Wind turbines are an unreliable energy source. This should be obvious: If the wind isn’t blowing, they aren’t generating any energy.
What those turbines can be relied upon for, however, is accidents. Although the data on wind turbine accidents is scarce, a few studies and papers indicate they are, in fact, rather dangerous.
This was evidenced by a catastrophic wind-turbine accident that took place in Oregon in February.
A Sunday report from The Oregonian detailed how the accident went down: After slowly falling apart over time, one of a wind turbine’s three spinning blades came loose and was launched into the sky.
The blade had the weight of “four Toyota Camrys” and the height of an 11-story building. It flew “the full length of a football field,” eventually hitting the ground, creating a four-foot-deep furrow.
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Locals reported various parts falling from the 15-year-old turbine over time, including various large bolts.
The incident eventually led Portland General Electric, the owner of the turbines, to take action, shutting down all 217 turbines for testing at one of the largest wind farms in Oregon, The Oregonian reported.
Landowners have been reporting these sorts of problems for nearly a decade. An analysis from The Oregonian found that this latest blade incident is “part of a wider set of maintenance problems” that PGE has failed to report or address.
Various components have fallen off of the turbines, which could potentially harm anyone who happens to be standing below them, the analysis found. Also, maintenance problems often go unaddressed for months on end, turbine oil leaks pose a serious fire hazard and the turbines are producing less energy as they age.
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It appears that big government economic intervention is a likely contributor to this problem. According to The Oregonian, experts suggest the large government subsidies provided to wind farms are only for newer equipment, which prompts operators to avoid providing the necessary maintenance for older equipment that no longer qualifies for subsidies.
“If we’re going to make a transition to clean energy, we need to hold the utilities responsible for managing these projects properly,” Bob Jenks, a ratepayer advocate for the state’s Citizens’ Utility Board, told The Oregonian.
Although the data on wind turbine accidents and deaths remains scarce, indications are that wind turbine repairs can be quite dangerous.
A data mining study published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Systems Journal in 2017, found various associations between the aging of wind turbines and accidents causing injury and death.
Similarly, a Forbes report from 2013 titled “Forget Eagle Deaths, Wind Turbines Kill Humans” found some startling connections as well.
This seems to be a common issue with the left’s favorite unreliable renewables. Along with wind turbines, solar panels can be seriously dangerous.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, solar energy workers are exposed to a large host of serious hazards on a regular basis. This includes arc flash burns, blast hazards, electric shock, falls and thermal burn hazards.
According to The Conversation, 2020 saw a precipitous rise in the number of solar panels (many of which are installed on the top of homes) bursting into flames. Over the course of a three-month span, as many as 30 fires were caused by solar panels in the New South Wales area of Australia.
All of this for energy sources that, due to that unreliability, have contributed to skyrocketing energy prices.
And yet, Biden’s government continues to throw funding and subsidies toward these projects without any plan for oversight or accountability.
