Fiberglass and epoxy resin on blades complicate the recycling of wind turbines

Due to their enormous size, wind turbines are assembled on-site using prefabricated components, advanced cranes, and vibration-damping systems to withstand the dynamic ocean environment.

Glass can be endlessly recycled without losing quality

Sand from specialized mines is thoroughly cleaned and melted at more than 1,600 degrees Celsius before being poured onto liquid tin and evenly spread out to form glass sheets. Some factories are designed to reprocess 100% of glass scraps created when cutting glass with diamond-tipped blades or lasers.

The carbon footprint of manufacturing a wind turbine is offset within seven months

Despite initial carbon emissions during manufacturing, wind turbines generate nearly zero pollution across their 20- to 25-year lifetimes. Offsets occur when turbines replace energy generation from coal and natural gas plants, which emit carbon dioxide.

Wind turbines are limited to capturing no more than 59.3% of incoming wind energy

In 1919, German physicist Albert Betz applied the laws of conservation of mass and momentum to airstreams to calculate the theoretical limit. However, real-world turbines only convert 35 to 45% of available wind energy into electricity.

For the same cost, turbines with three blades are the most resilient

Odd-numbered blade values more evenly distribute wind loads across the face of rotors, reducing bending and twisting forces on the turbine that cause wear. Modeling shows that three blades optimize efficiency and cost for everyday wind speeds.

From 1990 to 2020, wind turbine height and blade length have more than tripled

Wind turbines' energy generation capacity—or maximum power rating—also increased by 375% from 1998 to 2023. As of that year, wind turbines can produce more energy per dollar than solar panels, though transportation and installation challenges remain.

Carbon-neutral data centers may be possible if built within wind turbines

Wind turbine towers are typically hollow, housing only cables and a ladder for maintenance access. The excess electricity a wind turbine collects could power a stack of server racks more than 100 meters (328 feet) high within its tower.

Explore an interactive graphic of a wind turbine's components

Wind turbines contain a gearbox that increases the rotation of the blades by a factor of 100 from low to high-speed shafts. The latter moves magnets that change the magnetic field within a generator, creating electricity.

View the estimated decomposition times for various everyday plastic products, which often fragment into smaller microplastics as molecular bonds are weakened by sunlight.

Maintenance, curtailment, congestion, and wind speed can park a wind turbine

Wind turbines are optimized to operate at wind speeds between about 10 and 80 kph, but an internal brake stops them if energy is not required. Routine preventative maintenance and cleaning also prevent blades from rotating.

Technological advancements will make future wind turbines more efficient and quieter

Manufacturing larger, more powerful turbines will result in future wind farms requiring fewer of them to meet energy demands. Larger turbines will meet these demands while rotating at lower speeds, reducing risks to avian wildlife.

Explore options for recycling batteries

Improper battery disposal can lead to fires and the leaching of harmful chemicals and toxic materials into local soil and water systems. Although many batteries contain metals that can be recycled with less energy than it takes to produce them, variability in regulations across municipalities and states can complicate efforts. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Watch how metals are extracted from rechargeable devices during recycling

Recyclable batteries found in cars, phones, power tools, and other electronics contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other precious metals, whose reuse generates 70% fewer emissions than during their initial mining. Upon shredding these devices, a filter press squeezes the pieces through a proprietary fluid, which separates them for future reuse.

What percentage of the world’s plastic waste actually gets recycled?

Despite growing awareness of the world’s plastic waste challenges, the numbers showing how much of the world’s plastic waste actually gets recycled are abysmal. Only 9% of the world’s plastic waste is properly recycled, and a significant portion remains landfilled, mismanaged, or incinerated. Read this article for further analysis of why this is and what can be done in the future to better manage plastic waste.

How chemical recycling could create 'infinite' plastic

The way we normally recycle plastics is a downward spiral of waste and degraded materials, but there is another option—turning plastic back into the oil it was made from.

Agricultural land remains mostly unchanged after wind projects

From 2012 to 2020, less than 0.05% of available US farmland had commercial wind turbines installed. More than 95% of this land lacks wind farm structures such as turbine pads or roads, leaving most cropland and pasture-rangeland unchanged.

As of 2022, only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled globally

Traditional recycling methods have been inadequate for lithium batteries, prompting manufacturers to explore more sustainable battery designs, alongside robotic disassembly and ultrasonic techniques to improve recycling rates. Studies have shown that mining for new lithium requires significantly more water and energy than recycling and results in declining vegetation near mines.

Wind energy is categorized into land-based, distributed, and offshore types

Distributed wind turbines efficiently serve on-site energy needs, while land-based turbines are large and generate cost-competitive electricity. Offshore wind turbines capture powerful winds above the ocean and may be pounded into the seafloor using pile drivers or built to float above water at scales larger than the Statue of Liberty.

At Disney World, glass bottles and jars are pulverized into the smooth gravel and sand used in greenhouses that grow the flowers for the parks and resorts.

Most biodegradable plastics don’t break down in everyday conditions

Despite their eco-friendly name, biodegradable plastics often require industrial composting, which most areas lack, to decompose the uncommon compounds found in them. This means they may linger in landfills or contaminate conventional plastics in recycling bins.

Wind energy 101

Learn more about the wind industry, from how a wind turbine works, to the new and exciting research in the field of wind energy.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

See technicians use rappelling gear to make wind turbine repairs from 35+ stories up

Although drones are used to conduct initial reviews from the ground, mechanical engineers trained in turbine maintenance face extreme risks during close inspections more than 150 meters off the ground.

The plastics industry spent decades promoting recycling while privately doubting it would ever work

This FRONTLINE investigation reveals that plastic makers publicly championed recycling for years despite internal doubts about its viability, and that no more than 10% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.

How existing technology could prevent nearly 80% of plastic pollution

More than 28 million tons of plastic enters the environment each year, where it harms animals and damages habitats. A study co-authored by researchers at The Pew Charitable Trusts found that this flow can be reduced by nearly 80% in the next 20 years using existing waste management and recycling technology.

Synthetic textiles and tires account for more than 60% of ocean microplastic pollution, which enters the seas via runoff and wastewater discharge.

Wind farms are targets for conspiracy theories due to their visibility and complexity

The proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding wind farms is driven by deep-seated anxieties about change, distrust of government, and resistance to confronting the complexities of modern energy solutions.

How to safely dispose of every kind of battery

As lithium-ion batteries have proliferated in phones, e-bikes, power tools, and dozens of other devices, improper disposal has become a leading cause of fires in recycling facilities and garbage trucks. Battery Safety Now partnered with the US Forest Service's Woodsy Owl campaign to provide guidance on how to recycle batteries by type, including locator tools for drop-off sites.

Wind turbines explained

Wind turbines have powered homes since 1887, and today they’re stronger, quieter, and more reliable than ever. Offshore wind could power millions and grow fast enough to meet climate goals.

Methods for disposing of nuclear waste include melting it into a liquid to create glass, dumping it into graphite blocks, storing it in lead-lined rooms, and submerging it in deep pools of water.

Many plastic products are molded from melted pellets called nurdles, which are made from ethylene and propylene extracted from crude oil.

Growing EV adoption requires battery management infrastructure

Despite rechargeable batteries' limited life cycle, companies like Spiers New Technologies have developed methods to repair, refurbish, repurpose and recycle these components to minimize environmental waste, lower demand for new critical minerals, and increase electric vehicle lifetimes.

Where the US's plastic recycling is discarded

The US ships over a million tons of plastic waste overseas each year. A short video explainer from USA Today shows a breakdown of what really happens to America's recyclables.

Establishing the wind power grid required incentives, reliability, and affordability

Although wind was harnessed to generate electricity for individual buildings in the late 1800s, high costs, mechanical issues with turbines, and better fossil-fuel alternatives delayed wind power's widespread growth. After the oil crises of the 1970s, governments sought alternative energy sources and, in the decades that followed, provided tax credits to expand the wind power market.

What happens to golf balls after they're used?

With over 1 billion golf balls produced annually, an estimated 300 million to 1.5 billion are lost worldwide. On average, thousands of balls are left behind on each course, often ending up in ponds, forests, and beaches. While many golf courses recover and reuse some of these balls, studies suggest countless remain unretrieved.

Decommissioned oil rigs have been repurposed into artificial reefs that serve as nursery habitats for fish, corals, sponges, and other invertebrates in the decades since their installation.

How plastic manufacturing could be sustainable again

From polymers to nurdles, learn how plastic is created and what we can do to slow the lasting repercussions this material will have on both our planet and our lives.

Landfills capture methane gas and convert it into usable energy

As organic waste breaks down underground, it produces landfill gas that is roughly 50% methane. That gas can be captured and used to generate electricity or provide heat for nearby homes and businesses.

Clean energy technologies are more mineral-intensive than burning fossil fuels

Solar panels use silver due to its high conductivity, hydropower plants use chromium in their steel alloys, and geothermal plants need titanium to withstand abundant heat and pressure. Lithium—used in energy storage—is expected to see over 500% increased demand from 2020 to 2025.

Window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind turbine farms

Researchers are developing solutions to reduce bird fatalities due to wind turbine farms, including radar systems integrating AI to detect birds and shut down systems. Painting blades with various patterns is also being tested, which may reduce bird strikes by 70%.

Why decarbonizing the entire electric grid is impossible with its current infrastructure

Fossil fuel plants can be built anywhere and have thus typically been built near highly populated areas, such as coastal cities, where electricity demand is high. However, certain renewable resources operate most efficiently in specific regions, such as wind turbines in the Midwest, and therefore require substantial transmission infrastructure to be constructed to transport the generated electricity.

During wash cycles, synthetic fabrics shed millions of plastic microfibers, making them a significant source of global microfiber pollution.

What the people on the front lines think about America's recycling crisis

America produces more waste per capita than any other country in the world. And recycling, which was once considered the solution to that problem, isn't really working anymore.

Sand 'batteries' can store excess electricity from the power grid as thermal energy

Energy collected from solar or wind power is used to heat insulated silos full of sand to temperatures as high as 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), which can be retained for long periods. These thermal energy storage systems can be designed to boil water and generate electricity when needed.

Over a lifetime, the average American's nuclear power usage creates a hockey puck of nuclear waste

Spent nuclear fuel remains hot and highly radioactive for long periods, requiring submersion in cooling pools before being stored in dry casks and deep underground repositories. The potential recycling of nuclear waste is impeded by security concerns and dangerous reprocessing methods, particularly when obtaining fresh uranium is often easier.

High-altitude kites can perform airborne collection of energy from high-speed winds

Winds at high altitude are stronger and more consistent than those near Earth's surface, where natural and artificial barriers disrupt airflow. Kites pulled by the wind can extend a tether like a yo-yo, creating electricity in an attached ground generator.

Volcanic ash is composed of fragments of volcanic rock, minerals, and glass

These abrasive particles are hazardous to aircraft. They can melt within engines and re-solidify on turbine blades, preventing forward propulsion. If inhaled, chemicals within ash can be toxic, and the particles can embed themselves into the lungs' ducts, causing suffocation.

Engineering tall structures requires managing wind, earthquakes, and other destabilizing factors

Reinforced concrete, energy dampers, braced frames, flexible structures, and aerodynamic decks were among the methods implemented when building structures such as the Shanghai Tower, the Texas Super Skyscraper, and the South Rangitīkei Viaduct.

Multi-material 3D printing produces filament waste if only one nozzle is used

When swapping between colors or materials in a fused deposition modeling system, a considerable amount of filament is purged from the nozzle before introducing a new filament. Filament extruders can create new filament from purged elements, but the device combines colors and produces filaments of inconsistent diameter.

Selection of wind farm sites considers wildlife impacts and wind resource potential

Environmental impact studies, wind energy maps, anemometer data, and local, state, and federal regulations factor into wind farm projects, including offshore farms. Wind projects on public lands require additional permitting.