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Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by nodesocket on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:38AM (#46355634)
Let’s look at the economics instead of emotionally. Wind turbines (real rough back of the napkin) CapEx break even is estimated 7-10 years. They can consume thousands of liters of lubrication oil, and estimated break-even just on energy to produce the unit is 5-8 months (energy required to build it). Then you have the issue of how ugly (in my opinion) large farms look.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by xnx on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:17PM (#46356150)
> thousands of liters of lubrication oil

That's 202,884 teaspoons!

Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by mikeyouse on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:52AM (#46355819)
You know who looks at the economics of wind turbines? Companies that build wind turbines. The fact that these farms were all under construction means they pencil out just fine.. there's such bizarre strains of concern trolling on clean energy topics.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by blackguardx on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:56AM (#46355885)
I live near both wind turbines and oil/gas fracking sites in Colorado. The wind turbines are far less obtrusive. Fracking sites produce a lot of noise and they try to hide them with these giant walls that look like a post-apocalyptic fort. On top of that, because they don't disclose their fracking fluids you always kind of have ground water contamination near your home on the back of your mind.

I'm not even against fracking but the alternatives to wind and solar are more a public nuisance to live around.

Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by bryanlarsen on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:07PM (#46356010)
> CapEx break even is estimated 7-10 years.

> estimated break-even just on energy to produce the unit is 5-8 months

Those are really good numbers, a good argument for why they're being built.

Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by yesfitz on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:55AM (#46355880)
What alternative powerplant would you recommend that has a shorter breakeven, doesn't consume oil, and is attractive to look at?
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by infecto on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:57AM (#46355901)
I love to look at the economics. The payback periods don’t look terrible. More importantly the market should decide what is good or not. I am all for removing subsidies but let the market decide the best path forward.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by sephamorr on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:54AM (#46355862)
You say economics instead of emotion, but your last sentence is emotion. If capex is your concern, explain the purpose of canceling an almost-complete farm. If energy breakevens are your concern, explain how this breakevens compares against, e.g. oil liquids.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by janice1999 on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:50AM (#46355788)
I live near one (no-USA) and honestly it doesn't bother me. It's a small price to pay to avoid ever-decreasing foreign-sourced oil/gas and insanely over-budget/over-schedule nuclear.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by frontfor on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:51AM (#46355804)
> CapEx break even is estimated 7-10 years

I don’t think this is unique to wind farms.

Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by SpicyLemonZest on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:43AM (#46355712)
I do not understand why people think it’s exciting to drop into the comments and pointlessly lie to defend their favorite dictator. We know and you know that you didn’t think wind farms were ugly until it became necessary to defend Trump’s obsession; what do you hope to gain by pretending otherwise?
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by kej on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:07PM (#46356027)
And these talking points are always framed as if coal mines and oil wells occur naturally and there is nothing unsightly or unhealthy about them.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by Refreeze5224 on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:01PM (#46355951)
No one cared about the looks of wind turbines until they built some near Trump's golf course in Scotland. He hates them, and by pure and total chance, his base/cult now does too.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by bryanlarsen on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:21PM (#46356213)
OTOH I think wind farms are pretty and pump-jacks are ugly.

Our biases shine through.

Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by jimt1234 on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:36PM (#46356375)
I was Landman, too. Good show.
Re:US Administration halted largest Offshore Wind project in... by triceratops on Monday December 22, 2025 @03:03PM (#46358317)
> Let’s look at the economics instead of emotionally

The people who invested money into this already did.