Very rare, but fascinating.
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Chris Mooney is host of the Point of Inquiry podcast and the author of three books, The Republican War on Science, Storm World, and Unscientific America. He was recently seen on MSNBC's "The Last Word" discussing "The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science," and recently wrote for The American Prospect magazine about how the reality-based community is moving to the left.
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January 12th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I have to say this is more exciting than a typical “Girls gone Wild” segment on Jerry Springer.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
the strong wind must have been the result of runaway global warming.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
“the strong wind must have been the result of runaway global warming.”
yawn…Mommy says it’s time for bed.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:31 am
This video is what, 2 years old now? How many people have been killed by other forms of power generation whose passing has gone un-noticed because it isn’t on youtube?
January 13th, 2010 at 6:45 am
Amazing reminder that we do not yet have the technical ability to capture the full extent of power possible from the wind. I wonder what this turbine could have been generating at that speed just prior to structural failure.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:39 am
I wonder how valid of a concern this is… why was someone video taping this windmill? Clearly there was some cause outside of extreme boredom, and enough warning for people to start filming (i.e. abnormally high hurricane winds, detection of structural fault, etc.)
January 13th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Let me emphasize that such an event is rare and was anticipated for this particular windmill–thus the reason it was filmed. They can be a threat to birds, but are not typically dangerous to humans.
January 13th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Cool video, but not particularly relevant to the wind debate. Modern turbines have automatic shut-down mechanisms that will stop the blades when the wind reaches a certain velocity to avoid this kind of catastrophic failure. Also, simply stating that “they can be a threat to birds” kind of oversimplifies the issue. Most wind farms that have high degrees of bird kills (i.e. Altamont Pass) were sited without due consideration to this problem. And the number of birds killed by turbines pales in comparison to those killed by cars, house cats, or even houses for that matter. Ever watch a bird fly into a window over and over again until it knocked itself silly?
In any case, looking to offshore wind drastically reduces these impacts even further. If a turbine blade snaps off in the middle of the ocean and no one is around to get hit by it, does it really cause a negative impact?
January 13th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Exactly.
It’s a complicated issue, but it’s also a function of numbers–there are far more buildings with glass windows out there than turbines. There’s a lot we don’t know about migratory patterns, but you’re right–far more birds are killed by buildings, house cats, etc.
I’m all for offshore wind energy. Get on that Mike!
January 13th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Remind me not to shoot my next music video with windmills in the background.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
[...] January 13, 2010 I admit, I’ve always been curious about what will happen when one of these things breaks. This is pretty spectacular and kind of what I’d pictured. Via Discover. [...]
January 14th, 2010 at 12:19 am
as someone that is in this wind industry i get sick of this video being used for its shock value. The likely hood of a TURBINE running away is less then 0.01% and with there being over 16,000 wind Turbines installed in just north America the the chance of any Turbine blowing its self up is very very slim. lets focus instead on the damage that coal does, why not post about the fly ash spill of 08/09. and lastly this is a pet peeve (but i am not alone in this) they are not wind mills, they are Wind Turbines, calling them mills is like finger nails on a chalk board to those of us in the industry and a sign of laziness in terminology
January 14th, 2010 at 12:48 am
Have stated this is rare twice already, but it still makes an interesting video. You’re correct about language though, I’ll switch the title to turbines.
January 14th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Such a nice piece of engineering, destroyed!
January 14th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Vertical Axis Wind Generators (VAWG), if properly designed, are superior to Horizontal Axis Wind Generators (HAWG). When the properly designed all-electric cars will replace our present recriprocating engine cars, so also VAWG’s will replace HAWG’s. Why, because they are much cheaper to build, they are more stable, they can be ground based or roof top based on skyscrapers, they can be built to greater dimensions, they are more effecient since their wind driven force is at a greater distance from the centroid. With screening bird kills are eleminated.
January 14th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
“Let me emphasize that such an event is rare and was anticipated for this particular windmill–thus the reason it was filmed. They can be a threat to birds, but are not typically dangerous to humans.”
Stop the cover up, please!
The real truth. This particular windmill had been spotted on several occasions terrorizing nearby villages at night. To be specific, it would sneak up on cows, bicyclists, and porta-pottys flinging them hundreds of meters with its blades.
When confronted with this, the windmill committed suicide.