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Real danger to forests is broken wind turbines
Credit: www.pressherald.com 17 July 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Your article, “Nationwide drought dries up fireworks,” reveals that from New Mexico to Florida, jurisdictions are banning the use of fireworks.
Parts of Maine almost annually experiences severe droughts and when they occur, our forests will be in jeopardy not so much from relatively mild fireworks but from churning, blazing wind turbine blades that have been known to cast shards for hundreds of yards and even up to a mile.
Neither the state nor the towns have the equipment that can cope with turbine fires and their spreading blazes in steep, remote and heavily winded areas. California alone has now experienced at least eight forest fires caused by broken, flaming turbines.
And the taller the turbines, the more susceptible they are to fires from lightning strikes. I think all of Maine’s wind towers will be at least 400 feet tall. But lightning strikes cause only a minority of the world’s turbine fires – most are due to mechanical malfunctions.
Clyde Macdonald
Hampden
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