We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans

“A 3-MW wind turbine contains up to 4.7 tons of copper”

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36 Replies to “We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Fans”

  1. 4.7 Tons of Copper…
    Well, no surprise there whatsoever…from the smallest Alternator to the largest wind Turbine, they ALL require copper windings.

    I’d be curious as to the amount of copper ore that my Sister mines at TECK’s Highland Valley Copper, BC on a daily basis – she is Shovel Operator # 1…having started as a labourer near 35 years ago. And I’m betting HVC is a significantly larger operation that what’s shown in said pic…by a cpl orders of magnitude…?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv1TxcBhurk

    1. HVC produces ~150,000 tonnes per year and the world uses 20 Mt. So less than 1% of world demand. The USGS estimates there is 4.5 Bt of undiscovered copper or a 150-year supply at current use.

      The move to lower grade resources resulted from demand. There is not a linear scale of cost between mining 2.0% Cu and 0.5% Cu because the latter is present in much larger quantities and can be mined more efficiently on a larger scale.

      The move to low-grade, high-tonnage deposits is a major development in the mining industry hitting almost all commodities (other than uranium). Nickel, gold, and copper are now mined at very low grade for a profit.

      But Randall pretty much got everything right. He missed the part about transmission and distribution lines – made of copper – that are required regardless of the energy source.

      1. wind requires more transmission lines because it is geographically dependent for generation instead of the fuel being transported to near where it ends up being used.

  2. And how much earth and ore is required to produce that 4.7 tons of copper?

    And how many tons of steel and concrete are required?

    And how much petroleum is required to produce the resins for the blades?

    etc

    All in the name of “renewable” energy that isn’t

  3. The Greens don’t really want their wind and solar “renewables”, they want you to freeze in the dark. Given the low return on energy and the proportionately high use of fossil fuels per life cycle KWH, wind and solar use roughly 50 times more fossil fuel that nuclear power. All current political action is directed at getting the Eloi out of their ICE vehicles under the delusion of replacing them with battery cars. Sorry folks, only for the party apparatchiks and those with excellent social credit scores. The proof is the total inaction on increasing the grid capacity with real energy.

    1. Exactly. But I would go further, their goal of de-industrialization by driving energy costs up so high, they expect the population levels to reduce in proportion. Less jobs, less families. For those who are left without a chair when the music stops, that is what the new assisted suicide laws are for.
      If you are comfortable with that, Green Parties all over the world want you.

      1. ^^^^^This. It is hard to believe those folks are that evil but we had better start soon or it is over for all of us.

  4. I work in a small copper mine and we burn 400000 L of diesel fuel a day plus many megawatts of electricity. That’s just to get the ore out of the ground. Then it has to be shipped somewhere for processing. More diesel and electricity.

    1. It takes well north of a decade to turn a deposit into copper bars. The left is all about sustainability. But then they will use that vey dream to do all they can to block any new mine. Good luck building out all the electric grid upgrades all those EVs will require without a lot more mining.

  5. I learned all I needed to know about Copper at the local Home Depot. As I incrementally-bought copper wire for my project … each trip to Home Depot would see the price jump 25% … starting in late 2020. And when one roll of heavy conductor wire cost $850.00 !!! … I knew we were experiencing a copper shortage.

    But the ONE thing that PROVED the increasing scarcity of Copper? My Home Depot installed heavy steel cages across the faces of the wire shelves, and locked up all their copper wire. Now, you must ask an ‘Associate’ to unlock the wire, and you are escorted to the checkstand with your rolls of Romex.

      1. Are there actual “ore bodies”, of any type of ore, on the Moon, or is it all just a ball of wax. (yes, figuratively, not literally, nor blue cheese either)

  6. 5 tones of copper? 10,000 pounds!

    Wait until I tell the methed out scrappers living in the woods.

    Those towers are coming down baby!

  7. If the catalytic converters can be cut out of my truck in a few minutes for a couple of hundred bucks imagine that desperation focused on all that copper. MadMax was supposed to be a cautionary tale. Not a How To Video.

    1. If you only knew. A few years ago in WA state. Food market went out of business and the building sat for a years years. The building was bought by Walmart and during the remodel. (during the Christmas holiday) Group of folks broke in and stripped the building of every bit of copper. I’m still amassed no-one noticed what was going on.

    2. Many years I watched a really sad documentary about homeless people in Chicago. We were all feeling sorry for this guy without one arm and leg. At the end we find out he climbed a power pole to steal the copper wire. Who would thought that was a bad idea?

  8. Building out the green infrastructure that Climate Nutters want requires the complete destruction of the planet, to obtain the necessary materials. Copper is only ONE of them.

    And then it needs replacement every 15 to 20 years.

  9. A few years ago when copper was expensive, Saskpower had a problem with thieves going into fenced-in transmission and distribution areas and stealing copper. As you can imagine, this created both safety and reliability concerns. It looks like this kind of copper theft might make a resurgence.

    Not enough copper means not enough electricity, regardless of the power source. At this point I’m at Let It All Burn (metaphorically) because it’s the only way people will wake up to reality about energy production.

    1. LC
      I used love reading a news story about a some copper thief idiots frying to death plying their “trade”. And am looking for more such entertainment. And yes, I still do the scrap thing.

      1. Karma is cruel. Stupidity pretty much guarantees karma.

        Unfortunately, replacement and repairs are dangerous and expensive. Linemen and electricians bear the brunt of the danger. The customers pay for the repairs.

        1. Florida had such a problem with thieves stealing power lines for highway lighting that they finally gave up. Dark highways. Savages make the world more dangerous. But feel sorry for them.

  10. Got a neighbor who is an electrician. He and several others are working on a multi-billion $$
    project locally.Periodically a pickup will offload cargo in his garage. Every few weeks him and his buds have a wire-strippng party. Normal yield is @ $5K of copper (minus the beer costs).
    Easy money if you don’t get caught for theft.

  11. Twitter just deleted the page.
    Looks like the post was way, way too accurate to allow it to stay up.

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