MAE Final Year Project
Project Overview
Wind Turbine Blade Waste
Wind energy has seen exponential growth since the 1980s and continues to grow due to the concerns over climate change. As the wind energy sector grows, so too does the question about wind turbine sustainability. Wind turbines have a life of 20-25 years, which means the first ever wind farms created are already being decommissioned, the good news is that 90% of wind turbines are recyclable. However, the remaining 10% which cannot be recycled is the wind turbine blades themselves. This begs the question, what do we do with all those spare wind turbine blades? There are currently no industrial scale plans to process these blades and as a result the majority of them end up in landfills or are incinerated.
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Can We Recycle Glass Fibres?
The composite material that makes the wind turbine blades so durable and versatile is also the component that makes the turbines not fully recyclable. The glass fibre in in the composite material cannot be recycled while maintaining its mechanical properties, which results in un-recyclable turbine blades. Several studies are being conducted into the possibility of recycling glass fibres; one such example is shown in the video above.
Existing Solutions
Currently, there is only one industrial scale plant that exists for the purpose of recycling glass fibres. Neowa in Germany created the first wind turbine blade recycling plant that takes the end of life wind turbine blades and mechanically processes them into tiny particles that is then added to cement mix. However, this singular plant cannot cope with the growing waste from all the European wind farms and so the demand for proper and sustainable waste disposal is still a major issue that the wind energy sector must overcome to achieve complete sustainable status.
Look At The Solution, Not The Problem
Wind turbines have an estimated life of approximately 20-25 years, this means that the first wind farms are already starting to be decommissioned. The wastage produced by wind turbines are expected to hit 2 million tonnes by the year 2050 and since the waste will see exponential growth within the next few decades so too will the demand for proper waste disposal. The picture below shows the expected wind turbine blade waste for the next three decades.
