Tests show a manufacturing defect caused the failure of a turbine off the coast of Nantucket, a mishap that has energized opponents of renewable energy.
Disclaimer: I'm not a sponsor, I just believe this is the future of wind based energy. It doesn't require any sort of braking mechanism, and also takes up far less land space..
How much can really wear out on them though? The bearings? Those can be replaced as necessary of course.
I'd think their only true weakness would be during strong storms like hurricanes or tornadoes where wind gust speeds rapidly change faster than the mechanism can manage to furl and unfurl to keep up. In those situations, you'd basically have to completely close them up and shut them down until the bad weather passes.
I dunno, but other than that it seems like a promising technology, and you can pack a whole lot more of them onto a smaller space of land.
I saw the video and at some point it say something like
"no danger to animals".
This is a bold claim to make, especially since the effects of wind turbines on (migratory or not) birds and bats are vastly documented.
The "tricky" part with wind energy are other living creatures. It affects them and by default they are not able to participate in the conversation. We actively need to take them into consideration.