What is it about?

Wind energy has been considered as one of the greenest renewable energy sources, yet there has been little discussion of how to reduce possible environmental impacts in this sector. Composite from end-of-life blades is a critical issue for greener and more sustainable wind energy production. This paper is the first to consider urban mining of carbon fiber from end-of-life wind turbine blades to close the circular economy loop.

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Why is it important?

Using the concept of circular economy in reusing, repurposing, recycling, and recovering, this paper investigates how anthropogenic materials can re-enter the circular system. This paper investigates the potential of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) recovery to increase the quality of the recovered materials so that they can be reused. It also presents four economic pre-conditions to make recovery a success. Pyrolytic conditions are important in controlling char formation volume and its oxidation rate. The right conditions are beneficial to shorten the postprocessing step, thereby leading to lower energy costs.

Perspectives

Wind energy would not be effectively “green” if anthropogenic materials are not given attention in a responsible manner. This paper provides insights on the reuse of extracted carbon fibers to close the circular economy loop. Professor Adrian Kuah has taught at Manchester Business School, Bradford University School of Management and James Cook University over the last 20 years.. He was named by the UK Financial Times as Professor of the Week and has published more than 60 papers, with his work appearing in prestigious outlets such as the Journal of Cleaner Productions, European Journal of Marketing and R&D Management. He read his PhD from Manchester, ITP from Bocconi, and MBA from Strathclyde.

Adrian T. H. Kuah
James Cook University

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This page is a summary of: A circular economy approach to green energy: Wind turbine, waste, and material recovery, The Science of The Total Environment, February 2020, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135054.
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