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Comment by 8bitsrule | Hacker News Reader

We do need to find solutions for blade-waste. Ideally it would find its way into new blades.

On other hand, how does blade-waste compare to energy- and non-energy- waste sources? Until that solution arrives:

" municipal and commercial dumps will take most of the waste, which the American Wind Energy Association in Washington says is safest and cheapest. 'Wind turbine blades at the end of their operational life are landfill-safe...' [The group] pointed to an Electric Power Research Institute study that estimates all blade waste through 2050 would equal roughly .015% of all the municipal solid waste going to landfills in 2015 alone."[0]

[0]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turb...

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> We do need to find solutions for blade-waste.

Why? We're in no danger of running out of space, and they're not toxic.

Yeah, I mean, all other things being equal it's better to find efficiencies where possible and not just throw things away needlessly. Folks like to laugh at it, but plastics manufacturing for one-use items like bags and straws has real externalities that aren't borne by the cost of manufacture.

But in this particular situation: a quarter-century-old turbine blade has paid for itself so many times over already that this is just not where we need to be spending out time worrying about efficiencies. Even if we just bury the things, wind power remains (by far!) the most environmentally beneficial choice for almost all electrical markets.

> has real externalities

If they're blowing around in the wind or dumped in the waterways, sure. If they're buried, none I've heard of.

I agree. I'd even say that burying plastic is a form of carbon sequestering and therefore has some positive impact. However, I think the problem with burying plastic is the stuff that leaches out.

See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5373626 for example.

I wonder if double-bagging your garbage would help or hurt? It would be ironic if a good solution turned out to be more plastic packaging.

Why do you prefer wind to solar?

'All electricity markets' is probably a bit overblown. For Europe north of the alps, there's not that much sun, but often plenty of wind.

It's cheaper and faster to build out, lasts longer once installed, is usually easier to find sites for, and can be built with almost completely local manufacturing and labor. There's nothing wrong with solar, but wind is better from a "where should the subsidy dollars be spent" perspective.

Even better: don't spend any subsidy dollars at all. Use a carbon tax to turn climate policy into a money spinner instead of a money sink, and let the market figure out how to generate power.

(In political practice, it seems easier to throw around subsidy dollars, alas.)

It’s mostly fiberglass.

I think this entire article lost sight of the relevant scale, because blades are big compared to humans and energy (and the physical waste of displaced energy sources) is invisible.

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