Inoperable wind turbines could be recycled and be put to use in various ways in the future.
It can be quite challenging to recycle wind turbines, mainly because the blades are made of extremely rugged materials. The blades have been built to withstand all types of weather conditions, from extreme heat to hurricane-force winds, which means the blades will be removed and put into landfills. Every year up until 2022, approximately 3,800 blades are removed in Europe. A Danish start-up, Miljoskarm, has found a way to turn decommissioned wind turbines into barriers that block out noise from highways and factories.
By using similar machinery typically used in automotive junkyards, the blades, which are made of ultra-resistant fiberglass and industrial glue, can be crushed into 1-2 centimeter pieces. Once it’s been reduced, the material is placed in recycled plastic cases that can block noise in the same way as the ones made of aluminum and mineral wool.
About 1% (2,000) of installed turbines on wind farms are inactive, but that number is decreasing as they’re being replaced with ones that are operational. Even though the components of a turbine can either be recycled or put to use on another wind farm, researchers predict that the U.S. will have over 720,000 tons of blade material to remove over the next 20 years. The estimation doesn’t include newer wind turbines that are taller.
Wind turbine blades that have reached the end of their life are also difficult and expensive to transport. They’re usually around 100 to 300 feet long, so they will need to be cut up into smaller pieces before being hauled away on specialized equipment to the landfill. Once there, they can put a strain on landfills by taking up space that’s otherwise needed for trash.
Various solutions to recycle them are starting to take effect, especially when the first generation of wind turbines are reaching their end of life after operating for 20 years. Since the newest blades have started to increase in size, better solutions other than landfills have begun to become a necessity. Various companies around the world have come up with better solutions on how to recycle them.
In the U.S., Global Fiberglass Solutions has created a technique to grind the turbine blades into pellets for flooring and walls. Meanwhile, Superuse Studious, a Netherlands-based company, cut up to five discarded blades and turned the components into climbing towers for a children’s playground in Rotterdam. Miljoskarm is expected to process about 50 to 100 tons of material sometime this year, which is about 3 to 6 blades being recycled.
Miljoskarm is also attempting to get additional funding in the value of 1 to 2 million euros to help scale up the processing capacity with more machines. It’s also developing new products that will allow them to expand into other markets.
Noise pollution in Europe will also increase, causing more people to be exposed to it through 2030 from rail, road, and air transportation use. Noise levels will start to increase if half of combustion engine cars are decommissioned and replaced by electric cars within 10 years.
Have a story tip? Message me at: cabe(at)element14(dot)com
