Wind turbine payback

Wind turbine payback: Environmental lifecycle assessment of 2-megawatt wind turbines

Researchers have carried out an environmental lifecycle assessment of 2-megawatt wind turbines mooted for a large wind farm in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. They conclude that in terms of cumulative energy payback, or the time to produce the amount of energy required of production and installation, a wind turbine with a working life of 20 years will offer a net benefit within five to eight months of being brought online. 

Their analysis shows that the vast majority of predicted environmental impacts would be caused by materials production and manufacturing processes. However, the payback for the associated energy use is within about 6 months, the team found. It is likely that even in a worst case scenario, lifetime energy requirements for each turbine will be subsumed by the first year of active use. Thus, for the 19 subsequent years, each turbine will, in effect, power over 500 households without consuming electricity generated using conventional energy sources.

References

"Wind turbine payback: Environmental lifecycle assessment of 2-megawatt wind turbines." ScienceDaily. 

Journal Reference

1.Karl R. Haapala; Preedanood Prempreeda. Comparative life cycle assessment of 2.0 MW wind turbines. International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing, 2014 DOI: 10.1504/IJSM.2014.062496 

ScienceDaily