Or, The Greener We Pursue, The Polluted We Become?
As the wind industry grows, offshore, onshore.. no matter what kind of shore, it brings a new issue to the table.
Before breaking down the problem, we are curious about why all the sudden wind energy become so popular, a few reasons, such as the wind is free, the wind produces energy without any harmful waste to the environment, and also, it never ends, as long as the Earth is turning, the wind will blow. One single wind turbine can generate around 600 million kW/year, and in Taiwan, 200 turbines can supply 160 million households, the replacement of nuclear power is foreseeable.
The lifespan of wind blades is less than we expected, we hope to use them forever, but they have only 20 - 25 years of service life. After its lifespan has expired, the retirement of these giants causes a huge headache to the environment. For a wind turbine, most of the parts (85%-95%) are recyclable, but the wind blades are not or are hard to recycle (5%-15% ). But why?
When onshore and offshore wind farms increase, scientists start to worry about blade waste, so far, there are two general principles that lead the researchers and scientists to find the solution: either replace the materials to make the blades or reuse those unrecyclable blades.
Reuse of the blades
The name of the game is creativity, repurposing discarded wind turbine blades is such a good deal not just for the environment, but also a benefit to society.
Do you love these ideas?
The leading manufacturer of wind turbines maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is taking the lead in finding alternative materials. According to the company, the new type of blade is made from epoxy resin, the new chemical structures have a “cleavage point.” It allows the blades to be broken when the temperature hits a certain point. The material can be immersed in heated mildly acidic, and the materials can then be recovered and reused to make new plastic products. Check their video to have a glance at the new gens of blade material. <Link>
What will happen if no solutions?
Most of the wind blades end up in landfills, are buried, and hope to decay after a million years, or are incinerated, which causes air pollution, in this case, what’s the point of building wind turbines anyway? Another will just be stored in a large space, and wait for a miracle to recycle them.
【Supplementary information & useful links】
Few facts about wind turbines and farms: