Research and industry collaboration develops circular economy options for retired wind turbine blades
Project Overview
By 2030, Renewable Energy Sources, and its infrastructures, are expected to increase by 40% in Europe. Wind energy is one of the most popular and applicable source.
The repowering in the wind energy sector brings an enormous waste stream of end-of-life wind blades. Today, these blades are being deposited directly in landfills, with no circular options available in the market.
The aim of BLADES2BUILD is to improve and support circularity options of end-of-life wind blades by exploring three different circular stages:
The Concept
Objectives
01.
Identify, categorize materials, and create a flexible recycling road-map for EoL wind blades
02.
Test EoL wind blades for downstream processes recycling/ repurposing/ reuse
03.
Develop circular construction materials with materials produced from recycling & repurposing routes
04.
Achieve all sustainability, engineering and financial requirements to initiate the large-scale demonstration plant
05.
Demonstrate at TRL7 the pre-treatment of EoL wind blades to be used downstream in recycling & repurposing
06.
Develop a virtual Hub to facilitate knowledge exchange and promote circularity within the wind energy sector and others
Our Workplan
Expected Impact
01.
BLADES2BUILD aims to transform wind power into a circular, zero-waste energy production enterprise.
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70% reduction of waste production by 2030
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Zero-waste by 2050
02.
BLADES2BUILD stems from the need to make the wind energy industry sustainable in its resource consumption/disposal efficiency.
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90% decrease of landfill disposal by 2030
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100% decrease by 2050
03.
BLADES2BUILD demonstrates at TRL7 a circular solution for end-of-life blades in Southern Europe, providing the first recycling station for Spain and local revenue prospect growth of at least 5%.
Advisory Board
Vice-head of the Civil Engineering & Construction department at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
Engineer from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and from Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, France), Matthieu Vandamme obtained his Ph.D. in civil engineering from MIT (Cambridge, MA) in 2008. Since then, he works as researcher at École des Ponts ParisTech in Laboratoire Navier (École des Ponts ParisTech, Université Gustave Eiffel, CNRS), where he focuses on building materials and poromechanics. He will support the project through his knowledge of the mechanics of building materials from the smallest scales.
Head of “Materials for Transportation Infrastructures“ Laboratory in Gustave Eiffel University, Nantes Campus, France
Thierry Sedran has been a research engineer at University Gustave Eiffel (formerly Ifsttar, formerly LCPC) in France, since 1998. He is a specialist of concrete mix design and innovative applications of cement-based materials in pavements. Part of his research is dedicated to recycling waste in concrete (e.g. reclaimed asphalt pavement or crushed concrete aggregates) which is in direct link with the BLADES2BUILD project.
Senior Business Development Manager, Technology Partnerships in GE Advanced Research
Business Development Manager for GE Advanced Research with a focus in technology partnerships. Lillie received her Professional Science Masters in Advanced Energy & Fuels Management in 2013. Lillie has been working in renewables since 2013, holding various R&D positions as a technology manager and physical scientist, supporting federal and state government, including managing wind manufacturing and technology development programs. She will support this program as an Advisory Board Member through her background on wind blade circular economy and wind R&D program development.
Professor, Head of department, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering
Claus Hélix-Nielsen is a professor in water technology innovation and department chair of the Department of Environmental Engineering, The Technical University of Denmark. He is also leading the Laboratory for Water Biophysics and Membrane Processes at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Maribor, Slovenia. He contributes with his knowledge within advanced materials for environmental engineering applications as well as his extensive international leadership and managerial experiences.
| Dr. | Anne Velentorf |
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.
