Developments and News in clean energy: Wind, solar and batteries grow despite economic challenges

GTX · 11 November 2025

T. A. Gardner said:
Wind farms 'spray' micro-plastics down wind of their location almost continuously in operation. The fiberglass turbine blades are scrubbed by dust in the air and even just the wind giving off small amounts of plastics as a result. You aren't getting that out of the soil and such it is deposited on. It's too fine and the area is simply too large to deal with that issue.

Enough of this rubbish. Educate yourself with the attached.

T. A. Gardner · 11 November 2025

GTX said:
Enough of this rubbish. Educate yourself with the attached.

Rubbish, educate yourself.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/24/6260
In [20], it is written that the estimated amount released each year per blade is less than 50 g for a large onshore turbine and less than 100 g for a large wind turbine blade. This estimation is similar to the above calculation.
In [21], the following estimates are presented. The estimate by the company Key Wind Energy GmbH, Berlin, Germany, gives the erosion-related material loss to be around 67.5 kg per wind turbine over its entire twenty-year service life in the worst-case scenario (heavily stressed locations and without regular repairs of small damage). This would correspond to an annual material loss of around 3.38 kg per wind turbine.
The estimate of the company Deutsche Windtechnik, Bremen, Germany (also presented in [21]) gives similar results. They state that the blade is eroded approximately six to ten meters along the leading edge, which corresponds to around 500 g of polyurethane (PU) coating per blade, plus an additional 200 g per blade in additional layers. With three rotor blades per year, this would result in a material loss of 2.1 kg per wind turbine. Both estimations are also relatively close to the numbers presented in Section 3.
In [22], a team from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) sought to quantify the mass (volume) of erosion from turbine blades in Norway and came to an estimate of 200 g/blade per year. The methodology was that one windfarm which had experienced leading-edge erosion took exact measurement of all the repair material they used when they repaired their blades. Since the density of the repair material was about the same as the leading-edge erosion material, they could give a reasonable measured result of the amount of erosion the blade had experienced over seven years of operation. This was carried out for all the turbines in the wind farm.

That's on a per blade basis. Take the volume of an entire wind farm into account. That isn't insignificant. 100 turbines means 200 to 300 kg of microplastics per year coming off that wind farm. That's 4 to 6 metric tons of plastic over a 20 year period.

https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/10/1123/2025/
https://iowaclimate.org/2022/09/03/...-of-wind-industrys-poisonous-plastics-legacy/

publiusr · 11 November 2025

Germany had to knock wind farms out for coal --and that can be nasty too. Now they contend with both forms of pollution.

Sea water uranium for the win? Clean water a biproduct?
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-combining-nuclear-disposal-mobile-energy.html https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-grade-renewable-sources-desalinate.html
Odd atomics

Nicknick · 11 November 2025

The coating of windblates contains often PAFS which are extremly longlived and do not decompose. This makes them much more dangerous than the wear of tires which behaves justvas natural humus.

Here PAFS in wind turbine blades are even praised to be enveromently friendly because of low production energy:

https://rorexpipe.com/die-windrevol...die-gruene-energiebranche-veraendern/?lang=de

Nicknick · 11 November 2025

publiusr said:
Germany had to knock wind farms out for coal --and that can be nasty too. Now they contend with both forms of pollution.

Sea water uranium for the win? Clean water a biproduct?

Germany is finally implementing the “Morgenthau plan“ so the future need for energy will be much lower.

publiusr · 12 November 2025

GTX · 13 November 2025

Some relevant information from experts:

https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2025
One of the key points raised in the report is that for advanced economies, following a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 is the best way to deliver lower household bills.

Although the net zero scenario requires "higher up-front spending", it leads to "a clear decline in total household energy bills in advanced economies". Indeed, the IEA believes significant savings will be felt within 10 years for advanced economies that stick to the net zero pathway. By 2050, household bills will have roughly halved, exceeding the benefits of any other scenario.

T. A. Gardner · 13 November 2025

GTX said:
Some relevant information from experts:

https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2025
One of the key points raised in the report is that for advanced economies, following a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 is the best way to deliver lower household bills.

Although the net zero scenario requires "higher up-front spending", it leads to "a clear decline in total household energy bills in advanced economies". Indeed, the IEA believes significant savings will be felt within 10 years for advanced economies that stick to the net zero pathway. By 2050, household bills will have roughly halved, exceeding the benefits of any other scenario.

Then why is it that every nation that has pushed "net zero" seen a massive--double to triple or more--rise in energy costs followed by a general rise in the cost of everything else?

GTX · 13 November 2025

pngtree-3d-yellow-emoji-or-emoticon-yawning-tired-png-image_3593982.jpg

Ignore...move on

T. A. Gardner · 13 November 2025

GTX said:
Ignore...move on

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/com...-make-electricity-more-expensive-thats-a-fact

Would getting all our electricity from wind and solar power raise the price of electricity?

Yes—wind and solar are cheap and getting cheaper, but they do make the grid more complicated in ways that, today, would make electricity more expensive if we relied on them exclusively.

https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/wou...-wind-and-solar-power-raise-price-electricity
https://climatechangedispatch.com/wind-solar-hidden-truth-behind-rising-electric-bills/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...y-prices-and-for-inherently-physical-reasons/

publiusr · 18 November 2025

T. A. Gardner · 18 November 2025

publiusr said:
Cluster
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-sustainable-solar-powered-minute-city.html

Well this one is largely 'pie in the sky' thinking. "Urban" and "rooftop" gardens feeding the population? I don't think so... There are several obvious issues with this.

Who tends these all these disparate gardens in dispersed locations, workers that already are putting in an 8+ hour day? Stay at home moms and dads? Older children? I doubt that you could entice a population to willingly adopt this sort of thing.

Next, who decides what should be planted? Diversity of crops is necessary. Truck farm items (ie., vegetables) might be possible, but staple grains are another thing entirely. Wheat, corn, barley, etc., are best grown in mass and processed the same way. That is as true today as it was 1000 years ago.

Then there's the problem of specialized knowledge to make such gardens operate on a sustained basis. Soils and fertilizers need to be available to keep the soil productive. Seeds along with planting methods and things like watering schedules are necessary. Automation of these on a micro scale as argued here would be economically infeasible.

Then there's reliance on solar. What happens in poor weather, night? Storage isn't cheap and you'd need a virtual 'ton' of it to make solar viable on its own.

publiusr said:
New energy storage
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-ice-forge-crafts-wafer-scale.html

This is about capacitor storage. Capacitors make poor long-term storage devices, particularly on a massive scale.

publiusr · 25 November 2025

Some other selections
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-stretchable-battery-natural-acids-gelatin.html
Solar power finds
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-palladium-gold-alloy-catalyst-boosts.html https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-world-efficient-solar-cell-chinese.html https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-uncovering-hidden-losses-solar-cells.html https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-mirror-image-molecules-boost-solar.html https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-dual-solar-energy-production-cultivation.html
Superconductivity
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-anomalous-electronic-state-pathway-room.html https://phys.org/news/2025-11-covalent-frameworks-grown-coupling-reactions.html

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/BleqPwltVZ4

Acid rain detector
https://hackaday.com/2025/12/01/sensor-package-aims-to-predict-acid-rain/
Chemistry advances
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-electrocatalyst-recycles-common-pollutant-ammonia.html https://phys.org/news/2025-11-carbonates-fuel-conversion-insights-gold.html
phytosequestration
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-unique-aquatic-concurrent-mechanisms.html https://phys.org/news/2025-11-peat-sustainable-precursor-fuel-cell.html
Motion
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-soft-hybrid-material-motion-power.html
Vertical Farms
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/vertical-farming-might-be-solved.320609/
Steam

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-cooling-electricity-powered-3d-smart.html
CO conversion
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-carbon-monoxide-silent-killer-boon.html
H2O2
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-sunlight-air-power-cleaner-method.html
Low carbon concrete
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-shoreline-skyscraper-seashells-path-carbon.html

publiusr · 3 December 2025

publiusr · 11 December 2025

The biggie-
A joint research team has developed a highly efficient photocatalyst that can convert carbon dioxide into the high-value-added fuel, methane, using sunlight, while explaining its operating principles. The work is published in the journal ACS Catalysis.

From:
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-artificial-photosynthesis-catalyst-carbon-dioxide.html
The photocatalyst technology that caught the interest of the research team is a type of artificial photosynthesis technology that uses solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into fuel. It has garnered significant attention for its potential to contribute to carbon neutrality and eco-friendly energy production.

A ray of hope
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-high-energy-photons-conversion-greenhouse.html
No catalyst needed--just light!
I am starting to envision nuclear lightbulb tech for Starship
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-t...951886cca9763bf779572d819b8c6#comment-1626324

publiusr · 16 December 2025

publiusr · 19 December 2025

Solar just got more durable
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-vapor-deposition-method-unprecedented-durability.htmlNUS researchers have developed a vapor-deposition method that dramatically improves the long-term and high-temperature stability of perovskite-silicon (Si) tandem solar cells. The findings were published in Science.

Coating
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-confined-crystallization-strategy-spray-coated.html Recent fabrication techniques (such as spin coating, blade coating, and slot-die coating) have boosted perovskite solar cell power conversion efficiency (PCE) to record levels but face limitations in large-area manufacturing, deposition on complex or curved surfaces, and in-situ fabrication. Specifically, the team established a localized high-concentration (LHC) precursor system within individual spray droplets, enabling precise control over nucleation behavior during film formation. This study was published in the journal Joule on Dec. 16.

Less silver
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-industrial-solar-cells-efficiency-silver.htmlA research team led by Prof. Ye Jichun from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with partners, has proposed a synergistic technical solution enabling industrial tunnel oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) solar cells to simultaneously achieve high efficiency, low cost, and excellent bifacial power generation performance. The study is published in the journal Joule.

Hot stuff
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-ionic-liquids-perovskite-degradation-solar.html

Chemistry and CO2 conversion
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-valuable-chemicals-acidic-environments-iodide.html
Busy-bodies
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-tool-road-expansion-deforestation-disease.html
Yuck
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-diy-fly-powered-food-recycling.html
Cleaner washing machine
https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news3/newsid=68342.php https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-biodegradable-electronics-microplastics.html
Now you are cooking with gas--and making nanotubes
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-reactor-energy-carbon-nanotubes-natural.html

Grey Havoc · 23 December 2025

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd74lyr094vo

The US is immediately pausing leases for offshore wind energy projects currently being built near the Atlantic coastline, citing security concerns.

In a statement, the Department of the Interior said it was pausing five large-sale projects to look into how windmills could interfere with radar and create other risks to east coast cities.

President Donald Trump has long opposed wind energy, saying it is unreliable and drives up costs, and attempted to stop all projects when he returned to office. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said wind farms have no future in the US energy grid.

Renewable energy companies, as well as state leaders, have expressed alarm over the administration's stance.

[snip]

GTX · 23 December 2025

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8JFCJP70rg

Justo Miranda · 23 December 2025

The U.S. administration has halted construction of the Vineyard Wind I offshore wind facilities in Massachusetts for national security reasons. According to information published today in the ABC newspaper, the blades of the wind turbines installed by the Spanish company Iberdrola affect the operation of radars and generate distortions in the operation of some communication systems.

Last summer, the New England Wind I and New England Wind II facilities, also owned by the company Iberdrola, were also closed.

publiusr · 23 December 2025

Well, there is hydrogen
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=68365.php https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-harnessing-wavelength-sustainable-hydrogen-production.html https://phys.org/news/2025-12-molecular-green-hydrogen-catalyst-function.html https://griddownpowerup.com/https://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com/
Better thermoelectric modules
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-calibration-module-thermoelectric-device.html

One not so friendly CO2 water
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-drug-resistant-candida-auris-harnesses.html
Tough little thing--useful for Mars and exhaust modification one day perhaps

This too
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-efficient-reusable-compound-capturing-carbon.html
Cotton
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=68375.php
Oil

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/_pWMosx93lw

Methane surprise
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-illinois-dairy-beef-farms-methane.html
Wind event
https://hackaday.com/2025/12/29/how-wind-nearly-took-down-boulder-ntp/

GTX · 24 December 2025

Justo Miranda said:
The U.S. administration has halted construction of the Vineyard Wind I offshore wind facilities in Massachusetts for national security reasons. According to information published today in the ABC newspaper, the blades of the wind turbines installed by the Spanish company Iberdrola affect the operation of radars and generate distortions in the operation of some communication systems.

As a known, fixed location reflector it would be easy to use software to eliminate the effect of said wind turbines on the radar. Such bans are more ideological and vested economic interests driven.

GTX · 28 December 2025

A very well done video:

View: https://youtu.be/pk0Zm_xpk3c?si=ld1l6Jt6C77jDweA

Justo Miranda · 28 December 2025

This year it already lasts 24 months... And a lot has happened since then that changes the perspective of the thread...I think it would be more appropriate to change the title to "Martian Year"

GTX · 29 December 2025

Justo Miranda said:
This year it already lasts 24 months... And a lot has happened since then that changes the perspective of the thread...I think it would be more appropriate to change the title to "Martian Year"

Title tweaked

Justo Miranda · 30 December 2025

The fall of Northvolt, Sweden's symbol of green reindustrialization

Northvolt files for bankruptcy in Sweden

https://northvolt.com/articles/northvolt-files-for-bankruptcy-in-sweden/

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...rtup-northvolt-files-for-bankruptcy-in-sweden

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/a...-of-green-reindustrialization_6747719_19.html

publiusr · 30 December 2025

It is sad when dreams die. Net Zero was itself unsustainable. Things like Green Energy...and spaceflight...need to grow more gradually.

The evil zeal libertarians have to just murder all things Old Space...Greens wanting to kill that last petrol engine....that was always going to come home to bite folks in the behind.

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-climate-policies-backfire-eroding-green.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-climate-messaging-sways-minds-wallets.html
Stories like these hurt the environmental movement:
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-dogs-dinners-greater-climate-impact.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-youve-heard-climate-debt-doom.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-hidden-carbon-footprint-wearable-health.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-twitter-reveals-partisan-pollen-season.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-allies-stress-marginalized-people.html
Humans will go to space, and we will see more widespread adoption of electrics. But Greens overseas, like some in power in the US, are going to face the wrath of poor people. Bill Gates at least saw that much coming. The number one issue--stagnant wages.

Ammonia production at room temperature?
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-sunlight-driven-nanoparticles-enable-cleaner.html
Knowing where to tap...

Justo Miranda · 30 December 2025

publiusr said:
It is sad when dreams die. Net Zero was itself unsustainable. Things like Green Energy...and spaceflight...need to grow more gradually.

The evil zeal libertarians have to just murder all things Old Space...Greens wanting to kill that last petrol engine....that was always going to come home to bite folks in the behind.

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-climate-policies-backfire-eroding-green.html
Humans will go to space, and we will see more widespread adoption of electrics. But Greens overseas, like some in power in the US, are going to face the wrath of poor people. Bill Gates at least saw that much coming. The number one issue--stagnant wages.

It is sad when dreams die.

publiusr · 2 January 2026

More on hydrogen
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-demand-hydrogen-fuel-production-dark.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-superheated-sediments-submarine-pressure-cooker.html
Stone paper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_paper https://www.chiefcreativeguy.com/
Solar
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-peering-perovskite-3d-imaging-reveals.html https://hackaday.com/2026/01/02/adding-solar-power-to-an-electric-tractor/https://phys.org/news/2026-01-atom-photocatalyst-enables-green-oxidant.html
Wind
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-ids-offshore-energy.html

Nasty
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-oil-residues-miles-ocean-debris.html
Fuel cell
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-fuel-cell-catalysts-reveals-shifting.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-manganese-moment-potential-fuel-cell.html
Storage
https://hackaday.com/2026/01/02/liquid-co2-for-grid-scale-energy-storage-isnt-just-hot-air/
Mariculture
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-coral-reef-fish-recovery-boost.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-filamentous-algae-blooms-river-ecosystems.html
Substitute
https://www.bgr.com/2063901/say-goodbye-to-fossil-fuels-gas-alternative-without-petroluem/
Aviation
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-flights-multinational-firm-growth-globally.html
Heat transfer
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-liquids-thermal-conductors.html

publiusr · 7 January 2026

publiusr · 11 January 2026

Clean Tesla turbine for compressed air
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=68423.php
Heat pump
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-heat-pumps-will-soon-be.html
Ammonia
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-ammonia-energy-tradeoffs-world.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ammonia-production-renewable-powered-calcium.html
Solar
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-solar-cell-efficiency.html
Crops
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-enzyme-enables-yeast-custom-fatty.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-boreal-trees-deep-arctic-ocean.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-marine-viruses-fuel-underwater-oxygen.html
Atmos
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-atmospheric-physicists-error-widely-cited.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-source-accurately-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-tool-country-methane.html

publiusr · 15 January 2026

PV boost
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-symmetry-limits-photovoltaics-surface.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-emerging-solar-cell-material-efficiency.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-shortcut-solar-cells.html
Green freezer
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-green-freezer-emissions.html
Maybe
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-strategic-renewables-halve-eu-natural.html
Farm
https://hackaday.com/2026/01/16/diy-full-stack-farm-automation/
Oceanic benefits
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-pendulum-based-energy-ocean-currents.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-world-freshwater-production-deep-beneath.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-marine-wildlife-rarely-interact-tidal.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-birds-solar-coexist.html
Less lightning
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cleaner-ship-fuel-linked-lightning.html
Toxins
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-disinfecting-potentially-toxic-byproducts-ai.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-emissions-higher-thought-solution-isnt.html

Waste heat into power
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-p-thin-power.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-newly-metallic-material-thermal-upends.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-newly-metallic-material-thermal-upends.html
Efficient display tech
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-perovskite-display-technology-efficiency-industry.html

publiusr · 24 January 2026

Living walls
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-walls-boost-biodiversity-safe-spaces.html
Solar
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-physicists-significant-growth-cadmium-telluride.html
Chemistry improves
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-tungsten-carbide-phase-alternative-catalyst.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-industrial-exhaust-materials-electrode.html
Other finds
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-year-undermining-bredt-scientists-cage.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-rearrangement-enables-precise.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-hydrogen-energy-flattening-granular-catalysts.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-platinum-catalyst-hydrogen-production-cheaper.html https://phys.org/news/2026-01-saturday-citations-weird-extinct-life.html
Seawater
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-high-solar-evaporator-rapidly-seawater.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-solar-powered-desalination-widespread-salt.html

Justo Miranda · 25 January 2026

Errare humanum est, sed perseverare, diabolicum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_pressing

GTX · 28 January 2026

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...mand-record-as-renewables-pass-50pc/106280246

publiusr · 28 January 2026

Solar tech
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-amorphous-passivation-strategy-efficient-durable.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-molecular-perovskite-solar-cells-efficiency.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-method-solar-cells-sunlight.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-physicists-significant-growth-cadmium-telluride.html
Transparent electronics
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-defect-free-graphene-electrodes-transparent.html
Clean sheet
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-topological-surfaces-boost-energy-catalysts.html
The tyranny of energy density

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uryvOKRWKLg

Other thoughts

publiusr · 3 February 2026

Understanding outages
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-energy-resilience-nuances-power-outages.html
CFC replacements backfire
https://phys.org/news/2026-02-cfc-vast-quantities-global-chemical.html
Biofuel advancement
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-approach-key-biofuel-production-captures.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-trash-takeoff-kg-sustainable-aviation.html
Natural gas purification
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-oxygen-graphene-filters-boost-natural.html https://phys.org/news/2026-02-microbial-eco-friendly-butanol.html
Energy storage
https://phys.org/news/2026-02-mxenes-energy-storage-versatile.html https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-batteries-rust-carbon-spheres-iron.html
Unabomber propaganda we don't need
https://phys.org/news/2026-02-earth-real-climate-action-restraint.html
ESG Hound staked through the heart
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...-polluters-from-liability-for-climate-change/
In Ecuador
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-solar-ecuador-power-crisis.html
Greener data
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-software-cooling-energy-centers.html

GTX · 5 February 2026

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj7ZuLWdwm8

GTX · 5 February 2026

Empowering Europe's power grids for the clean energy era

Justo Miranda · 5 February 2026

Problems don't go away by censoring awkward answers or burying evidence.

Wind turbine waste primarily consists of non-biodegradable fiberglass blades that are difficult to recycle, leading many to landfills. While 85-90% of a turbine (steel, copper, concrete) is recyclable, blades pose a significant challenge. By 2050, over 40 million tons of blade waste could accumulate globally.

Key Aspects of Wind Turbine Waste:

Blade Composition & Recycling Challenges: Blades are made of composite materials (fiberglass, resin, wood) designed to be durable, making them difficult to recycle. They cannot be melted like metal, requiring complex chemical, thermal, or mechanical processing.
Disposal Methods: While many older blades end up in landfills or specialized, non-toxic, safe-for-landfill storage yards, some are incinerated for energy or ground up for concrete aggregate.
Volume & Impact: Despite the "green energy" narrative, blade disposal has generated controversy, such as the large-scale graveyard in Wyoming. However, this waste represents a small percentage of total landfill waste, estimated at about 0.05% annually.
Future Solutions: The industry is moving toward a circular economy with projects like the 2021 commitment by European and Spanish industries to recycle 100% of decommissioned blades by 2025. Innovative companies are developing 100% recyclable blades and exploring reuse in construction, such as pedestrian bridges or playground equipment.
Regulations: Countries like France are introducing legislation to force higher rates of recycling (55% by 2024).

Developments and News in clean energy: Wind, solar and batteries grow despite economic challenges

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Would getting all our electricity from wind and solar power raise the price of electricity?​

Yes—wind and solar are cheap and getting cheaper, but they do make the grid more complicated in ways that, today, would make electricity more expensive if we relied on them exclusively.​

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Would getting all our electricity from wind and solar power raise the price of electricity?

Yes—wind and solar are cheap and getting cheaper, but they do make the grid more complicated in ways that, today, would make electricity more expensive if we relied on them exclusively.