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Claims that an image shows a helicopter de-icing a wind turbine in the state of Texas have circulated online as a winter storm left millions of people without power in the southern United States. But the photo was taken in Sweden years earlier, and although some American politicians have used the blackouts to criticize renewable energy, electricity from fossil fuels accounted for the bulk of the lost production in Texas.
“In Texas today… A helicopter using fossil fuels, spraying de-icer, made with fossil fuels, to de-ice a wind turbine, manufactured using fossil fuels, that is supposed to produce clean energy without using fossil fuels,” says a February 15, 2021 Facebook post that includes the image of the helicopter and the wind turbine.
BBC News
By Reality Check team
media captionFrozen turbines and climate change: The politics behind the Texas power failure
Critics of green energy in the United States have blamed the failure of wind turbines for the power shortages in Texas during the recent freezing conditions there. The windmills failed like the silly fashion accessories they are, and people in Texas died, said Fox News s Tucker Carlson.
The power grid was clearly overwhelmed, but to what extent was a loss of wind power to blame?
Was wind-power failure the problem?
Texas has promoted the development of wind energy over the past 15 years, and some of these turbines certainly froze in the recent bitingly cold conditions
Fact Check: Do Wind Turbines Fail in Cold Weather? interestingengineering.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from interestingengineering.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
CLAIM: Photo shows a helicopter spraying a frozen wind turbine with chemicals in Texas. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The photo is from 2015 and shows a helicopter de-icing a frozen wind turbine.