A New Wind Turbine Generates Back the Energy It Takes to Build It in Just 6 Months

A new study finds that wind turbines have an energy payback of 6 months, which is comparable to the best solar photovoltaic systems.  In other words, in their first six months of operation, large wind turbines produce the same total amount of energy that was needed to produce and install them.

That is the conclusion of a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of 2-megawatt wind turbines by Oregon State researchers in the International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing (subs. req’d).

The myth that wind and solar power are bad investments from an energy-payback perspective has been around for years.  It even turned up in the error-riddled 2009 book “Superfreakonomics,” repeated by Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft.

A New Wind Turbine Generates Back the Energy It Takes to Build It in Just 6 Months