Well, actually someone has. And the solutions to this are not uniform.
Wind turbines. For some they represent an ecologically sensible means of generating energy, others demonize them as ugly and noisy structures. Accordingly, there are always disputes about them.
On social media, and we all know this, arguments and discussions can often be linked to false reports or manipulative representations. And this is exactly what now applies to wind turbines. To be more precise, it's about icy wind turbines.
The accusation: In order for the ecologically sensible effects of a wind turbine to work, they must be activated using chemicals and fossil fuels.
A posting on Facebook describes it with these words:
Net discovery...
Winter in Germany is when kerosene propellers rise to spray chemicals so that the eco-propellers run again...????♂️
The text is accompanied by an image showing a helicopter and an icy wind turbine. This is the following picture:

Wind turbine in Germany de-iced with chemicals?
We have a small problem here: text and image do not match. We usually call something like this a “hybrid fake”. This means that part of the statement is inevitably true, but the other part is not. The overall construct is therefore incorrect and manipulative. Hybrid fakes can also be exposed (as in this case) with an image search .
The photo is completely correct. It is not a manipulated representation, but actually shows a helicopter de-icing a wind turbine. AFP 's fact-checkers have discovered that this image comes from Sweden and shows Alpine Helicopter
The result: This picture was taken years ago during a de-icing test project with water in northern Sweden. This was confirmed to AFP by “Alpine Helecopter” managing director Mats Widgren.
So far, so correct. And now we come to the untrue component of the hybrid fake
As already pointed out, this picture does not come from Germany. It is also not current, but was recorded before 2015 and is also in media .
There are no chemicals in the picture, but rather warm water for de-icing the wind turbine. However, one accusation remains: Are helicopters (powered by fossil fuels) used for de-icing in Germany?
The AFP fact check also provides the answer: No, helicopters are not used for this purpose in Germany. AFP has asked both the Federal Wind Energy Association and the Federal Environment Agency about this. Both bodies were able to confirm that neither helicopters nor chemicals are used to de-ice wind turbines in Germany. The things simply stop when they ice up and are only used again when the frost has thawed.
There are of course other variants: the ice is thrown off, for example. In this regard, there is an ice throw distance calculation so that the ice can be thrown safely. There is also the option of heated wings so that the ice is defrosted. And just to mention, a Latvian company has also conducted a series of de-icing tests using drones.
Sources:
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

