A wind farm consists of lots of concrete, metal blades, etc.?

Question

Does anyone know how much 'free' power it would have to produce to make the construction carbon neutral, and how long it would take.

Also, if the power is sold at a commercial rate, how long would it take to recoup the cost of construction.

Answer 1

My husband works on the commercial wind turbines here in the U.S.A. (Idaho specifically).  They are the G.E. wind turbines.

They cost 1.5 million each for their production instalation.

Their lifespan is predicted to be 20 years (they will probably last longer).

They pay for themselves in 3-5 years, depending on wind averages.

Just to correct one of your statements, the blades are NOT metal, they are fiberglass.  The towers are metal, of course they have a lot of copper wiring.  

Most of a wind turbine is highly recycleable.

At my husbands site, one of the towers was badly damaged by winter storms.  The blades broke, and crashed into the tower.  This in return dented, and damaged the inch thich steel tower.  The tower was taken appart from about the middle upward.  

Scrap dealers came and bid on the purchase of, and removal of the tower, and varrious other metals, like aluminum, and copper that go into their manufacturing.   Almost ever bit of it was sent off to be recycled.

The oil/grease that wind turbines use to lubricate the moving parts is also of course recaptured, and recycled.  There is almost no waste with wind turbines.  They are highly environmentally friendly.  

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

Blades are not metal, they are composite materials (sort of like fiber glass only much higher tech)

The support pylons are usually made of a steel armature covered with composit panels.

The generators themselvs are made of various materials, including a lot of metal wire.

The are not as cost effect as a coal or gas powered power plant, but then, what is?  The wind power I buy cost 2.5 cents more per kWh than power from coal fired plants.

Answer 3

Ok there are two words for what you ask:

ROE: Return On Energy

ROI: Return On Investment

ROE=4years or less (this is better than most biomass on the whole life cycle)

ROI=close to 16years (at 8% Internal Rate of Return)

The lifetime of a windturbine is over 20 years.

I would further like to mention that most of it is easy to recycle

Answer 4

First of all not everything has to be set in concrete. My wind turbines (personal wind generators) are roof mounted and easy to install. If you want to take a look visit my home in KInakin, Ifugao. I have been using wind turbines to run 100% of my home & office electricity for almost five years now and the benefits to me and the environment are tremendous.  

We have been able to produce/manufacture our own wind turbines made from local materials. Let me know if you are interested. I would be glad to share them (schematics) for free. All I ask in return is that you share the technology with others who need it most.