Satellite Captures a Surprising Impact of Offshore Wind Farms

Gizmodo ^ | 08 November 2016 | Maddie Stone

[Right Wing Assault]

Thousands of murdered sea poodles have washed ashore. It was found their eyes, nose, and gills were clogged with sediment. Veterinarians say they died a slow, terrifying, and painful death. These poor creatures were swept into the currents cause by wind turbines and, although they are powerful swimmers, they were unable to overcome the killer currents. They then were killed by the murderous sediment. Sign the petition at savetheseapoodles.com!

[Robert A Cook PE]

Hmmmn.

If this much sediment is being roiled up, washed AWAY from the huge concrete anchors and steel on the nottom UNDER the wind turbine’s bases under a clear day with only moderate (normal winds!), then ...

How many years will it they still stand (safely and securely) against the future winds, currents, and storm tides of major disturbances on the ocean bottom?

A bridge pier, for example, does not washout suddenly, but is slowly eroded away underneath if it is not protected against the river current. Here, the eroded sediment IS the anchoring material.

[Robert A Cook PE]

See nbr 22. The eroded bottom will (over time) cause the tower foundations to fail, won’t it?

But the construction subsidies are for “construction” (and shore-based jobs for union workers and Chinese windmill fabricators), not for the failure of the towers later. So, what difference does it make? (Right?)

Notice that the front rows of turbines generate most of the power, and thus most of the vibration and soil erosion. Then, when front rows fall over, the back ones can start generating power.

[cpdiii]

Those towers are supported by structures sitting on tubular pilings driven deep into the seabed. There can be some erosion around the legs but the pilings are so deep it is not a problem.

On North sea production platforms it was common to drill down into the seabed and then insert the piling and cement it in place. The platform is then built on top of the pilings.

Mobile drilling rigs are a different story. They stand on giant cans that sit on the seafloor. Erosion can be a big problem with these. In this case they would use a huge mat to support the drilling rig.

Drilling for oil in the North Sea is not for the faint of heart.

[PIF]

The sediment will foul the nets of commercial fishermen turning 5mm mesh into 40mm mesh which when drawn back aboard will harden like concrete in the sun necessitating either a high pressure wash as the net comes aboard -a very slow process to fully wash the sediment off; or toss the net over and go tie up. No fish will be caught if there are any remaining as the sediment will clog their gills killing them also.