Unfurling The Waste Problem Caused By Wind Energy

Rob Van Vleet secures a wind turbine blade onto an oversize truck at the Kimball Wind Farm in southwest Nebraska. Image: Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media
Rob Van Vleet secures a wind turbine blade onto an oversize truck at the Kimball Wind Farm in southwest Nebraska. Image: Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media

While most of a turbine can be recycled or find a second life on another wind farm, researchers estimate the U.S. will have more than 720,000 tons of blade material to dispose of over the next 20 years, a figure that doesn’t include newer, taller higher-capacity versions.

Composite Materials’ researcher Karl Englund is working to find ways to recycle wind turbine blades into various goods, including decking materials, pallets and piping. [read more]