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07 April
2023
By Will Lockett
Wooden Wind Turbines Are A Game Changer
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prototype wooden wind turbine — Modvion
These carbon-negative wooden turbine towers are the future.
Wind power is an incredible source of energy, with some of the lowest
carbon emissions of any energy source and a far more reliable power
output than solar, particularly in windy countries. With these
credentials, wind power is already set to drastically reduce
humanity’s climate impact over the coming decades. But this
planet-saving technology has two huge problems. Firstly, it makes
sense to build taller wind turbine towers, as there is more powerful
and more reliable wind higher up, but it costs too much to build steel
towers that tall, making this approach unviable. Secondly, the
majority of a wind farm’s construction-related carbon emissions come
from building these giant steel towers. So if wind power is to further
reduce its carbon footprint and become more powerful and reliable, it
needs a new way of reaching into the sky. Luckily, this is where
Modvion and their wooden turbine towers come in. But will they be
enough to turn wind power into the ultimate renewable energy source?
Modvion’s towers aren’t just a solid lump of wood, as that would be
incredibly wasteful and not particularly strong. Instead, like a steel
turbine, they
are hollow inside with regular bracing. This design mimics bamboo,
making the tower highly durable and lightweight. But instead of steel,
Modvion uses laminated wood. Boat builders have used this type of wood
to build super-light, high-performance boats for decades, as it is
resilient, lightweight, durable, and plentiful. Furthermore, laminated
wood is far less carbon-intensive than steel and much cheaper.
Now, your gut might be telling you that a turbine tower built from
wood would inherently be inferior to our current steel ones. You might
even picture them buckling in a strong wind. But you’d be wrong. Let
me explain.
Laminated wood is made of thin layers laid on top of each other, with
their grains positioned in varying directions, which are then either
glued or resined together. In this way, laminated wood is very similar
to carbon fibre, as the wood itself is a form of carbon filament (lignin),
and the layers of wood stuck together mimic the weave and resin of
carbon fibre. This makes it both extremely strong and very light. In
fact, its weight-to-strength ratio is much better than that of steel.
When building tall structures, your weight-to-strength
ratio is essential. Otherwise, the weight of your structure
increases too much as you build taller, meaning you need to use extra
bracing, making it both more expensive and heavier, which can restrict
how high you can build. While
laminated wood is about as strong as steel, it is far lighter, making
it better suited to building tall structures. In other words, it
is easier and cheaper to build taller towers from laminated wood, as
it uses far less material while being just as strong.
This is why Modvion’s towers can be used to either make much cheaper
or much taller turbine towers. In fact, using
Modvion’s technology, the upper limit of how tall you can build towers
is 1,500 m, about ten times higher than current towers! Now, that
height isn’t commercially viable, but towers 50% to 100% taller are
well within their capabilities. And don’t forget, taller turbine
towers mean the turbine can access more powerful and reliable winds,
allowing the turbine itself to have a higher output, which overall
lowers the cost of its energy. So both options actually lead to
reduced costs while having a tower that is just as strong.
However, Modvion’s towers go far beyond simple economics. You see,
their towers are actually carbon-negative!
Trees build their giant, carbon-rich bodies from the carbon dioxide
they have captured from the air. Like all plants, they use
photosynthesis to combine carbon dioxide and water and turn it into
sugars like glucose and oxygen. But trees tie these glucose molecules
together into a long, chemically stable chain known as lignin,
which they then use to create wood.
Now, the
amount of carbon dioxide Modvion emits during the production of their
wooden towers is less than the carbon stored within them. As such,
they are overall carbon-neutral. In contrast, steel is incredibly
carbon-intensive, as it has to be mined, refined, shipped, and
manufactured at high temperatures. This is why the steel tower is by
far the most carbon-intensive part of a wind turbine and is a
significant contributor to its lifetime emissions.
So by switching to a Modvion wooden tower, a wind turbine can become
far more eco-friendly. In fact, a
wooden tower reduces emissions by 90 percent when compared to a
conventional steel tower of the same height and load! What’s more,
Modvion sources
its wood from sustainable locations where e-growth exceeds logging,
ensuring they aren’t powering deforestation and keeping their
eco-credentials squeaky clean.
Modvion can now make wind power cheaper, more powerful, and a lot more
eco-friendly, and it seems the industry has started to take notice.
Modvion and Sweden’s RWE have joined forces to supply the first wooden
towers to RWE’s future onshore wind farms. Lars Borisson, Head
of Onshore Origination & Development Nordics at RWE Renewables,
stated, “We see that modular towers in laminated wood have significant
market potential and can contribute to lowering the cost of new
renewable electricity production by replacing steel and concrete with
environmentally friendly and climate-smart wood. RWE will be assessing
Modvion’s wooden tower for potential use in future wind farms.”
If this partnership is successful, I’m sure Modvion will be swamped
with demand from the wind turbine industry. While their technology is
simple, it solves some of the core problems of wind power while
offering astonishing eco-credentials. So yes, I think Modvion has the
potential to turn wind power into the ultimate renewable energy, and I
can’t wait to see where they go from here.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
exactrix@exactrix.com
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