![IMG_20140524_195347[1]](https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/img_20140524_1953471.jpg?quality=83)
Citing an anonymous police source, the daily newspaper said the ring stole metal from wind farms in sparsely populated areas, where they had less chance of being caught.
“They cut the power to turn off the engine propeller motor,” the officer said, noting the thieves broke through the doors at the bottom of the turbines, before using the stairs to reach the engine which is located at the top – often as high as 40 metres off the ground. “By using bolt cutters and makeshift tools they then cut and ripped out the whole metal wiring, which is mostly made of copper,” he said.
The officer said a metal raid of a single wind turbine engine could amount to as much as one tonne of loot. One tonne of copper is estimated to be worth around 4,500 euros on the market.
…
According to Le Figaro, at least 20 such incidents have been recorded recently. Two successful raids and one foiled attempt were reported in March alone.
http://www.france24.com/en/20140528-france-metal-organised-thefts-wind-turbines-copper/
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how funny. still, the copper price is better than ***below:
29 May: SMH: Bloomberg: CO2 market hurt by Australian, Russian policy, World Bank says
Efforts to put a value on greenhouse- gas emissions to contain global warming are being hurt as countries from Australia to Russia and Japan pull back from carbon-reduction commitments, according to the World Bank.
“While some nations are taking concrete steps forward on carbon pricing, recent developments in others are a setback,” the World Bank said in its State & Trends of Carbon Pricing 2014 report published on Wednesday. Policy changes amount to “two steps forward, one step back,” it said…
Russia said last month that the UN-endorsed goal of capping rising global temperatures shouldn’t dictate countries’ emission limits in a new climate treaty for 2020…
Emissions trading programs worldwide were worth about $US30 billion ($32.5 billion) at the end of 2013, according to the bank, which excluded United Nations emissions credits created under the Kyoto Protocol. The value of global carbon markets, based on transaction volumes and including UN credits, fell 36 per cent last year to about $US56 billion, Bloomberg New Energy Finance data show.Costs between pricing programs “occupy a significant range,” the bank said.
***An emissions tax in Mexico is less than $US1 a metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, while Sweden’s carbon tax is $US168 a ton, according to the report.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/co2-market-hurt-by-australian-russian-policy-world-bank-says-20140529-zrrcg.html
btw the clearest signal yet from the Opposition that Australia’s carbon tax will go:
28 May: Reuters: James Regan: UPDATE 1-Australia’s opposition leader concedes carbon, mining taxes to go
Australia’s opposition Labor Party on Wednesday said two contentious taxes on mining and carbon emissions introduced during its years in power would likely be repealed this year…
Greenpeace environment director Ben Pearson said he was disappointed that Shorten had “put out the white flag” so soon.
“There was an opportunity to tell the world that an industrialised country like Australia was not headed backwards on the environment,” Pearson said. “That’s now been lost.”…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/28/australia-tax-opposition-idUSL3N0OE11620140528
So the stolen copper will be recycled into windings for the wind turbines…
Sounds a lot like economic perpetual motion to me.
“They cut the power to turn off the engine propeller motor” – LMFAO 🙂
Two years ago I was house hunting and I found people would open the air conditioners for the copper (I am sure they didn’t correctly harvest the freon). They would steal the breakers and even pull the wire out of the wall. Combine that with missing appliances and just outright damage, some people will steal and damage most anything for very little reason. The builder my house was still building and set up flood lights and cameras to prevent damage to houses still under construction. Making over $6000 american for one day or night of work would be very tempting. On the other hand, the salvage yards should be watching out for anybody with a large pile of copper and they should report it to the police.
How much do those turbines cost?
Ya think they would at least install an alarm of some sort on them and the access to them.
Instead of: Look, the wind stopped on FA432 , but not the others….
Finally, crooks doing something for the benefit of mankind. How about awards for these
wonderful thieves? Of necessity wind turbines are generally located in unpopulated areas.
If Gaia cries as a wind turbine is robbed of its copper and no climatologist is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
“They cut the power to turn off the engine propeller motor”
—
I thought the whole point of a windmill was to produce power from the wind. Why do they need a propeller motor? Does cutting the power cause the propeller to lock up so it stops turning? Or is there some other explanation?
Serves them bloody well right! To get copper you have to mine it out of the ground which is an evil thing. I know this because the great Australian actress Toni Collette told us so.
Did the officer just reveal that they are all completely fake?
Reblogged this on gottadobetterthanthis and commented:
Another reason to abandon windmills sooner rather than later.
Has the unprecedented increase in the theft of copper been added to the list of things caused by global warming?
Copper thieves around here will do $10,000 damage to get $50 worth of copper. I have a friend who builds steel cages to protect air conditioners. Rural churches are his best customers.
Looks like the windmill thieves will do hundreds of thousands in damage.
Copper is one of the very few colored metals. These green energy guys might was well fill these remote towers with gold. Let’s claim these guys as civil disobedient “monkey wrench” activists, on our Quixotic skeptical side, out saving the world from power grid instability, a bit misguided and overly enthusiastic, but their hearts in the right place.
Eric Worrall says:
May 28, 2014 at 6:16 pm
“They cut the power to turn off the engine propeller motor” – LMFAO 🙂
———————————————————————–
Likely not true in this case because there was no-one to impress, but a friend of mine who worked for a major utility in the 1990s told me they would run current to the generator to make the demonstration windmill turn whenever VIPs, etc., were visiting.
Maybe they stole the copper out of necessity and pay their energy bills?
Gamecock says:
Copper thieves around here will do $10,000 damage to get $50 worth of copper.
True dat. I had a shopping center about 8 years ago when the price of copper went sky high. Thieves stole all the copper A/C drain pipes off the roof. It would have cost around $20,000 to replace them with copper, and that’s what the building code required. But I used PVC. Cost about one-tenth as much.
Let the drug heads of the world know is all that I can say. Then let them out on probation when they get cought. Great solution to a sick solution.
At minimum, a law should be passed requiring salvage yards to photograph, fingerprint, and photocopy the ID of anyone selling scrap copper.
The turbine designers should have built in stronger security and alarm systems. Thieves’ eagerness to strop copper from structures has been well known for decades.
I’ve read that the reason for motors to turn the blades is mainly to prevent the bearings from developing flat spots during windless days.
Typo in the headline. It should be “thieves”
[Thanks, fixed. ~mod.]
If this happens on Earth Day, are they given pardons when caught?
Personally, I wish someone would take a bazooka to them. The windmills, that is, not the thieves.