Wind Energy Has A Waste Problem: Disposing Of The Turbines
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.
There aren’t many options to recycle or trash turbine blades, and what options do exist are expensive, partly because the U.S. wind industry is so young.
It’s a waste problem that runs counter to what the industry is held up to be:
a perfect solution for environmentalists looking to combat climate change, an attractive investment for companies such as Budweiser and Hormel Foods, and a job creator across the Midwest and Great Plains.
NPR