IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i16p12557-d1220136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability Implications of Current Approaches to End-of-Life of Wind Turbine Blades—A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Emma L. Delaney

    (Geography, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
    Aquatera Ltd., Old Academy Business Centre, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3AW, UK)

  • Paul G. Leahy

    (School of Engineering & Architecture, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland)

  • Jennifer M. McKinley

    (Geography, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK)

  • T. Russell Gentry

    (School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA)

  • Angela J. Nagle

    (School of Engineering & Architecture, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland
    BladeBridge, Rubicon Centre, Munster Technological University Campus, T12 P928 Cork, Ireland)

  • Jeffrey Elberling

    (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Inc., 4400 Alafaya Trail Q2, Orlando, FL 32816, USA)

  • Lawrence C. Bank

    (School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA)

Abstract

In recent years, the sustainability of wind power has been called into question because there are currently no truly sustainable solutions to the problem of how to deal with the non-biodegradable fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite wind blades (sometimes referred to as “wings”) that capture the wind energy. The vast majority of wind blades that have reached their end-of-life (EOL) currently end up in landfills (either in full-sized pieces or pulverized into smaller pieces) or are incinerated. The problem has come to a head in recent years since many countries (especially in the EU) have outlawed, or expect to outlaw in the near future, one or both of these unsustainable and polluting disposal methods. An increasing number of studies have addressed the issue of EOL blade “waste”; however, these studies are generally of little use since they make predictions that do not account for the manner in which wind blades are decommissioned (from the time the decision is made to retire a turbine (or a wind farm) to the eventual disposal or recycling of all of its components). This review attempts to lay the groundwork for a better understanding of the decommissioning process by defining how the different EOL solutions to the problem of the blade “waste” do or do not lead to “sustainable decommissioning”. The hope is that by better defining the different EOL solutions and their decommissioning pathways, a more rigorous research base for future studies of the wind blade EOL problem will be possible. This paper reviews the prior studies on wind blade EOL and divides them into a number of categories depending on the focus that the original authors chose for their EOL assessment. This paper also reviews the different methods chosen by researchers to predict the quantities of future blade waste and shows that depending on the choice of method, predictions can be different by orders of magnitude, which is not good as this can be exploited by unscrupulous parties. The paper then reviews what different researchers define as the “recycling” of wind blades and shows that depending on the definition, the percentage of how much material is actually recycled is vastly different, which is also not good and can be exploited by unscrupulous parties. Finally, using very recent proprietary data (December 2022), the paper illustrates how the different definitions and methods affect predictions on global EOL quantities and recycling rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Emma L. Delaney & Paul G. Leahy & Jennifer M. McKinley & T. Russell Gentry & Angela J. Nagle & Jeffrey Elberling & Lawrence C. Bank, 2023. "Sustainability Implications of Current Approaches to End-of-Life of Wind Turbine Blades—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12557-:d:1220136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12557/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12557/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jensen, J.P. & Skelton, K., 2018. "Wind turbine blade recycling: Experiences, challenges and possibilities in a circular economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 165-176.
    2. Kieran Ruane & Marios Soutsos & An Huynh & Zoe Zhang & Angela Nagle & Kenny McDonald & T Russell Gentry & Paul Leahy & Lawrence C. Bank, 2023. "Construction and Cost Analysis of BladeBridges Made from Decommissioned FRP Wind Turbine Blades," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Jawed Qureshi, 2022. "A Review of Recycling Methods for Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Beauson, J. & Laurent, A. & Rudolph, D.P. & Pagh Jensen, J., 2022. "The complex end-of-life of wind turbine blades: A review of the European context," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Reinhard Madlener & Barbara Glensk & Lukas Gläsel, 2019. "Optimal Timing of Onshore Wind Repowering in Germany under Policy Regime Changes: A Real Options Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-33, December.
    6. Colmenar-Santos, Antonio & Campíñez-Romero, Severo & Pérez-Molina, Clara & Mur-Pérez, Francisco, 2015. "Repowering: An actual possibility for wind energy in Spain in a new scenario without feed-in-tariffs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 319-337.
    7. Sacchi, Romain & Besseau, Romain & Pérez-López, Paula & Blanc, Isabelle, 2019. "Exploring technologically, temporally and geographically-sensitive life cycle inventories for wind turbines: A parameterized model for Denmark," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1238-1250.
    8. Staffell, Iain & Green, Richard, 2014. "How does wind farm performance decline with age?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 775-786.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Haces-Fernandez, 2020. "GoWInD: Wind Energy Spatiotemporal Assessment and Characterization of End-of-Life Activities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Francisco Haces-Fernandez, 2021. "Higher Wind: Highlighted Expansion Opportunities to Repower Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Luis M. Abadie & Nestor Goicoechea, 2021. "Old Wind Farm Life Extension vs. Full Repowering: A Review of Economic Issues and a Stochastic Application for Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    4. John Dorrell & Keunjae Lee, 2020. "The Cost of Wind: Negative Economic Effects of Global Wind Energy Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    5. He, Rui & Tian, Zhigang & Wang, Yifei & Zuo, Mingjian & Guo, Ziwei, 2023. "Condition-based maintenance optimization for multi-component systems considering prognostic information and degraded working efficiency," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. de Bona, Jéssica Ceolin & Ferreira, Joao Carlos Espindola & Ordoñez Duran, Julian Fernando, 2021. "Analysis of scenarios for repowering wind farms in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    7. Anne P. M. Velenturf, 2021. "A Framework and Baseline for the Integration of a Sustainable Circular Economy in Offshore Wind," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-41, September.
    8. Isabel C. Gil-García & Ana Fernández-Guillamón & M. Socorro García-Cascales & Angel Molina-García, 2021. "A Multi-Factorial Review of Repowering Wind Generation Strategies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-25, October.
    9. Watts, David & Durán, Pablo & Flores, Yarela, 2017. "How does El Niño Southern Oscillation impact the wind resource in Chile? A techno-economical assessment of the influence of El Niño and La Niña on the wind power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 128-142.
    10. Stetter, Chris & Piel, Jan-Hendrik & Hamann, Julian F.H. & Breitner, Michael H., 2020. "Competitive and risk-adequate auction bids for onshore wind projects in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Ren, Zhengru & Verma, Amrit Shankar & Li, Ye & Teuwen, Julie J.E. & Jiang, Zhiyu, 2021. "Offshore wind turbine operations and maintenance: A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    12. McKenna, Russell & Pfenninger, Stefan & Heinrichs, Heidi & Schmidt, Johannes & Staffell, Iain & Bauer, Christian & Gruber, Katharina & Hahmann, Andrea N. & Jansen, Malte & Klingler, Michael & Landwehr, 2022. "High-resolution large-scale onshore wind energy assessments: A review of potential definitions, methodologies and future research needs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 659-684.
    13. Martin A. Hubbe, 2023. "Sustainable Composites: A Review with Critical Questions to Guide Future Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    14. Jäger, Tobias & McKenna, Russell & Fichtner, Wolf, 2015. "Onshore wind energy in Baden-Württemberg: a bottom-up economic assessment of the socio-technical potential," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 7, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    15. Akintayo T. Abolude & Wen Zhou, 2018. "A Comparative Computational Fluid Dynamic Study on the Effects of Terrain Type on Hub-Height Wind Aerodynamic Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Abdollahzadeh, Hadi & Atashgar, Karim & Abbasi, Morteza, 2016. "Multi-objective opportunistic maintenance optimization of a wind farm considering limited number of maintenance groups," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 247-261.
    17. Hayes, Liam & Stocks, Matthew & Blakers, Andrew, 2021. "Accurate long-term power generation model for offshore wind farms in Europe using ERA5 reanalysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    18. Niklas Andersen & Ola Eriksson & Karl Hillman & Marita Wallhagen, 2016. "Wind Turbines’ End-of-Life: Quantification and Characterisation of Future Waste Materials on a National Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-24, November.
    19. Abadie, Luis Mª & Chamorro, José M., 2023. "Investment in wind-based hydrogen production under economic and physical uncertainties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    20. Li, Jinying & Li, Sisi & Wu, Fan, 2020. "Research on carbon emission reduction benefit of wind power project based on life cycle assessment theory," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 456-468.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12557-:d:1220136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.