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2023.08.29
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Is the Green Energy Really a ‘Green Energy’?

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.

Why The Wind Turbines Are So Hard To Recycle? 

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?

  1. The size of the blade is gigantic, it’s difficult to break it into pieces.
  2. They are made from fiberglass bound together with epoxy resin, a material so strong it is incredibly difficult and expensive to break apart. After all, the purpose is to create a strong kind of wind turbine that can withstand the hardest weather conditions.

Any Solutions? 

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 

  1. Shredding the blades, and reusing the fiberglass and plastic resin parts,  to turn them into cement, and other products. Recycling blades to make cement in this way can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 27% and consumption of water by 13%. <Link>
  2. The Netherlands Wikado playground, reused the blades to build the facilities, such as slide and climbing toys. <Link>
  3. Not only the wind blades can generate electricity, but you can eat it! Turn the wind blade materials into a gummy bear, and dare you to eat. <Link>

  4. A smart idea and a good model from Ireland's bridge builder, they turned two 13-meter blades into a 5-meter-long bridge at Middleton-Younghal Greenway, and they call it the ‘Re-wind project’. <Link>
  5. After all, Denmark has so many wind turbines, that they have no choice but to be the first to start repurposing the wind blade. A great example, a wind blade bike shelter. <Link>

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? 

Other alternative materials

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: 

  • When setting up the blades, the distance between each unit must be at least 3 to 6 times the diameter of the fan blades.
  • The world's largest offshore wind farm is the Walney wind farm in the UK, with a capacity of 659MW and ​​the area is around 73 square kilometers, which is about the size of 10,000 football fields. 
  • Asia will overtake Europe as the largest offshore wind power market in 2022 and continue to lead until the end of 2030. 
  • In Taiwan, one offshore wind farm has 100 turbines, the country is aiming to have 6, which will have 600 turbines installed at Taiwan Strait. 
  • The largest wind blade: a 379-foot (115.5-meter) blade was manufactured at Vestas’ blade factory in Nakskov, Denmark,  and was installed on the coast of the country. 

Related articles

  • You heard them right, a wooden wind turbine tower Link

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