Wind Turbine Blades Can’t Be Recycled, So They’re Piling Up in Landfills (2020) (opens in new tab)

(bloomberg.com)

13 pointslohfu4y ago11 comments

11 comments

AStrangeMorrow4y ago

Seems like the link is not correct (404)

It is: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

Should probably be: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

One little "q" to many at the end of the url

lohfuOP4y ago

well that's a bummer. i can't update the URL and remove the "q", no matter how little it is

nine_k4y ago

Do we have so many of them that we are running out of dumping grounds? Are they made of rare, hard-to-obtain stuff? Are they toxic or otherwise dangerous?

I suppose all the answers to the above questions are negative. If so, let them pile up. We will recycle them as we learn an economical way to do that.

(For hundreds of millions of years, mollusks did not recycle their calcite shells. It had major ecological and even geological consequences. Now we have literal mountains of them. Has even it made Earth a worse place? Some old blades are nothing in comparison.)

jefurii4y ago

They're made of carbon fiber right? You could think of it as a very slow form of carbon capture.

toomuchtodo4y ago

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ge-announces-first-us-wind-... (December 2020: GE announces first US wind turbine blade recycling program with Veolia)

https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/end-wi... (May 2021: End of wind power waste? Vestas unveils blade recycling technology)

rad_gruchalski4y ago

> Using the new technology the glass or carbon fibre is separated from the resin and then chemicals further separate the resin into base materials, that are "similar to virgin materials" that can then be used for construction of new blades. Vestas said.

What are those chemicals and what happens to them after they are used?

Valgrim4y ago

Probably some agressive solvents (MIBK comes to mind).

vfclists4y ago

Are these the only green technology items that will prove hard to recycle or is this the tip of the iceberg?

What of solar panels, or batteries for instance?

The Planet Of The Humans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE has a pessimistic view on the current technologies.

Arnt4y ago

I sort of read that area. It seems to be a trait of modern materials, which are often new and exciting composites that pose new and exciting challenges when they have to be taken apart for recycling.

New wind turbines use modern composites not because they're green, but because they're new. If you want a longer lighter blade for your wind turbine you use the latest strongest composite. If you want a thinner lighter doodah you do the same kind of thing, independent of whether that doodah has a greenish tinge or not.

vfclists4y ago

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

reader_x4y ago

Surely they can be repurposed? I’m thinking something architectural, like half-buried on the diagonal to create shade; Or handrails on a pedestrian bridge.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

11 comments

AStrangeMorrow4y ago

Seems like the link is not correct (404)

It is: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

Should probably be: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

One little "q" to many at the end of the url

lohfuOP4y ago

well that's a bummer. i can't update the URL and remove the "q", no matter how little it is

nine_k4y ago

Do we have so many of them that we are running out of dumping grounds? Are they made of rare, hard-to-obtain stuff? Are they toxic or otherwise dangerous?

I suppose all the answers to the above questions are negative. If so, let them pile up. We will recycle them as we learn an economical way to do that.

jefurii4y ago

They're made of carbon fiber right? You could think of it as a very slow form of carbon capture.

toomuchtodo4y ago

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ge-announces-first-us-wind-... (December 2020: GE announces first US wind turbine blade recycling program with Veolia)

https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/end-wi... (May 2021: End of wind power waste? Vestas unveils blade recycling technology)

rad_gruchalski4y ago

What are those chemicals and what happens to them after they are used?

Valgrim4y ago

Probably some agressive solvents (MIBK comes to mind).

vfclists4y ago

Are these the only green technology items that will prove hard to recycle or is this the tip of the iceberg?

What of solar panels, or batteries for instance?

The Planet Of The Humans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE has a pessimistic view on the current technologies.

Arnt4y ago

I sort of read that area. It seems to be a trait of modern materials, which are often new and exciting composites that pose new and exciting challenges when they have to be taken apart for recycling.

vfclists4y ago

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

reader_x4y ago

Surely they can be repurposed? I’m thinking something architectural, like half-buried on the diagonal to create shade; Or handrails on a pedestrian bridge.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse