Changes

The misconception is that you install a wind turbine and it will pay itself off within a decade. From that point out, it is a net energy gain at a fraction of a cost. Nothing can be further from the truth. Constant costs are involved in maintaining these mechanical structures; Overheating bearings, plastic that melts, gallons of brake oil leaking, gallons of hydraulic fluid leaking,<ref>[http://stopthesethings.com/2015/02/01/2-year-old-siemens-turbines-falling-apart-wind-farm-investors-get-out-while-you-can/ 2 Year Old Siemens Turbines Falling Apart: Wind Farm Investors, Get Out While You Can, Stopthesethings.com, February 1, 2015]</ref> blades that fall off, towers that collapse, replacement of yaw gear drives, bearings, gearboxes, brushes, and generators. The cost to put out wind turbine fires is also substantial. Some can self-extinguish small fires, but others need fire departments to extinguish turbines and put out the brush fires sometimes caused below.

The misconception is that you install a wind turbine and it will pay itself off within a decade. From that point out, it is a net energy gain at a fraction of a cost. Nothing can be further from the truth. Constant costs are involved in maintaining these mechanical structures; Overheating bearings, plastic that melts, gallons of brake oil leaking, gallons of hydraulic fluid leaking,<ref>[http://stopthesethings.com/2015/02/01/2-year-old-siemens-turbines-falling-apart-wind-farm-investors-get-out-while-you-can/ 2 Year Old Siemens Turbines Falling Apart: Wind Farm Investors, Get Out While You Can, Stopthesethings.com, February 1, 2015]</ref> blades that fall off, towers that collapse, replacement of yaw gear drives, bearings, gearboxes, brushes, and generators. The cost to put out wind turbine fires is also substantial. Some can self-extinguish small fires, but others need fire departments to extinguish turbines and put out the brush fires sometimes caused below.

The cost to manufacture wind turbines prevents any offset gained transitioning to a 'clean' energy environment.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Carbon_Shift.html?id=7LO0H0aNNzYC&source=kp_cover&hl=en Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada (and Our Lives), Author Thomas Homer-Dixon, 2010]</ref>

The cost to manufacture wind turbines prevents any offset gained transitioning to a 'clean' energy environment. ''A two-megawatt windmill contains 260 tonnes of steel requiring 170 tonnes of coking coal and 300 tonnes of iron ore, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons.''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Carbon_Shift.html?id=7LO0H0aNNzYC&source=kp_cover&hl=en Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada (and Our Lives), Author Thomas Homer-Dixon, 2010]</ref>

Landscape, seascape, and wildlife costs are a major downside to power from wind. Eagles, bats, and birds of all kinds are killed in the thousands by wind blades. Estimates place the number of birds killed by wind turbines at 30 million per year.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/17/why-stefan-the-stork-died-in-vain-wind-turbines/ RIP STEFAN THE STORK – ONE OF 30 MILLION BIRDS KILLED BY WIND FARMS EVERY YEAR, Breitbart, August 17, 2015]</ref>  

Landscape, seascape, and wildlife costs are a major downside to power from wind. Eagles, bats, and birds of all kinds are killed in the thousands by wind blades. Estimates place the number of birds killed by wind turbines at 30 million per year.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/17/why-stefan-the-stork-died-in-vain-wind-turbines/ RIP STEFAN THE STORK – ONE OF 30 MILLION BIRDS KILLED BY WIND FARMS EVERY YEAR, Breitbart, August 17, 2015]</ref>