Part III — Exposing the Staggering Corruption and Hidden Costs of “Sustainable” Wind Energy
Part Three
Many who care about the future of this planet are searching for alternatives to our current fossil fuel energy dependency. Bold new approaches have been proposed by the Biden administration, including accelerating offshore wind energy development at a massive scale to create new jobs using so-called “Green Technology.”
However, there has been an incredible failure of the media and those in positions of power to illustrate the true costs and deep corruption embedded in the use of wind and solar energy, specifically wind turbines. From dependency on China’s rare earth metals to reliance on forced labor, the wind energy industry is unjust and deeply unsustainable.
Other energy alternatives are feasible and obtainable, but the public must understand the interrelated web of corruption that lies behind “clean” wind turbines. There are social, industrial, technological, human, cultural, economic, and political factors at play that make this issue complex and interwoven. When looking at the pieces out of context, it doesn’t look like there is a problem. No one is connecting the dots.
Part III.
In Part I of this exposé, we gave background as to what wind turbines are and how they generate energy. To summarize, wind energy is not a feasible replacement for fossil fuels because they’re non-recyclable, low-performing, high-cost, intermittent energy sources that require massive land usage and need to be supplemented by nonrenewable sources like fossil fuels. The mining and manufacture of solar panels and windmills and their materials are environmentally destructive and have a dangerous human cost.
We also discussed dependency on China’s rare earth supply chain (rare earths are the energy-intensive raw materials that are key critical components to our technology and communications sector, military defense, medical, biomedical, and of course wind turbines.) In the last two decades, China has come to dominate global rare earth production by investing in mining and processing without enforcing adequate environmental safeguards. “Few other countries are willing to copy China’s low-cost, high-pollution version of rare-earth processing,” reports LA Times. There is a reliance on rare earth minerals for almost all forms of wind energy parts.
There is an extraordinary environmental price being paid by the entire planet for the mining, refinement using pollution-heavy diesel factories, and the shipment of rare earth metals and parts that create wind turbines and solar panels.
In our second installment, we detailed the human cost of the unsustainable wind and solar energy industries, from the inhumane labor conditions required of these supply chains, to the subsidies and debt cycles to China. For a more detailed report, click on Part II of our exposé.
Some key areas to note are the numerous reports of severe human rights issues and abuses relating to rare earth mining sites like the Democratic Republic of Congo. In southeastern China, Toxic waste and radioactive materials are also a byproduct of rare earth processing, poisoning water, and soil and leading to abnormal disease rates for surrounding communities. We also detailed the economic impact of wind turbines and solar panels, including the Government subsidies and incentives which hide the actual cost of wind turbines. In reality, solar and wind facilities suffer from a very high capacity cost per megawatt, low reliability, and deficient capacity factors, which result in low avoided emissions and low avoided energy cost per dollar invested.
In order to pay the subsidies for these renewable energy projects, there is now a total debt of $42 billion and growing without a change in policy. Even since our previous installments, other news outlets have begun to shed light on the various negative impacts of these industries. The National Post recently reported on the ‘solar trash tsunami’ and the economic cost created by unrecyclable solar power waste based on new research out of the University of Calgary. Other outlets are beginning to wise up to the “real cost of wind and solar,” coming to the conclusion that perceived costs and energy outputs just don’t add up.
Here are some additional links offering even further comment on these problems… Finally, They Admit Renewables Are Terrible For The Environment, Why Everything They Said About Solar Was Wrong, (video) — ‘Politicians silent’ on renewables technology waste ending up in landfill and even this if you can believe it, The Real Reason They Blame Heat Deaths, Blackouts, and Forest Fires on Climate Change Is Because They’re Causing Them…
In this week’s final Part — III Expose’, we offer solutions to the challenges that have been brought forth. With innovation, technology breakthroughs, and ingenuity there are always answers to be sought that can solve the World’s most troubling questions… questions like: Is there a truly clean and sustainable form of energy? Is it accessible and deployable? How long will it take to develop and how much will it cost? These questions are the real need in solving the issues of today and they are knocking at our doorstep… answers like Dam-Free Wave Driven Hydroelectric power, Tidal Pumping Energy Solutions & Ocean and River Current Flow Technologies, along with several forms of offshore Wave Energy Converters for Desalination along with Hydrogen Production and Water Flow Technologies. These safe, simple, environmentally friendly innovations are set to solve today’s issues in tomorrow’s world, paving the way for our children’s children’s future, while setting an example of humanity’s innovative minds, providing productive solutions for our everyday World.
“We are not years away from any longer with usable innovative technologies to solve today’s issues”, says Kenneth W. Welch Jr. inventor, developer, and visionary as he explains one of his disruptive wave energy converters, the SeaDog Wave Energy Carousel. He explains, “this compact powerful wave pumping system offers a small offshore grid-scale footprint while providing a low cost, relatively fast installable offshore grid system to provide Dam-Free Hydroelectric power, equal to most large-scale dams without the dam, nor the destructive environmental shortfalls, inherent in nearly all of today’s hydroelectric dam systems”.
He states, “this manufacturable Carousel system will provide not only the ability to pump large flow high-pressure seawater to on or offshore turbine complexes but its design allows for variable flow rates and pressures to create desalinated water production while reconstituting brine discharge to safe levels of release to its surrounding environment”.
In our interview with Georg Engelmann, we asked what have you done over the last year to prepare for the launch of these innovative technologies? We were truly excited with his explanation of not only what they had done, but also with his well-thought-out, fast-paced plans for the year ahead.
So here is what he said, “In the past year I have worked fervently to continue the fight to reveal the inadequacies, dangers to our planet and its population, geopolitical threats and commercial risks being thrust upon us, while investing millions of dollars in developing technologies and relationships while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct media campaigns targeting so-called “green energy” technologies, namely solar, wind, battery storage and electric vehicles that do not deliver what they promote”.
Read his collection of posts on: https://diamondinfrastructuredevelopment.com/news/
He goes on to say, “my present motivation is to restore the health of the planet and offer the quality of life to its people while generating profit for the company through the deployment of infrastructure technologies for the world’s waters.
Ocean energies for hydropower can be utilized to not only generate electricity but to desalinate seawater for freshwater and hydraulic power for commercial and industrial applications such as Aqua/Agri-Culture, clean fuel manufacturing, among other value-added activities all figurative in the developing Blue Economy.
This initial thrust into sustainable energy technology deployment is the first front of attack as an intervention, and mitigation, to the damage that has already been imposed and against the further threats looming through the advocacy and deployment of wind and solar technologies”.
Georg told us, “The current market strategies are ill-conceived and lacking in foresight for the long-term global implications to the natural resources and human condition of the world we live in.
The only thing “green” in the “New Deal” agenda is the money that the proponents of these dysfunctional technologies stand to gain, all at the ultimate expense of the taxpayer. To combat this movement, I took the initial step to invest in the education of our populations to the truth.
Now, one year into the information campaign, and before the present US energy administration can deal the death blow to the waters of the US eastern seaboard, it’s now time to act”.
He goes on to explain, “The countering move is to deploy a full production-grade commercial wave energy system into Atlantic state waters, using networks within my direct sphere of influence, out of the reach of the federal “agendas” that would seek to silence the message that ocean energies are THE truly sustainable energy technologies”.
We were moved by his passion and fervor, to take on the world and do something more productive than simply excepting the shortfalls of wind and solar. We asked him what’s next and he replied, “our next step offers a strategy of revision to Diamond’s Private Purchase Memorandum (PPM). A second phase PPM that offers 3M shares at $10 per share ($30M fundraise), covering the outstanding scope from Phase 1, including the remaining balance on the acquisition of exclusive global licensing for all of Global Oceanic and SeaDog Systems’ technologies as negotiated, plus a suite of commercialization programs/projects covering three of Global/SeaDog’s key energy technologies, as marketing tools for sales of licenses”.
He stated further, “Pursuant to last year’s effort, in spite of the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Phase 1 PPM successfully raised $5M of the target $15M, which has supported successes on a number of fronts in business development, funding, technical opportunity definition and technology licensing deals, which are currently under negotiation for an additional $6.7M.
Pivoting off of these successes, in spite of the odds, Diamond successfully negotiated with the Boards of Directors of Global Oceanic and SeaDog Systems, who agreed to grant a 2-year extension of the Stock Purchase and Corporate Management Agreement, for completion of the final $9M balance. And given the building momentum over the previous quarter, Diamond’s Board agreed to an increased funding level for this revised PPM which allows for widening of the scope of technology commercialization activities”.
He also stated the funding provided to date is being deployed toward the research and testing facility upgrades in Willis Texas, as was outlined in the Phase 1 PPM, which would include new office buildings already designed, with planning in progress stating, they will be completed later this year.
We asked him to share with us more on what the funds would be used for? He went on to share with us, “part of the funds provided will be used for refurbishment of the X-Wave testing facility also located in Willis near the corporate headquarters, commencing with the removal of the legacy SeaDog demonstration units and make-ready for the next wave energy technology system installation, a new high tech wave transfer station to repressurize water flows from offshore to further inland locations, after desalination from offshore platforms, offering power and water to inland locations much like a boosting station, or transformer for moving electricity over long distances. This new design of efficient Pond Dogs as they are called will use the wave generating facility much like natural waves in the ocean, to produce high-pressure large flow water transfer, via pipelines to upstream locations for use in power production and water distribution with small energy losses”.
de Castellane Creative, a marketing & public relations agency, where each client is purposefully selected because of their desire to create real-world positive change and impact, is working diligently in the ongoing and continuous effort into the media and public relations program sponsored by Diamond which has included a global release of two video campaigns, multiple press releases per month consisting of company news updates, journalistic pieces, and educational awareness material. de Castellane Creative has had excellent penetration and traction achieved through networks such as Fox, CBS, NBC, Wall Street, and Finance publications, as well as Yahoo News, Google, etc.
de Castellane Creative’s media outreach has achieved tens of thousands of engagements and thousands if not millions of reprints, re-posts, and impressions. The efforts of Diamond’s media team working with our marketing experts have produced incredibly satisfactory results informing the World. The word is out, and the World is informed via the majority of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, etc. as it relates to the unclean and inhumane conditions and controlled rare earth materials from China used in wind and solar energy production systems.
We asked Georg how Diamond’s new website was working out, to which he replied, “it’s truly a work of art, replete with the corporate mission, vision, and narrative of our purpose and objectives. As well, the site hosts the full catalog of the press releases, articles and updates in addition to information regarding Diamond’s capabilities, services and the suite of technologies offered”.
We then asked what was being done to further advance Diamond’s efforts to go to the market to which Georg replied, “A significant amount of technical work has been done in support of identifying markets and quantifying opportunities in the sectors of water utilization, infrastructure, and energy, for specific application of the SeaDog Wave Carousel embodiment.
Access to freshwater for coastal municipalities in South Texas, the New Jersey shore, Western Florida and Southern California, just to name a few, is a growing concern. Given their proximity to the ocean, desalination of seawater seems an intuitive solution however conventional systems are characterized by high energy premiums to drive the systems and harsh impact to nature and the environment due to heavy brine discharge. The SeaDog System-driven concept carries no such penalties or regrets and offers a superior alternative, which has been recognized by interested parties in these areas.
Introductions have been made and conversations are in progress to strategize how licensing will be acquired and development activities will progress. The main thrust of Diamond’s vision is for a networked system that spans the US Eastern Seaboard, providing for the coastal communities from Maine to Miami.
On the international scene, the power and energy demand, via the study of demographics, populations and local economies for areas such as the island communities in the South Pacific, the Caribbean and the coastal nations of West Africa have been undertaken where presently the inhabitants suffer from lack of resources or at least are subject to excessive premiums for the provision of fresh water and energy.
Whether it be for the creation of life, improvement of the quality of life or just enabling survival, our technologies represent real solutions, fully within reach and ready to deploy and deliver. Markets for commodities in addition to water and power include driving hydrogen distillation and atmospheric fuel synthesis, where legacy offshore energy infrastructure can be leveraged for the new Blue Economy enabling green hydrocarbons and other economically viable opportunities”.
With our interest peaked I just had to ask Georg; how will the onshore concepts support your future goals? He responded with, “the highlights of this new Phase 2 program include notably the addition of three separate delivery programs for commercialization of Global’s and SeaDog’s key energy technologies. The inland wave energy conversion system (Pond Dogs), erected in the Global X-Wave testing facility, the air-water motor (AWERD) with artificial head energy storage, mounted in a portable demonstration system as a Mobile Marketing Package and a SeaDog Wave Carousel, deployed at full commercial scale are each featured under the Phase 2 budget.
The Pond Dog System installation will be a full working module of a scaled system to demonstrate the flexibility of different embodiments of the SeaDog Wave Pump concept. This inland-based wave energy conversion configuration will prove the value vested in onshore pumping, lifting, and hydraulic transfer systems, optimizing the use of energy invested.
Diamond has already negotiated a lease for Global’s 7.6-acre wave facility, complete with a wave tank, offices, and laboratories to build, showcase, and demonstrate this technology, where the budget provides for the use of the facility for at least 3 years.
The Planned creation of the mobile marketing package for the artificial head and air & water motor technology will consist of the development of a commercial small-scale water and air energy storage and air and water energy storage system. The mobile unit will be used for demonstrations of stored air to energy, or stored water to energy systems and provide marketing, communication, and education tool showcasing the value proposition these sustainable concepts offer.
The capstone activity of this Phase is to build out a commercial scale SeaDog Carousel System for low-end wave heights. This powerful marketing tool will demonstrate the flexibility of the product line of carousel systems, promoting both their portability and in-place stability in the ocean environment. The budget includes transportation, offshore leases, installation costs, etc. This demonstration carousel once built, will showcase this product over the next three years, during which Diamond anticipates selling licenses for multiple sizes of the SeaDog carousel systems for grid-scale, multi-billion-dollar operations providing gigawatts of on-demand dam-free hydroelectric power.
Phase 2 funding will additionally cover the technical management for the development and deployment activities for the energy technologies and for the after-market technical support for licensed products, as required to get the job done.
de Castellane Creative’s interview with Mr. Welch and Georg Engelmann were a true peek into the environmental products of tomorrow today while providing real World facts and supporting materials which has changed our minds here at de Castellane Creative while providing hope and excitement for a cleaner and more complete view of the innovative inventions for a better tomorrow.
Additional Info below:
Hydropower is the energy created from moving water. Hydropower uses the powerful flow of water and diverts large amounts of water to turbines that produce electricity. Hydropower is one of the primary sources of renewable energy and accounts for 6.6% of the total power output in the U.S. in 2019 and 38% of the total renewable electricity generated.
The earth’s surface is 71% water, so offshore hydropower’s potential for supplying the world’s need for renewable energy is tremendous. Wave energy is one of the most durable, impactful, and consistent forms of energy available on this planet, and its use is largely untapped by humans. It is a dependable, environmentally sustainable, and abundant source of energy.
Visiting with two visionary industry leaders who are advocating for a hydropower-based transition in infrastructure that could vastly change the way we use energy. Kenneth W. Welch Jr., Inventor and Board Member of Diamond Infrastructure Development, Inc., and Georg Engelmann, Engineer and C.E.O. at Diamond Infrastructure Development, Inc.’s dynamic partnership could change the energy economy as we know it.
Their suite of technologies ranges from cutting-edge renewable wave energy conversion systems to onshore and offshore infrastructure and transportation systems.
In a recent article in response to the U.N.’s World Oceans Day, Mr. Welch Jr. stated, “We have the solutions to the questions and challenges the U.N. are posing. There is so much more we can do with adequate funding from governing bodies, including fantastic underwater habitats, new systems of sustainable transportation, agriculture, mining, tourism, pumping, and energy are all attainable with our innovative technologies.”
What makes their hydropower systems more sustainable than wind or solar energy systems?
As Mr. Engelmann explains it, “take a wind turbine for example. Considering the materials that are used in the manufacturing and installation process, then to operate and maintain it and go through the whole cycle of that system, the turbine will never create enough energy to justify itself. Let alone be a sufficient performer in terms of efficiency to ever display the demand for electrical power from the grid that it was meant to do, or decompose in a sustainable way.”
What differentiates Diamond’s suite of technologies is that their approach is actually sustainable, meaning that they “will have actually utilized more carbon out of the environment for the purpose of energy creation, then we would have incurred in terms of carbon debt to create that system in the first place.”
The SeaDog Wave Pump Carousel is the centerpiece of Diamond Infrastructure Development, Inc.'s sustainable infrastructure technologies. This technology will be able to harness renewable and free resources. This carousel actually converts offshore wind turbine towers into a more cost-effective and sustainable grid-scale offshore farm. It does not take away and consume land and is non-destructive to ocean sea life. “There are ways to convert existing wind turbines into wave converters and even ways to utilize oil infrastructure to bring water energies to shore,” states Mr. Engelmann.
By the Numbers:
A Capacity Factor means the ratio of actual energy produced by an energy-generating unit or system in a given period, to the hypothetical maximum possible.
- Solar Energy Capacity Factor Average: 10%-25%
- Wind Turbine U.S. fleetwide average capacity factor: 24% onshore, 41% offshore
- Seadog’s 38.8 MW North Sea Carousel Capacity Factor: 52%
Energy Output
- Solar Panel Energy Output: 3–4.5 MW
- Wind Turbine (GE HALIADE-X): 12 MW output
- Seadog Wave Energy Carousel: 38.877 MW output or 228.98% more than Wind Turbine (generates enough clean power for up to 51,836 European households per carousel and 4.198 million European households per square mile)
Cost of Infrastructure, Maintenance, and Longevity
Cost per KW installed:
- Average Solar Panel: $2,910 (but this number includes the 26% Federal ITC subsidy, without which the true cost is $3,666 and higher)
- Average Wind Turbine: $3,000-$8,000
- Seadog Wave Energy Carousel: Ranges from $4,800–7,500, with more than twice the service life
Service Life:
- Solar Panels: 25–35 Years
- Wind Turbine: 20 Years
- Seadog Wave Energy Carousel: 50+ Years, making them more than twice as cost-efficient
To summarize, hydropower could provide clean, renewable wave energy at a higher scale and lower price points and land usage than all other forms of sustainable energy.
So why aren’t we using hydropower on a massive scale?
Those who benefit from the dirty supply chain involved in wind turbines and solar energy, as well as leaders in the fossil fuel industry, have long since lobbied against more truly sustainable alternatives.
Historically, even President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were great champions of tidal power, with President Kennedy calling it “one of the most astonishing and beneficial joint enterprises that the people of the United States [could] have ever undertaken.” Other power-generating firms have historically been in opposition to tidal power, fearing it would “generate electricity at a lower cost than they could, thereby hurting their business.”
Corporate and Consumer Consciousness
While many consumers and corporations would like to value environmental and economic sustainability and respect the earth and all human life, there is not always adequate information available to make choices that support those values.
As Amnesty International states, “Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask how they are made. It is high time the big brands took some responsibility for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products.”
“It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the world’s richest, most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for their components,” said Emmanuel Umpula, Afrewatch (Africa Resources Watch) Executive Director.
As sustainable models are being considered by the Biden administration, Ocean Energy Conversion (Wave, Tidal & Current Systems), should be at the top of their list, in that they all outperform both wind and solar energy by efficiency, cost, land, and materials usage, and (lack of) waste creation.
There is a chance that the U.S. could lead the charge in clean energy and actually create jobs at home which do not harm our planet or communities abroad. The public outcry for alternatives to fossil fuels and the decline of the oil industry provides the perfect opportunity to revolutionize our energy systems.
Mr. Welch Jr. concludes the interview by stating, “The truth will set you free. The problem is that not everyone has the whole story. There is belief and support from teams of people around the world counting on us to win this battle.
“We can change this system of money laundering, slave labor, and environmental degradation into something different. What I want to see is America Strong, Africa Strong, South America Strong. All of our global citizens deserve a planet free from corruption and waste. We need to break through the cognitive dissonance to shed light on the truth, and then move forward with a just alternative.”
“Taking Diamond Infrastructure to Commercial Scale”
World Class Competitors in the Alternative Energy Industry of Tomorrow
