Editor, OBSERVER:

Did you know your green energy is not so green? Here again are some facts that should shock you.

Let’s get started.

— Did you know that in the average wind turbine base there is 165 to 200 tons of steel, in just one base. There is 850 to 900 cubic yards of concrete or 600 to 1,000 U.S. tons in each base. Not sounding so very green.

— Now let’s move on to oil used. This will shock you. A 5-megawatt wind turbine uses 700 gallons of oil in each turbine and oil has to be changed every nine to 16 months, enough to change your car’s oil 700 times or 3.5 million driven miles.

— Over time, turbines can crack, pit and break seals that can lead to leaking oil into groundwater. Rare, but it does happen.

— Now, let’s talk about the life expectancy of wind turbine blades. The life expectancy of wind turbine blades is around 20 years. Seventy-eight percent of decommissioned blades are expected to end up in landfills. This is due to the difficulty in recycling the composite materials used in turbine blades. Used blades are cut up and buried where they will take centuries to degrade. According to current estimates, wind turbine waste, primarily from blades, is predicted to be around 2.2 million tons in the U.S. By 2050.

Conclusion is that green energy is not clean. It’s very dirty.

RICHARD LANCASTER,

Westfield