Those giant gearboxes aren't lubricated with sunshine and lollipops, it's petroleum.
From TechCrunch, December 27:
Clean energy: Scrubbing wind turbines with robots nets Aerones $39M
Aerones, a robotics startup that scrubs and inspects wind turbines so humans don’t have to, secured $38.9 million in fresh funding this month from dozens of undisclosed investors, TechCrunch has learned.
Wind turbines produce clean energy, but their towers tend to leak oil, which can corrode blades, increase wind resistance and pollute the ground below. Aerones’ remote-operated robots clean towers and blades by blasting them with a liquid detergent, while funnels beneath the blades collect the mucked-up liquid for reuse. The robots also inspect turbine systems with cameras and ultrasound scanners.
Aerones’ site says the company has cleaned more than 5,000 turbines to date across 19 countries. For context, there are more than 72,000 wind turbines in the U.S. alone. In 2021, turbines generated around 9% of all electricity in the states....
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