Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumWhat to do With a "Tidal Wave" of Texas Wind Turbine Blades
Towns the size of Sweetwater normally dont need many graveyards. The rural community of about 11,000 people is located in the impossibly flat plains west of Abilene and is best known for the 2,000 wind turbines that surround the area. More wind energy is produced in Nolan County than almost anywhere else on the planet, but since this place has given birth to such a staggering number of turbines, it now accommodates more than its fair share of dead ones, too.
Just south of town, on the west side of Highway 70, hundreds of fiberglass wind turbine blade chunks are piled into a 10-acre pasture. They have been cut into three pieces, laid down and piled up like empty straw wrappers discarded by giants. This is one of Texas first wind turbine graveyards. Fittingly, a second one has emerged across the street from Sweetwaters town cemetery, this one more than 25 acres in size. As wind turbine blades increasingly reach the end of their useful lives, normally 25 to 30 years, more of these sites are expected to pop up across the state and nation. So far, no one has figured out a good way to get rid of the blades.And in the next decade, many of the 180,000 blades currently churning in U.S. airspacemore than one-quarter of which are in Texas alonewill come down.
A sign on the chain link fence separating the heap from the highway tells motorists that the blades are being prepared for recycling. Thats easier said than done. The blades, which are mostly made of fiberglass, carbon fiber, resin, and balsa wood, cant be melted down and remanufactured like recycled aluminum cans or glass bottles. Blades get recycled by being shredded and mixed into construction materials or burned for cement production. Otherwise, they get hauled off to landfills. Each recycling process carries an environmental toll: a harsh reality for an industry that aims to replace coal by producing cleaner energy. The problem will come to a head in Texas, which leads the nation in wind energy production.
The states first modern wind turbines went up in the late 90s. By 2006, Texas had replaced California as the top wind energy-producing state and has held the title ever since. Large, flat expanses of blustery land have made West Texas the ideal place for energy companies to build out the states wind energy capacity. The states laissez-faire attitude toward regulation has also made Texas an attractive site for development. But the states aging turbines, some of which are now more than two decades old, are nearing the age where they need to be replaced or decommissioned.
Read more: https://www.texasobserver.org/what-to-do-with-a-tidal-wave-of-texas-wind-turbine-blades/
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,105 posts)efhmc
(14,725 posts)Finishline42
(1,091 posts)What comes out of that 99% are fiberglass pellets. Global Fiberglass Solutions repurposes the pellets for a variety of high-end products that they sell.
Weve actually come up with products that people are actually wanting to buy. So, this put it in a very good situation. In regard to taking whats left of a wind turbine blade, to be used in a remanufactured product, said Lilly.
Examples of those products include barriers and guardrails.
Higher forms of the product can include materials to construct sturdy flooring and walls.
Global Fiberglass Solutions is now producing samples in Sweetwater.
Hangingon
(3,071 posts)I have been stuck behind those things for miles. I guess this means more convoys to replace the blades.
TexasTowelie
(112,065 posts)I hadn't been in that region of the state for over 20 years and it was the first time that I've ever seen a wind farm. I understand how you feel getting behind those trucks. The road infrastructure to the northeast of Corpus Christi isn't suitable for that type of activity.
efhmc
(14,725 posts)got bored counting. They often block intersections in my little home town but I have found a way around if I see them in time.