Recom-Wind

. We are Recom-Wind, a project group created by five 5th year MEng Civil Engineering students from Heriot-Watt University. Our aim is to help the wind energy industry save time and money by collating sustainable and viable options for wind turbines which are reaching the end of their design life. We recognise the importance of the wind energy industry in the UK's energy mix today and the further impact it can have at reaching global NetZero targets. Future development is vital, and in recent years the industry has been working on ways to improve the sustainability of new farms. Despite this, a major gap in the industry remains – the continued usage of non-recyclable turbine blades. The blades are composed of a lightweight and strong composite material containing epoxy resin and fibreglass. Once combined, these two components cannot be separated without using a highly energy intensive process – hence defining blades as non-recyclable. With the industry continuously expanding the energy capacity of wind, the number of blades in action is only going to increase. The question is, what happens to them?Motivated by this question, Recom-Wind have been in communication with many industry representatives globally since September 2022. We are keen to share our findings and raise awareness for this progressive issue. We look forward to continuing communications and proposing sustainable end of life options.
Social Link - Linkedin: http://www. linkedin.com/company /recom-wind
Keywords: civil engineering