A Wind Turbine Does NOT Take Four Years To Replace The Energy That was Consumed during its Manufacturing!

Wind energy is among the most popular and widely spreading renewable energy types. However, certain groups have questioned certain facts regarding windmills and the overall wind energy generation process. Mainly climate deniers raise these allegations. 

One such claim recently went viral, stating that a wind turbine takes four years to replace the energy it took to manufacture a wind turbine. Let’s look at the claim in detail.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts state that a wind turbine takes four years to replace the energy it took in manufacturing, and most turbines have a life expectancy of 3- 7 years. The posts further say that a turbine generally requires 60 gallons of lubricants (a type of fossil fuel) to function.

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We decided to do a fact-check on this.

Fact Check

Our first consideration was the energy usage in the manufacturing process of a wind turbine and how long it takes to recoup that energy.

According to research studies and experts in the field, modern windmills recoup the energy they take in the manufacturing process within months and do not have to wait for years.

In producing wind turbines, there are multiple steps. The raw materials used to build the manufacturing process are mined, then turned into towers and rotors, and finally, the shipping process.

“Wind turbines have positive net energy payback within about a year,”  Ken Caldeira, a global ecology senior scientist with the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, California, said to PolitiFact.The related article can be reached here.

Some peer-reviewed research papers also say wind turbines can quickly recoup energy.

A group of Brazilian researchers found in 2022 that wind turbines can recoup energy within six months. The article can be reached here.

A group of European researchers discovered in 2019 that payback energy can be accumulated within four to six months. The article can be reached here.

In 2017, Taiwan researchers found that the energy payback period was 13 to 14 months. The article can be reached here.

According to most research, it`s clear that it does not take four years to recoup the energy.

Lubrication- Fossil Fuel Usage

The post also criticises the renewable industry and says it uses oil – a fossil fuel – for lubrication for turbines, and massive leakages are happening. The lubrication story is true. However, it misses some facts. 

But Jeroen van Dam, a mechanical engineering researcher at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told the USA TODAY fact-checking team in an email that the oil is not burned; it “gets replaced about every five years and is then recycled and he further elaborated to the USA Today that when leaks do occur, they are typically caught before the oil reaches the ground. USA Today article can be reached here. Archived 

And, in the claim, there is a mention that wind turbine blades last only 3-7 years. But that`s not true. Most wind turbine blades last 20-25 years. More Details about this can be read here & here. 

Mark Bolinger, an engineer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told News Wise.

“With proper maintenance, wind turbines should be expected to operate for 20 years or longer (industry projections these days are more like 30 years), which means that over their lifetime, wind turbines repay their energy debt many times over.”The newswire article can be read here 

And Wind Turbines are indeed landfilled after usage. However, the blades of the Turbines are recyclable. The industry leaders pledged to do more recycling methods for blades. Details about it can be read here. Archived

Conclusion

Our investigation found that wind turbines often recoup the energy they took for manufacturing, probably within a few months. And lubricants are used for functionality, but those are recycled. Leakages are happening. But many times, oil is caught before falling to the ground. The life expectancy of turbines and bladers is around 20-25 years, not 3-7 years. And after the usage of turbines, they are removed via landfilling. However, blades are recyclable and do not necessarily add to land fillings.