So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled.
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
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@bert_hubert at our firm we partnered with KoiosTitan from Maastricht (https://koiostitan.com/nl/) to recycle the turbine blades from our windfarm at Sint Annapolder. Not easy but we are pioneering, things will become easier over time. So we definitely will be recycling turbine blades going forward. Article in Dutch: https://www.dekleurvangeld.nl/artikelen/2026/van-windturbineblad-tot-bouwmateriaal-een-circulaire-oplossing-met-toekomst
From the description this seems to be 'downcycling'. Still a good thing.
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@hyc @bert_hubert not arguing but this seems like an old technology... I would assume currently produced wind farms use a lot more composite materials?
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@hyc @bert_hubert not arguing but this seems like an old technology... I would assume currently produced wind farms use a lot more composite materials?
@petko @bert_hubert the debate has always been that existing turbines will be toxic landfill when they reach EOL, which is simply false. And newer tech is even more easily reused, not less.
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@petko @bert_hubert the debate has always been that existing turbines will be toxic landfill when they reach EOL, which is simply false. And newer tech is even more easily reused, not less.
@hyc @bert_hubert I thought they were saying that about solar panels... The debate I've heard about wind is that it kills birds and that it creates noise. Never have I heard that their blades aren't recycleable... I'm just saying I can see where they're coming from if current tech is (toxic) glass/carbon fiber bonded with (toxic) resin. The question is whether production would ever be that large to make any relevant difference when decommissioned in however many decades...
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@hyc @bert_hubert I thought they were saying that about solar panels... The debate I've heard about wind is that it kills birds and that it creates noise. Never have I heard that their blades aren't recycleable... I'm just saying I can see where they're coming from if current tech is (toxic) glass/carbon fiber bonded with (toxic) resin. The question is whether production would ever be that large to make any relevant difference when decommissioned in however many decades...
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert I agree entirely. I'm curious about whether there are enough particulates left over from burning 200,000 tons of coal that it also creates more total solid waste than those turbine blades (in addition to the terrible environmental, health, and economic costs)
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@bert_hubert I agree entirely. I'm curious about whether there are enough particulates left over from burning 200,000 tons of coal that it also creates more total solid waste than those turbine blades (in addition to the terrible environmental, health, and economic costs)
@cargot_robbie you really dig coal it appears to even consider that 200,000 tons of coal might be better.
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@cargot_robbie you really dig coal it appears to even consider that 200,000 tons of coal might be better.
@bert_hubert that isn't what I was trying to suggest at all, I'm sorry I wasn't more clear
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert I think it would be more impressive, if you'd show the numbers of how much radioactive waste coal plants produce vs the weight of a few wind turbine blades. (emphasis on "radioactive")
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@hyc @bert_hubert not arguing but this seems like an old technology... I would assume currently produced wind farms use a lot more composite materials?
@petko did you ever hear someone argue the same for modern airplanes? Full of composites (and often just left behind in a dessert after decommissioning) @hyc @bert_hubert
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@petko did you ever hear someone argue the same for modern airplanes? Full of composites (and often just left behind in a dessert after decommissioning) @hyc @bert_hubert
@cejjacobs @petko @bert_hubert yep it was always just fossil fuel industry propaganda
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@bert_hubert I think it would be more impressive, if you'd show the numbers of how much radioactive waste coal plants produce vs the weight of a few wind turbine blades. (emphasis on "radioactive")
@attilakinali feel free to dig up that data & craft your own toot.
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
> ~200,000 tons of coal
~200 gigagram
> 100 tons
0.1 gigagram
The blades are about half a promille of the carbon emissions saved over the (pessimistic) life time of the turbine.
Cry me a river..
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert recently saw a docementary about blade repair, which was done while still mounted or in the field for bigger damages/repairs. Quite impressive stuff, they repair lightningstrike damage, etc and extend the blade's life a lot.
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert The turbine blade hoax is of the greatest fossil industry lies -
@hyc @bert_hubert I thought they were saying that about solar panels... The debate I've heard about wind is that it kills birds and that it creates noise. Never have I heard that their blades aren't recycleable... I'm just saying I can see where they're coming from if current tech is (toxic) glass/carbon fiber bonded with (toxic) resin. The question is whether production would ever be that large to make any relevant difference when decommissioned in however many decades...
@petko @hyc @bert_hubert The blades as non-recyclable is a big part of the debate for some people because some countries (Austria, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands) have legally binding bans in place that stop you from sending blades to landfill. So the question is, what to do with them. Big players are thinking about this but there isn’t a standard solution.
(Not commenting on the rest of the debate here, just for clarity)
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert A neighbour got into an argument with me about my electric car's battery and the way its production is harmful to the environment and how this harm will never be offsetted over its lifetime compared to the long life a fossil fuel car.
The two-person household of that same neighbour and his wife owns five different fossil fuel cars parked on their property.
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So we hear people complaining wind turbine blades supposedly can't be recycled. This isn't true, but even if it were: over its lifetime, a large wind turbine (11MW, offshore), will generate the electrical equivalent of burning ~200,000 tons of coal in an efficient thermal power plant. The total weight of these terrible blades? 100 tons. So spare me the whining.
@bert_hubert friends of mine reused the nacelle of a turbine and built a tinyhouse of it: https://www.superuse-studios.com/projectplus/nestle/
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@bert_hubert at our firm we partnered with KoiosTitan from Maastricht (https://koiostitan.com/nl/) to recycle the turbine blades from our windfarm at Sint Annapolder. Not easy but we are pioneering, things will become easier over time. So we definitely will be recycling turbine blades going forward. Article in Dutch: https://www.dekleurvangeld.nl/artikelen/2026/van-windturbineblad-tot-bouwmateriaal-een-circulaire-oplossing-met-toekomst
@woutervanmaanen Would your firm be interested in supplying decommissioned blades for a pilot project focused on building first small and hopefully later bigger boats out of the blades composit materials? For a while now we've been looking for someone willing to provide us with the material ( one or couple of blades depending on the size) to create a proof of concept, unfortunately we've been hitting a wall at first contact.
