@@howardbaxter2514 it depends on how the engineer designs it. If they bothered to look at materials BEFORE building them. Also prop feathering for variable wind speeds.

[@kyoni6098]

Any leisure boater, especially those who have fibre-glass boats, can tell you how much maintenance a _boat_ is... and lecture you about gelcoat, buffing, paint... pros and cons... Boat are sloooow compared to those blades... yet engineers were not able to anticipate what stress off-shore turbines would experience... somebody is lying!

[@desdenova1]

The only time an engineer would say "maintenance free" would be to rebuke this video.

[@dreamxcviii3249]

Slap some Flex Seal on them suckers and they'll be good to go

[@stuartkeithguitars4251]

@dg Wiley Too.

[@bryantlacapa1161]

Duck tape works just fine too.

[@stopusingthisavatar56]

@@bryantlacapa1161 Duct.

[@Mr_B87]

Now that's a lot of damage

[@tookie36]

DreamR i was commenting the same thing and then saw this 😂

[@fixbertha]

If only the blade engineers (who, admittedly, possess awesome math and design skills) had talked to people, for example, in the steam turbine industry. They may have learned that gas flow has to be extremely clean or airfoil blades will experience all manner of pitting problems. When I first started working as a mechanical engineer 50+ years ago an old fellow who was my mentor told me that to be successful I needed to ask the operators, mechanics, machine shop personnel, etc, what their opinions were, and to listen carefully. He said they frequently already know the answers to mechanical failures but are unwilling to say anything because too many engineers would ignore them (or worse, tell them to stick to their own business and leave the engineering to the engineers). It was the best advice I ever got.

[@ronniewilliz153]

it's totally different in the field then on paper or cad

[@ronniewilliz153]

it's a lot to gamble on with in theory lol an I wish engineers would work on the field before they actually start building stuff.

[@kinghenry238]

Ya engineers that have never seen there finished products or where they are going to be are the worst.

[@stevenrais9360]

My teachers always told me "everything looks good on paper" alluding to what you're saying

[@agdryicecleaning9425]

Same goes for architecture well said sir!

[@Hope-kx9lz]

My neighbor assembles windmills all over Germany. He explained to me that they must be renewed after 20 years at the latest. (Which of course he's happy about because it secures his job). The effort to make them and keep them alive takes more energy and money than traditional energy resources do. The same applies to the highly toxic solar systems. Both are not environmentally friendly alternatives, on the contrary, especially because they take up a lot of natural habitat. Also, the windmills kill millions of birds and they are very noisy.

[@davidpsmith74]

"Renewable energy IS the future." LMAO! 🤣

[@jonahansen]

One thing I've noticed about British documentaries is a definite melodramatic approach, and this one is no exception...

[@jackdeniston9326]

Pretty much everything today is melodrama and shouting. Would we have clicked if the title was 'Making things is hard'

[@grindupBaker]

But but they're talking about epoxy. Epoxy !!! I said EPOXY !!!!!!!!!!

[@screaminlordbyron7767]

Jonahansen it's American so if you can't even get that right your opinion is worthless

[@sue08401]

Calling Bullshit ... That problem was known back in the 70's. Delamination was and always will be an issue with any FRP product and more so when used within a composite structure.

[@kenbellchambers4577]

Carbon fiber might do the trick'

[@kenbellchambers4577]

@Travis Dunn same as carbon paper but stringier.

[@PeterParker-tb7ce]

If I remember right they already have a fix for this. They have patches for this. They never said what the mistake was. BS title.

[@sascotttx5145]

@@kenbellchambers4577 They started using carbon fibers, produced by Zoltek, for the blades in 2004.

[@johntate4638]

Thin layer of stainless steel on the edge going back a few inches on each side would work. The blades can be 150+ feet in length though so it would probably add to much weight. I would think a thin sheet would get them 30+ years if it were thin enough to not weigh so much.

[@moors710]

In 1985 I started designing helicopter rotor blades.The "new problems" ran into that the wind turbines had been dealt with by helicopter designers for 45 years by the time I got there If you would have employed helicopter blade designers you would have known these problems before you started. But excessive compartmentalization (specialization) among engineers has them solving he same problems over and over again. As a physicist I have noted the arrogance of the engineers who trust the models that they have been taught , rather than checking for others who might have experience in the fields they are entering.

[@Doubledge11]

I would look into reinforcing the leading edge and researching options for making the high wear areas more readily swapped.

[@fibonaccisrazor]

Exactly, design it for easy maintenance/replacement - seems to be a no-brainer, but they missed it.

[@markclemence9429]

" theyve been perfectly designed" even as they show at least 6 different designs

[@dingdong2103]

Perfect designs with infrasonic noise issues, bird and bat deaths, flashing light pollution to nearby occupation... Government subsidies for power sold so that every kilowatt produced costs twice as much as conventional power...only to the taxpayers instead of the users.

[@Tester-sh1mn]

Well you cant have an omelete without breaking a few eggs.

[@erikhartog5340]

@@dingdong2103 Birds are far more likely to die because of your poluting coal and oil plants than because of windmills. The most optimistic estimate is 20k bird deaths in the US by windmills, the most pessimistic estimate is 580k bird deaths. The USA has about 67k turbines, this means that in the worst case scenario a windmill kills less than 10 birds a year. This is absolutely nothing if you compare the impact of fossil fuels to birth deaths and other human interventions. You are simply making up arguments because you refuse to alter your stance. You are right and that's why you feel the obligation to say whatever you want, without caring if what you say is actually right.

[@antonijaume8498]

@@erikhartog5340 You have missed high-rises with glass windows, as worse than Aeolic turbines.

[@shawnd1966]

Maybe they should have talked to people who repair helicopter blades.

[@blakekinney6456]

Shawn D pretty simple solution.... a piece of .032” aluminum for a leading edge.

[@FumblkruschLP]

I'd go for a thin sheet of stainless steel. That'll be as close to maintenance-free as you can get.

[@daughteroftheking1222]

@@FumblkruschLP That seems to be what's on airliner wings

[@Jakob_DK]

When the first MW-size turbine was build and started producing power in 1978 there were still people using wind turbines and batteries for power here in Denmark. (They got grid power the following years) In other words we did not start to build wind turbines in the 1900’s it was a continuation of the wind mills from the Middle Ages. First MW turbine in Denmark da.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindkraftværket_Tvindkraft

[@Tome4kkkk]

@@blakekinney6456 Stainless steel or plastics. Replaceable and the blending can be accommodated by a recess to avoid disrupting the airflow.

[@chrismclintock2155]

Innovate and improve is what we must do so we can evolve this tech

[@chunkymonkey55555]

So basically, these turbines need lots of maintenance for a power solution that's useless when there is no wind? Hahaha

[@eb8827]

They are trying real hard to make it sound more dramatic than it really is.

[@robertw1871]

It’s pretty serious when they start failing and they are powering your entire city... takes years to build a new power station.... in the future you could be without electricity for some time if they can’t fit the problem...

[@robertw1871]

Mark Campos Would take 2-3 years just to work out the funding, pick a site, produce the engineering drawings and sort through contractors bids... even so 2 or 3 years is still a long time to be without electricity.... I don’t think the problem will result in power outages, but it could if the problems are ignored... a nuclear plant can take 20 or more years to build, there are many in the United States that were under construction for over a decade only to be abandoned after going far over budget...

[@turretop5675]

It kind of is dramatic as the ultimate goal of renewable energy is to be more environmental friendly. The goal is to reduce the carbon dioxide emission and other environmental impacts while providing a constant flow of energy, however a wind turbine power plant on land can take a lot of space, which mean deforestation, they also kill countless birds who accidentaly fly into the blades, however the biggest problem is how much polution is created for building and maintaining the parts of a wind turbine and not being able to sustain a constant energy flow. Also knowing the fact they do not provide as much power as hydro electricity and nuclear power plant which both have low environmental problems, it is a must for the wind turbines to keep replacement parts to a minimum and to generate more power to be an advantageous solution.

[@turretop5675]

@Mark Campos I didn't criticize you, I was responding to OP, you are right they do not kill countless bird as they can still be counted, my bad. Where I live they do not put wind turbines on other's land, as no one wants the insane sound of a large amount of turbine spinning near them, also there is enough unhabitted space to use, however being unhabitted by a human doesn't mean it is not habitted by something else. I do agree that other methods of electric production have their share of problems, but as of the current situation, they are more worth it than wind turbines, which is why I say it is dramatic that they fail so fast as reliability is their selling point.

[@Waccoon]

You're talking about the stupid music, right?

[@UpTheAnte1987]

Not sure why we need 6 different people to explain this to us 😂

[@PhallacEye]

They're actors. Listen to how they speak.

[@mikicerise6250]

Because you're idiots.

[@jimchristian7783]

they have to give the baboons a line. I think there were three of them and not a one an engineer.

[@Chopper153]

And one of them was a "science writer", whatever that means.

[@ResistanceLion]

Because we need to be filled with useless information through the every feeling.

[@TonboIV]

I'm not sure if this can really be called a "mistake". Modern wind turbines were probably the first ever example of large, high-performance aerofoils being operated for years at a time at such low altitudes (since being close to the ground presumably means a lot more abrasive particles in the air) and at such high airspeeds. When you're doing something new, you'll never be able to predict everything. I'd save the word "mistake" for when engineers failed to predict something they reasonably should have known about in advance.

[@stevehayward1854]

“If you haven't made any mistakes lately, then obviously you haven't been trying too hard.” ― Mark W Boyer. Mistakes are necessary to move forward.

[@Luckingsworth]

This is true. The problem is when this new tech still without solved issues is being forced by people who neglect practicality in favor of demanding idea that just sound kinda good.

[@stevehayward1854]

@@Luckingsworth Yesterday in the SW of England, fossil fuels where only producing 16% of the Electrical power, the rest was, 84% was provided by renewables, it is getting there. Massive steps forward have been made over the decades to wind generation. Grid storage has to catch. Fossil fuel generation has massive problems also but no one highlights them. They also have breakdowns and reliability issues

[@paulervin1610]

Wind turbine blades look somuch like plane props we've been using props on planes for how long and no engineer knew about prop erosion? Really?

[@Bluuplanet]

"We have sea spray; we have salt water; we have wind..." He didn't mention birds.

[@merleelsing2400]

Birds mostly stay away, their not stupid like people think!

[@Bluuplanet]

@@merleelsing2400 Maybe wind generators are changing the nature of birds. Either they adapt or get Darwin Awards. I've heard that female deer are finally beginning to figure out vehicles on roads. (Of course, Darwin awards in the natural world often involve extinctions of whole species)

[@imkindofabigdeal4308]

@@merleelsing2400 No. Birds, especially raptors, are regularly disintegrated by these blades traveling at up to 180 mph. Wind turbines are whirling blades of death.

[@chriskp]

Frederick Deal that’s very misleading. That’s the maximum survival speed and only when you measure at the blade tip. Anywhere else along the blade will be slower. Generally the blades make 10-20 rotations per minute. It’s hardly the blender you make it out to be.

[@Chris-dg6km]

@@chriskp They still kill birds but it's avoidable. www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33809700/wind-turbine-blades-bird-deaths-down/

[@Jaxen90841]

On another note, when you have a farm full of turbines, they're all spinning a slightly different speed. All that generated AC power has to be synchronized. That's not as easy as it sounds.

[@mobuildsstuff]

actually thats much easier to solve than the blade degradation problem. just use the induction winding on your generator to slow the system to keep the rotor speed constant and if that fails due to high wind loads you can still use a mechanical break or turn it out of wind

[@russell2952]

The only people in the industry claiming these things were maintenance free were the salespeople.