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If the industry cannot come up with more sustainable manufacturing and disposal processes, public acceptance of wind energy would decline

Questioning Recycling Of Wind Turbine Blades



Although wind power achieved just 0.39% of the world's total energy consumption as of 2013, it is assumed that a rapid expansion of wind power will ultimately be environmentally advantageous both due to its reputation as a 'clean' energy and because of the potential to contribute to reduced CO2 emissions.1 Besides reducing wildlife populations, perhaps one of the most underrated negative side effects of building wind turbines is that they don't last very long before they need to be replaced. The blades, made with composites, are currently regarded as unrecyclable. With the first wave of early commercial wind turbine installations now approaching their end of life, the problem of blade disposal is just beginning to emerge as a significant factor for the future.
Blades are designed to have a lifespan of about twenty years, after which they would have to be dismantled due to physical degradation or damage beyond repair. Furthermore, constant development of more efficient blades with higher power generation capacity is resulting in blade replacement well before the twenty year life span. 1 Recent research indicates that there will be 47 million tons of blade waste worldwide by 2050 with China possessing 40% of the waste, Europe 25%, the United States 16%, and the rest of the world 19%. 2 Disposal at end of life must be considered. A typical wind turbine has a foundation, a tower, a nacelle and three blades. The foundation is made from concrete; the tower is made from steel or concrete; the nacelle is made mainly from steel and copper; the blades are made from composite materials. Considering these materials only, concrete and composites are the most environmentally problematic at end of life since there are currently no established industrial recycling routes for them. 2 Finding ways to manage the waste from the expected high number of wind turbine blades in need of disposal is crucial to harvest wind energy in a truly sustainable manner. Landfilling is the most cost effective disposal method in the United States but it imposes significant environmental impacts. Thermal, mechanical, and chemical processes allow for some energy and/or material recovery, but they also carry potential negative issues.

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Katerin Ramirez-Tejeda and colleagues detail the imminent and unresolved nightmare of wind turbine blade disposal. The environmental consequences and health risks are so adverse that the authros warn that if the public learns of this rapidly burgeoning problem they may be less inclined to favor wind power expansion. Advocates of wind power are said to be 'largely ignoring the issue.' It's an issue that will not be going away any time soon. "If the industry cannot come up with more sustainable manufacturing and disposal processes, public acceptance of wind energy would decline if the public becomes aware of these issues, inhibiting its growth as one of the main sources of electricity generation in the United States." 3 References
  1. Pierre Gosselin, "Unsustainable: 43 million tons of wind turbine blade waste by 2050," notrickszone.com, June 22, 2017
  2. Pu Liu and Claire Y. Barlow, "Wind turbine blade waste in 2050," Waste Management, 62, 229, April 2017
  3. Katerin Ramirez-Tejeda et al., "Unsustainable wind turbine blade disposal practices in the United States," journals.sagepub.com, October 28, 2016

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Jack Dini -- Bio and Archives

Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology.  He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.


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