Western Railroad Discussion > UP wind turbine blade train

An entire train of wind turbine blades passed through Colorado Springs, CO earlier this morning headed northbound. This is the best photo I got, sorry:

 

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Alright, a couple more:

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One last photo…

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"Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug".

I like the speer affect in the second one.

mapboy

Ironically railroads are hauling new wind turbine blades and turbine assemblies around the US while trucks are hauling dismantled wind turbine blades to the landfill in Casper, WY for disposal. Apparently the blades cannot easily be recycled so they are getting buried. Several images from news reporting agencies showing the disposal of the turbine blades.

SV

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So what is the life span of a wind turbine and what is it made of that it cn't be recycled?
 

zoohogger Wrote:
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> So what is the life span of a wind turbine and
> what is it made of that it cn't be recycled?

Or modified to become artificial reefs?

* JB * 

Lifespan: 16 to 20 years. 

The artificial materials of which they are made cannot be recycled. 

Windmills for electricity for utilities was/is an idea whose time has never come but has been facilitated by massive tax breaks. 

The blades are a composite material, made using a thermosetting polymer and fibre reinforcement such as glass or carbon. There are not many major forms of power generation that don't have a negative waste material as a by-product... plus, we already bury a lot of our waste in the ground, so this burial is not desirable but not unique to wind turbines.

However, two things are changing. Ways of making the blades from materials that are easier to recycle are being developed, in addition to efficient ways to recycle the materials also being researched.  

MSE, you're incorrect, wind is an extremely viable power generation method. The UK has gone for extended periods recently without generrating a single kilowatt from coal power, thanks to the development of on-shore and off-shore wind farms. The cost of these is low and falling, on-shore being lower currently than any other power source available. The UK generates about 20% of its energy needs from wind currently.... and rising.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/20 23:52 by exhaustED.

Thank you exhaustED. Very helpful.  I was hoping wind turbines lasted as long as steam locomotives. 

guess not.

Rick z

Newer blades appear to increase the amount of electricity from the same tower. And, older blades are now fully depreciated.

The US Dept of Energy has a 2016 study of how much more electricity is generated by new blades. Mentioned here:

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/3/8/17084158/wind-turbine-power-energy-blades

Posted from Android

I wonder what archeologists will think when these blades are unearthed in ≈ 1,000 years.
Something akin to the Terracotta Army in China?
...Lorenzo