Of all the animals of prey, man is the only sociable one.
Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.
The Beggar's Opera: John Gay

Sunday 27 October 2013

One down...

A wind turbine has collapsed in strong winds which swept across Devon on Saturday night. 
No-one was reported injured after the 27m (89ft) high turbine came down in a field at Higher Rixdale Farm at Luton, near Teignmouth.
...how many more to go?

There's something we didn't have so many of in 1987. I recently heard an expert on the radio explaining that  turbines were quite safe as they could withstand wind speeds of up to 80mph. Since the Met Office is warning of gusts in excess of that this weekend, things could start getting interesting.

Once the wind gets up, the things are only as safe as the bolts holding 90-odd feet of steel to the ground in a howling gale - or the braking systems that, in theory, stop them fizzing themselves to death in a glorious burst of flame.

Remember, folks, 'Red sky at night; turbine's alight'.


(Update - Not sure whether this one counts as it's only a baby:
Firefighters dismantled a small wind turbine from the roof of a house in Ilfracombe.
Devon and Somerset Fire Service received a call reporting a wind turbine "in a precarious position".)

3 comments:

  1. 'Red sky at night; turbine's alight'.

    Could become a new wind speed measure - the turbine toppler.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right, AKH; just as the 1987 storm was defined in terms of the 15 million trees the gales supposedly brought down - who counted? - so future storms may be seen as demolishers of turbines.

    And who could forget the phrase employed by the inimitable (and pleasingly indestructible) Anna Raccoon on learning that the foundations of marine turbines were potentially unreliable:

    "So not only the land, but also the seas that surround us will be a wasteland of barely remembered vote-bribers lying drunkenly face down like Cardiff sluts"?

    http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/how-much-money-will-a-turbine-earn-if-a-turbine-could-but-turn/

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Since the Met Office is warning of gusts in excess of that this weekend..."

    Highest gust so far of STORMAGEDDON has been 99mph, and that at the Needles.

    In Essex, we've got gusts of 45mph, and no overgrounds running until AT LEAST 9:00am.. :/

    ReplyDelete

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