They claim that Renewable Energy from wind turbines requires Diesel fuel for mixing concrete, transportation of equipment, materials, and labor, but the truth is that all that could easily be done with electric motors using electric batteries all made in factories using renewable electricity from solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro. There are a series of choices involved. Make good choices, get good futures.
If the lifespan of a wind turbine was only 20 years, none should be made. They should be able to last indefinitely with regular mainaince and a little luck from the weather gods. The "embedded energy" of a wind turbine refers to the total energy used in its manufacturing, transportation, installation, and maintenance throughout its lifespan, essentially representing the energy "invested" to create and operate the turbine; this energy is typically paid back within a short time frame due to the large amount of electricity a wind turbine can generate over its lifetime, making it a highly efficient renewable energy source.
Whch means that within 1=2 years the Multiple-Megawat turbines as pictured here would have repid any energy they took up and are thus creating renewable energy for the rest of their working life. Enough to create HUNDREDS of new wind turbines, with renewable electricity.
Solar panels are better. They cool the ground benieth, creating habitat for growing things. They have no moving parts, and reflect half the sunlight back into space, helping cool the planet. They can be put anywhere the sun shines, and are distributed energy for off grid applications. When paired with batteries, transmission lines, or both, they can be valuable revenue generating assets, with lifespans in the 50+ year range.
Lithium batteries for all the vehicles can be mined with electric pumps run on renewable energy, too.
Texas has chosen NOT to connect it's state wide electric grid (spanning 800 miles in every direction) to the east and west coast grids in the USA. Texas already uses renewable wind energy to power all it's government buildings and municipal utilities, but could easily export renewable energy to the east and west costs, because they currently overproduce renewable energy and dump it into the ground when people stop using their air conditioners in the fall. But TEXAS doesn't choose to work with the rest of the USA, because they fear regulations.
Unfortunately, the Utilties are monopolies, and they use that power to over-build all the electric infrastructure in the USA, because they have cost-plus-profit contracts, and so it wouldn't take much to connect the entire continent together with renewable energy generation. But they want more $$$$ so they produce propaganda like this to make it seem like they need more infrastructure, which they don't. The biggest cost will be battery storage of one kind or another, but imagine if everyone had say a 100 kwh battery parked in their driveway?
What they are correct about is the SUNK investment in petroleum, and $90-Billion/yr of subsidies for the industry. They are using up a finite resource and destroying the environment, without any incentive to prepare for the future. That's a choice. A profitable choice.
The problem is not the snake you find on the path, it's the snake in the weeds.
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