People don’t often see concrete as the greenest material ever, especially as its production can be considered as one of the most expansive single sources of carbon emissions on the globe.
The use of concrete bases can prove significantly profitable, considering wind turbine towers, as this has to do with diminishing, by more than two-thirds, the quantity of concrete used for the footings of a single tower.
People tend to consider concrete bases as being more economical to install and with such bases faster construction times can be provided considering wind towers; moreover, the towers’ height can be easily raised with concrete bases, determining the increase of power production.
The stability of the tower’s foundation is also provided by the larger footprint of the precast concrete base. Due to the efficiency of precast concrete base, load covers a larger area, easily using a simpler ring footing, also bringing results of around 60% – 70% and diminishing the amount of concrete people use for the footing of the tower. A net diminishing of the entire quantity of concrete used is resulted. As well, people find it easier to construct the ring footing, once the inconveniences related to a mass pour are eluded.
Along with adding profit to the construction, the concrete bases determine the increase of the whole tower height in order to raise the turbine into a lot more forceful winds or to allow the use of wider diameter blades. All this time the metal towers manage to reach limits considering transportability and constructibility, especially when 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) of height can be added to the tower once precast concrete tower base is included. This way, wider diameter turbines will be allowed in usage with metal towers already existing.
People can produce concrete tower bases in local areas, instead of using specialized manufacture needed in the construction of steel towers. Considering precast concrete sections for such bases, more transportability is easily added, because their production is made in sections that are easily assembled in one piece the moment they are on site.
Mostly considered as a sturdier product, this makes it susceptible to all sorts of damage and rust problems, not needing constant painting as the steel does.
[Source: Ecogeek]
