SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Sweden welcomes its first wooden wind turbine tower:
The wheels have begun to turn on an interesting new form of wind turbine in Sweden, with the country's first wooden power-generation tower now complete. Built from sustainably sourced materials and said to offer comparable performance to traditional wind turbines, it's hoped the wooden power tower will be a harbinger of cheaper and greener solutions for renewable energy in the Nordic country, with commercial versions planned for a couple of years down the track.
Following in the footsteps of a similar creation in Germany, the new wooden wind tower is the brainchild of Swedish engineering firm Modvion, which is out to improve on what it sees as significant drawbacks when it comes to typical wind towers. These tall, steel towers demand thick bases to support their upper sections, which not only makes them very expensive to produce, but very expensive to transport to site, with rules around load size on public roads often proving problematic.
Modvion is instead working on a modular version that can be made out of cheaper and greener materials than steel, which requires huge amounts of energy to produce. The company's wooden wind towers are designed to reach heights of more than 120 m (393 ft), at significantly lower cost than those made out of steel, with the modular approach allowing for stackable sections to be transported on public roads without issue. They are also claimed to be carbon neutral from the day construction begins.
The 30-meter (100-ft) proof-of-concept tower was built together with wood construction company Moelven at its facility in Töreboda. The wooden sections of the turbine were then transported to Björkö, an island outside Gothenburg around 200 km (124 mi) away, with the final piece put into place in late April.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2020, @05:35PM (4 children)
At EOL... A couple gallons of kerosene and a match completes the carbon cycle. Much more economic than recycling metal.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 09 2020, @06:28PM (1 child)
Usually wind turbines don't grow alone. They usually grow in large batches. A "wind farm". (a farm that produces wind?)
Now imagine your proposed solution to completing the carbon cycle, in a large forest of wind turbines, when one arsonist sets a single tower on far.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2020, @07:51PM
Social distancing the towers, to prevent transmission of anything besides green electricity? That would be why they set them on far.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 09 2020, @08:22PM (1 child)
Depending on how they prevented it from rotting, you might not have to burn it: Standing deadwood is a perfect habitat for lots of insects, fungus, microbes, and a bunch of other critters. Or if you have to take it apart for some reason, you can also leave it on the ground. This kind of thing happens slower for pressure-treated and stained lumber, but it still happens given enough time.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2020, @09:54PM
If you really need it gone, just bury it. I doubt anything will be left after 10 years buried shallowly.