How will wind power create the materials needed to manufacture wind turbines?

Wind power provides very little net energy. It is a non-starter. The use of plastics in wind turbines (as in ALL turbines) is a non-issue and completely misses the point.

Wind energy is a tempting IDEA but a disappointing reality. Wind power is so unreliable and variable that equivalent standby power has to be available all the time, wasting energy. Wind turbine construction is heavily subsidised and the electricity produced (even without allowing for the hidden cost of standby cover) is so expensive it is uneconomical. Power companies only buy wind generated power because they HAVE to by law and they cover the excessive cost by charging us more for ALL our electricity. If it wasn't for the subsidies (direct grants plus subsidies through us paying more for conventional power) there would be no wind energy in the UK. It is an appalling waste of money that could be better spent on more productive, more economical, more reliable power generation using other technologies.

Tidal power is stronger and totally predictable but receives only a fraction of the subsidy of wind power. Ignoring ideology and looking for a realistic practical solution, we need to be building nuclear power capacity plus clean-burn coal fired power stations with tidal power as a longer term source.

Plastic is made from Oil.You cannot "Create" materials.

Wind turbines are a blight on the landscape, and a danger at sea. I want to see what happens when an out of control tanker, full of crude oil, is heading for 500 wind turbines in the North Sea.

Sufficient wind is only available in certain places, and is only available for use about 150 days a year. WInd turbines might last 15-20 years.

A better way would be water turbines. Great Britain has several large tidal rivers. Tidal power is available for 22 hours a day, or 24 if you use barriers.

An even better way would be to teach peolpe how to NOT waste energy.Some examples are ---

1. Go to low energy light bulbs - could save about £75 a year.

2 Have cavity wall insulation - could save £175 a year.

3 Loft isulation is to standard depth - save £ 100 a year.

4 Use heating thermostat instead of clock - save about £50 a year.

5. Put one extra layer of clothing on , say a sweat shirt or jumper and knock the central heating down by 1 degree - save about £50 a year.

6 Don't have the house lit up like Blackpool illuminations - save about £100 a year.

The second guy is completely wrong. Wind power is probably the best alternative takes up less space then what is needed for bio-fuel plant growth.

Also right now there is enough wind energy to power the earth 7 times over, and that means everything. from your ipod, to electric cars, factories, stores, malls, anything that uses electricity to work.

They are making different types of wind turbines that use safer products. They are even making environmentally friendly plastics, some of which break down with water.

Sure there may be some consequences to the wind turbine, but that is far less then burning fossil fuels. Even if no one believes the global warming stuff we will eventually run out of fossil fuels.

Also as you see in China smog which is created by burning fossil fuels, and the factories, is a dangerous health hazard. If you watched the summer Olympics there was lots of events where athletes quit because they couldn't breath.

It won't, obviously.

New wind power generates a lot of electricity, and useable energy is one of the greatest limiting factors in human growth.

Plastic and steel production is relatively benign.

As for energy payback, according to wiki[1], wind turbines pay back 5-35 times as much energy used to produce them. Newer wind turbines are looking at the high end, or even 35+. Every life cycle assessment on turbines I've ever read agrees with this. Wind power can provide large amounts of energy.

With energy you can move matter though and you can change the chemical structure.

To extract the material from the ground energy is needed. Most material fabrication processes involve using machines that are run by energy. Sometimes energy in the form of electricity, sometimes in it's chemical form as fuel.

Therefore in order to built a wind turbine we need energy, either electricity or fuel. Now most machines that require a fuel can be run on electricity. In this it's not hard to see that the wind turbine can produce the energy required to build it.

But, a lot of the machines will use fuel. Fuel is essentially a method of storing energy. We can store energy in many ways, electricity is easily stored in batteries but, there are other ways.

You can use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from water and store it. Hydrogen is a fuel that can be used to power vehicles (in Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells. Fuel Cells are essentially a much more efficient battery).

So, hopefully if I've been clear it's possible to see that the energy produced by a wind turbine could be used in the wider scale. We could have a clean self-powered hydrogen economy that separates our dependence on foreign energy imports and is sustainable.

Of all the energy that could be harnessed by wind in Europe, 40% of it hits Britain. This coupled with the fact that we're an island so also have access to tidal energy (as mentioned by another user) and wave energy. These are the main 3 sources that we have access too and the only ones that are able to make us hit our renewable energy targets.

No. Most wind turbines are very small. Only 1-2 Megawatts and can only produce power when the wind is above about 6MPH. They require a tremendous amount of land area also. One power plant can produce a thousand times the energy cheaper over all and can run anytime day or night. It also does not take up large areas of land. The best alternative energy is Nuclear power combined with wind and solar in areas where they work best. It has the advantages of a power plant, and the only real pollution is having to store spent fuel. France, Japan, Germany, US, and other countries have been using these for years. Environmentalists killed the industry in the US. Those other countries now produce a majority of their power with them. If Japan and Korea didn't have Nuclear Power, you would not see all the Hyundai, Honda, and Toyota cars on the road. They have no coal or oil to speak of.

You are correct. Wind power does not create materials.

Wind, Solar, & Hydro may not create materials but they may power the processes that do.

While electrical processes are the most common, there could be others.

With Solar light can be focused to form a furnace. This can be small for cooking food, or large enough to smelt metals.

With wind and Hydro the motion may be mechanically captured to drive gears and pumps. Like water wheels milling flour or drive hammers in a blacksmiths shop. Windmills have ben used for centurys to pump water from behind dikes, and to supply water.

In a round about way, wind could be used to produce hydrogen out of water. That hydrogen could be used as a portable fuel. But the wind itself, does not "create" merely changes existing substances.

Not all plastics are "Evil" but a windmill operates best outside so the use of biodegradable materials may not prove wise. Best to stick with recycleable metals. Or go back to the days of the charming wooden windmills.

You can make browns gas which is an amazing gas for smelting and potencial furnace gas.The hydrogen side from splitting water would need a chemist to explain that side of things but i know ethonol is possible so you can power agriculture which can in turn can produce hemp based plastics bioresin and biofule it would also help if wind power was left on at night as here in the UK its turned offand just waisted

Much in the same way that gasoline produces carburetors, or injectors in the more modern cars. The solar panel on the roof causes the sun to heat up and give off CO2, while the carbon powder gets on the soles of your shoes causing a large carbon footprint on the side of the smoke stack, thereby producing anthracite coal. You can see it if you shut off the headlights, but be careful to not get in an accident, that might cause you to drive in the dark.

i like wind power