© X/Dedicated_beingDebris from the lone wind turbine was flung into the seemingly empty field surrounding it, December 28, 2023 in Ayrshire, England
Shocking footage showed the energy generator in Ayrshire, Scotland, wracking up speed before the blades suddenly come loose and are flung across a seemingly deserted field in opposite directions.
Loud crashes are heard as the debris lands on the ground, while bare trees surrounding the lone turbine are blown back and forth.
Just for good measure, the decapitated wind turbine then burst into flames:
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were alerted to reports of a fire within a wind turbine at 10.28am on Wednesday, 27 December near Newhouse Farm, Sorn.The bad news is that if wind turbines costing £3 million each are going to fall to pieces and turn into burning scrap every time there's a gale, won't that affect global warming? But every cloud has a silver lining because even if wind turbines really are that vulnerable to - er - wind, they can still make a nice bonfire and warm the neighbours up. All except those (including the local birdlife) who've been scalped by the turbine blades as they whizz across the lonely countryside like boomerangs thrown by a race of giants.
"Operations Control mobilised one appliance to the scene, the fire was extinguished prior to the arrival of firefighters.
"The crew left after ensuring the area was made safe."
The wind turbines are in good company though. As we all know, electric cars like bursting into flames at the drop of a hat and don't even need a howling gale to do so. What's next? Solar panels that slide off roofs and crush people?
Still, let's be fair folks. It's all in the spirit of R&D. This is new technology after all. Why would it ever have occurred to anyone in the wind turbine industry that their whirligigs might need to withstand unheard-of winds of 85 mph or more? Now with this experience behind them they'll be sure to ratchet the spec up to at least 90 mph and perhaps use something stronger than papier-maché to build them out of. Onward! Until the next storm...
Sallust is a pseudyonym.
Reader Comments
I mean that even as a casual dabbler in the subject, I've been aware for many years of better designs for wind turbines, but here we are, stuck with tech from last century!
With computer aided design and the quick prototyping that's available now and virtual windtunnels, it beggars believe that we have barely scratched the surface of modern wind/water generators.
Why these dinosaurs should be foisted on the unsuspecting public is also unbelievable, that they need power to start and more power to hold them in high winds because they can't stay together as this one so clearly demonstrated... yet again, makes them functionally useless in my humble opinion.