Electric cars not the best option, page-461

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    You are very presumptuous. Technical articles from engineers who design and build turbine components hardly counts as op-ed pieces!

    You are also keen to trivialise issues. A windscreen wiper blade? You may even be able to replace that yourself. Possibly the gearbox too. But here’s the process for erecting a turbine:

    “Once all of this (literal and figurative) groundwork has been done, the turbine is ready for construction. The turbine blades and tower need to be transported to site where they are assembled, before undergoing testing.

    Once the foundations are complete, the component parts of on onshore turbine are put together over the course of a few days. This takes at least two cranes, with one lifting and the other stabilising the airborne parts.

    First the tower is erected, then the nacelle – which houses the generator and other moving parts of the turbine – is fitted to the top. The blades are then individually attached to the hub before it is lifted up and attached to the nacelle.



    Offshore construction requires more logistical manoeuvring, however. The turbine must be transported by ship to the site and assembled piece by piece.

    This requires specialist ships designed to carry heavy loads, as well as cranes to hoist the parts into place. Working at sea makes this a more challenging process, but the same steps are followed.”

    So to replace the gearbox at sea (where most of the failures occurred) you need all the cranes and ships, remove the blades, then remove the nacelle .... put up the new one; not really your Saturday morning job. For a component that is supposed to last 25 years, but needs replacing after ten or twelve.

    I really don’t think you know what laws of physics you’re talking about. How can you talk about limitations, or lack of them, when comparing PV technology to battery technology? The second one is more chemistry, anyway.
 
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