The BG wind turbines are being retired. Were they a good idea? If we look at it from the perspective of the waste generated, the answer is a resounding yes…they were a great idea.
A wind turbine of that size can produce 200 million kWh of energy over 20 years. It would take the burning of 6,000,000 gallons of gasoline (a convoy of gas tankers from BG up I-75 to the Michigan line) to get that much energy and would generate 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) waste.
Even if the entire 200-ton wind turbine is buried away safely in a landfill, that waste pales in comparison to the 60,000 tons of CO2 which would have contaminated the atmosphere, warming the earth for decades to come – 300 times more tons of CO2 than tons of wind turbines.
Travis Chapin
Bowling Green
