University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, 17 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, United Kingdom.
Waste Manag. 2017 Apr;62:229-240. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.02.007. Epub 2017 Feb 16.
Wind energy has developed rapidly over the last two decades to become one of the most promising and economically viable sources of renewable energy. Although wind energy is claimed to provide clean renewable energy without any emissions during operation, but it is only one side of the coin. The blades, one of the most important components in the wind turbines, made with composite, are currently regarded as unrecyclable. With the first wave of early commercial wind turbine installations now approaching their end of life, the problem of blade disposal is just beginning to emerge as a significant factor for the future. This paper is aimed at discovering the magnitude of the wind turbine blade waste problem, looking not only at disposal but at all stages of a blade's lifecycle. The first stage of the research, the subject of this paper, is to accurately estimate present and future wind turbine blade waste inventory using the most recent and most accurate data available. The result will provide a solid reference point to help the industry and policy makers to understand the size of potential environmental problem and to help to manage it better. This study starts by estimating the annual blade material usage with wind energy installed capacity and average blade weight. The effect of other waste contributing factors in the full lifecycle of wind turbine blades is then included, using industrial data from the manufacturing, testing and in-service stages. The research indicates that there will be 43 million tonnes of blade waste worldwide by 2050 with China possessing 40% of the waste, Europe 25%, the United States 16% and the rest of the world 19%.
风能在过去二十年中迅速发展，成为最有前途和经济可行的可再生能源之一。尽管风能在运行过程中声称提供清洁的可再生能源，没有任何排放，但这只是问题的一面。叶片是风力涡轮机中最重要的组件之一，由复合材料制成，目前被认为是不可回收的。随着第一批早期商业风力涡轮机安装现在接近使用寿命结束，叶片处理问题开始成为未来的一个重要因素。本文旨在发现风力涡轮机叶片废物问题的规模，不仅着眼于处理，而且着眼于叶片生命周期的所有阶段。本研究的第一阶段，即本文的主题，是使用最新和最准确的数据准确估计当前和未来的风力涡轮机叶片废物存量。研究结果将为帮助行业和决策者了解潜在环境问题的规模并帮助更好地管理它提供一个坚实的参考点。本研究首先根据风能装机容量和平均叶片重量估计每年的叶片材料用量。然后，使用制造、测试和运行阶段的工业数据，纳入风力涡轮机叶片全生命周期中其他废物产生因素的影响。研究表明，到 2050 年，全球将产生 4300 万吨叶片废物，其中中国拥有 40%的废物，欧洲 25%，美国 16%，世界其他地区 19%。
