Wind turbines 90% recyclable

An article in the Examiner (Tuesday, February 28) on wind turbines has the unfortunate headline ‘Turbines are more harmful than we think’.

Granted, it is in inverted commas, reflecting only the opinion of Mr Jeroen Wats, but picking out one aspect of wind turbines’ environmental footprint as a headline statement is unnecessarily negative and one-sided.

Mr Wats states that turbine blades ‘usually need to be replaced within seven to eight years’.

I cannot find any authoritative confirmation of this figure, but I wonder if it is over-stated.

The industry journal Energy Follower in 2022 reported that ‘Wind turbine blades failing are still rare with about 0.54% of all blades in the United States failing every year’, which I would say is an admirable success rate.

Currently wind turbines are about 90% recyclable.

Disposal of glass fibre turbine blades is definitely an issue, but not something which is always going to be so problematic.

Two years ago the American Union of Concerned Scientists summarised the already growing recycling efforts in many countries, stating:

‘Two large utilities in the US, PacificCorp and MidAmerican Energy, have recently announced plans to partner with the Tennessee company Carbon Rivers to recycle some of the utilities spent turbine blades instead of landfilling them.

‘The technology is being supported through grant funding by the US Department of Energy and will be used to break down and reuse fiberglass from used turbine blades. WindEurope, representing the European Union’s wind industry, is partnering with the European Chemical Industry Council and the European Composites Industry Association to develop new methods to reuse blade materials

‘A partnership involving US, Ireland, and Northern Ireland Universities, called Re-wind, developed some interesting civil engineering project ideas for reusing and repurposing fiberglass blades.’

Mr Wats does acknowledge that already ‘from the wind turbine blades you can make a desk and your desk can make something else’, and the future looks much more promising.

Siemens has developed more robust and recyclable materials for onshore and offshore wind farms, committing to make turbines fully recyclable by 2040 at the latest, something they call wind circularity.

The Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlade for offshore was brought to market in only 10 months. Launched in September 2021 and installed at RWE’s Kaskasi project in Germany in July 2022.

‘Launching our Recyclable Blade for onshore sites is another outstanding achievement. The concept was always foreseen to encompass solutions for offshore and onshore, and we’re pleased to now provide them commercially to our customers in both market segments,’ Jochen Eickholt, chief executive officer of Siemens Gamesa, said.

Interestingly, Mr Wats’ own company, Exo technologies, has also developed a product called ExoWind as an alternative to glass fibre, which in their own words ‘provides a “fit for purpose” and viable solution in response to this global ecological crisis by providing an accelerated green transition to a circular economy for the wind energy industry.’

Yes, further work needs to be done, but real progress is being made.

Mr Wats rightly points to the potential of tidal power, but unfortunately it remains just that, only a potential source of renewable energy for the Isle of Man.

Tidal turbines are very expensive, the MeyGen tidal energy project in the inner sound of the Pentland Firth relies on massive funding from the Scottish and UK governments, the European Commission, the Crown Estate and private capital. To date it comprises only four turbines of just 1.5MW each.

It’s something, we hope, for the future, but for the next decade we must not sit on our hands hoping for others to develop this new technology, while ignoring what’s under our noses.

There are great news stories to tell about wind power.

It provides cheap energy, having a Levellised Cost of Energy (LCOE) beaten only by utility scale solar PV, which itself is a great resource for the Isle of Man, although curtailed at night times and in the winter. As noted above, wind turbines are already 90% recyclable, and we have one of the best wind resources in Europe.

Manufacture and installation of course have a carbon footprint, but all studies I have seen agree that the carbon payback time is of the order of months, not years, for an energy source which has a 25-year lifespan.

If we are to live up to the responsibilities of having Biosphere status, we need to do a lot more. UNESCO papers state that Biospheres are ‘privileged windows in the fight against climate change’, and must make ‘the maximum possible use of locally available renewable energy sources’.

Just when we should be supporting our government as they are showing the leadership and ambition in at least starting our road to renewable energy, it is a shame that the article focussed on one opinion about one aspect, with a negative slant.

Perhaps a future article could look at the many positive aspects ?

P Christian

Onchan

Isle of Man Friends of the Earth

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Note: This letter was first published in the Isle of Man Examiner of March 7.