WIND TURBINES (WT) & SOLAR PANELS (SP)
PART 1
WIND TURBINES
Wind turbines of a windmill don’t last forever. Metal
towers are recycled properly, but the blades, a mixture of fiberglass, wood
and plastic cannot. By 2050 there could be more than 40 million metric tons
of blade waste piling up worldwide. With routine maintenance a wind turbine can
last for 30 years. But things like lightning strikes and extreme weather can
shorten blades’ life.
Among the three types of wind farms – Offshore, Onshore,
Seashore – an onshore wind turbine blade is about as long as the wingspan of a
large commercial jet like a boing 747. Offshore turbine blades can be twice as
long. Both types are made mostly of fiberglass. Which is generally made by
squeezing molten glass through tiny holes creating fluffy glass fibers which
can be coated with resign and made into sheets. Factories glue sheets of this
material together with a special kind of resin that once it sets, that can
never be melted again.
#Conventional recycling, which usually involves melting and reshaping is impossible for modified fiber glassed WT recycling
#Some recyclers grind blades into a mixture that fuels cement manufacturing.
#An Ohio (USA STATE) start-up is turning intact blades for outdoor furniture for public spaces. They think this is one of the best ways to handle this kind of waste. Repurpose is called Upcycle – this company upcycles half the blades they get, and the other half is shredded.
#Some other people are working on a process called Pyrolysis that hopefully can break the material back down into oil and glass fiber.
Lots of other scientists are working on the issue of blade waste rethinking turbines entirely. Money is invested to find better solutions for turbines by introducing brand new types of designing.
REFERENCE USED
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