Dis and misinformation

And although the wind industry is currently battling with inflation and supply chain disruptions, prices will continue to fall in the long term

Rising fossil fuel prices caused Europe’s energy crisis

Solar and wind now supply around 30% of Europe’s electricity needs, up from 10% in 2013. Yet despite these capacity additions of cheap electricity, Europe has been facing an energy crisis. In past years, energy prices were extremely volatile, reaching record highs. Some actors have blamed this problem on the expansion of renewable energies.

The real reason for the crisis is Europe’s high dependence on expensive foreign fossil fuel imports. In 2021 the EU imported 45% of its gas needs from Russia ²¹. When Russia intentionally limited its supply to Europe in the wake of its full-scale Ukraine invasion ²², prices skyrocketed across the continent.

The growing share of renewables has offset some of the damage caused by the overreliance on fossil imports. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says ²³ that EU electricity consumers saved €100bn between 2021 and 2023 thanks to electricity generation from newly installed solar PV and wind, replacing an estimated 230 TWh of expensive fossil fuel generation. And in Germany, where Europe’s biggest wind fleet is located, onshore wind alone lowered average electricity market prices by one-third in 2024 ²⁴.

While the EU has reduced its dependence on Russian fossils, it is still greatly dependent on other expensive foreign fossil imports. The EU imports more than 50% of its energy needs, most of it in the form of fossil fuels. This continues to put a great burden on energy bills.

Europe needs to electrify its energy consumption. The more renewable electricity we have in our system, the lower our energy prices will become. Rystad estimated that Europe could save €76bn per year on fossil fuel imports if 2030 wind expansion targets were met ²⁵.

In this context, the primary energy fallacy is a common misunderstanding ²⁶. Under this fallacy, people assume that all the primary energy input from fossil fuels needs to be replaced one-to-one by renewables, without considering the vast amounts of energy lost in the conversion of fossil fuels.

Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity or power vehicles is highly inefficient, with a significant portion of the energy being lost as waste heat. In a blog post, Oxford University’s Dr. Jan Rosenow shows that more than 2/3 of all primary energy is lost as waste heat ²⁷.

Renewables, especially electricity, have much higher conversion efficiencies than fossil fuels. Replacing fossil fuels with renewables doesn't require an equivalent amount of primary energy. ETIP Wind found that electrifying Europe’s energy system will reduce primary energy demand from around 17,500 TWh in 2019 to only around 7,000 TWh by 2050 ²⁸.

The EU’s economies are spending a lot of money on energy imports, mostly on fossil fuels. For example, in 2021 they spent €300bn. And in 2022 they spent around €600bn ³⁰ because of cost increases related to the energy crisis.

Europe is gradually adding renewable capacities to replace these fossil fuel imports with cheaper domestic energy sources. But it’s not happening fast enough. While electricity is becoming increasingly renewable, Europe’s electrification share has stagnated in the past years, while China is pulling ahead ³¹.

IEA data shows that China has increased its electrification rate from below 20% in 2020 to around 30% today ³². Over the same period, Europe’s electrification rate flatlined at less than 25%. This means that fossil energy dependence persists in non-electrified sectors, which make up more than 75% of the energy mix. Europe is falling behind in the global race to secure competitive, local renewable power ³³. This is a dent to Europe’s industrial competitiveness and energy security

Fossil fuel subsidies are one of the reasons why we’re not decarbonising quickly enough. In 2023 fossil fuel subsidies amounted to €110bn in the EU ³⁴. These subsidies undermine the business case for making the needed upfront investments to build more renewables.

Instead, we should be supporting renewables to boost energy security. And make sure the massive value we invest in energy stays in European economies. However, in 2023 renewable subsidies were around half of fossil subsidies in the EU, €60bn ³⁵.

Wind has a higher capacity factor than other renewable energy sources. 1 MW of wind give you twice as much electricity as 1 MW of solar. However, solar is a great addition to wind as they complement each other from a day and season perspective.

Wind farms are also complemented by clean energy storage technologies, such as batteries and pumped hydro, to ensure a consistent supply for customers, even on calm, windless days. Some turbines are specifically designed to withstand high-wind speeds and extreme weather events.

Expanding the grid infrastructure further improves the reliability of a renewables-based electricity system. Grids allow us to send electricity from renewable surplus locations to locations faced with scarcity. The more integrated renewable capacities we have spread across Europe, the more reliable our system becomes.

No power plant is 100% reliable. During a power plant outage, whether a conventional plant or a wind plant, backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system. The utility system is also designed to accommodate load fluctuations which occur continuously.

This feature also facilitates the accommodation of wind plant output fluctuations. The indicator most often used to describe grid reliability is the average power outage duration experienced by each customer in a year, “System Average Interruption Duration Index” (SAIDI). Based on this metric, Germany, where renewables supply nearly half of the country’s electricity, boasts a grid that is one of the most reliable in Europe and the world.

In 2020, SAIDI was just 0.25 hours in Germany. Only Liechtenstein (0.08 hours), and Finland and Switzerland (0.2 hours), did better in Europe. Countries like France (0.35 hours) and Sweden (0.61 hours), both far more reliant on nuclear power, did worse, for various reasons ³⁷.

During Texas’ cold snap in 2021, which caused a power outage and led to the deaths of at least 246 people, some wind farms stopped producing electricity. Several turbines iced over or were not designed to operate in such cold temperatures, which made the equipment brittle. But that was a flaw in preparation, not in wind power itself. When extreme weather happens in places where turbines are not fitted with weatherising technologies, like waterresistant coatings or heaters to repel and melt ice, wind energy production can suffer ³⁹.

Modern turbines are equipped with de-icing technologies managed by the control rooms of wind farms. These include heating systems inside the blades like hot air circulation, mechanical de-icing devices or fluids and blade vibration systems ⁴⁰.

This myth is especially prevalent in coastal communities which fear changes in the beach view caused by offshore turbines. But it’s also used more broadly in any context where wind turbines interfere with an (allegedly) natural or cultural landscape that should be preserved ⁴².

Extreme and intentionally misleading renders are often used by wind energy opponents to illustrate the alleged impact of wind turbines on the visual landscape:

Studies have found that wind energy has no or a limited impact on tourism ⁴⁵.

The exception are studies that asked people before the construction of a wind farm if they will have a negative impact. This confirms that people overestimate the negative impact of wind farms ⁴⁶.

Additionally, these studies partly assumed that offshore wind farms are built very close to the shore. While offshore wind farms used to be built close to the shore, the trend is that wind farm shore distance is increasing. According to WindEurope’s 2024 offshore stats report ⁴⁷, current offshore wind farms are around 40km (25 miles) off the shore on average. And those under construction are more than 50km (30 miles) away.

Wind turbines have the potential to rejuvenate deprived rural areas.

Urbanisation is a consistent trend across Europe. People are leaving their countryside villages to study and work in cities. This leads to population decline, vacant housing, underinvestment in rural infrastructure, demographic issues and decay in structurally weak, rural areas.

Wind energy is one of few sectors of our economy that invests in rural areas. Onshore wind farms pay local taxes to local municipalities. Wind farm developers often make significant investments in local infrastructure like roads. They financially support local culture, schools and sports teams and set up community funds to invest in nature restoration or municipal infrastructure like churches, townhalls and swimming pools.

These investments can indirectly spur local tourism.

In Germany wind farm developer ABO Wind helped finance the Geierlay suspension bridge. The project has surpassed all expectations. It has attracted more than a million visitors to the town since 2015. It generates extra income from parking, overnight stays and restaurants ⁴⁸.

In some cases, wind farms themselves attract tourists. For example, Whitelee Wind Farm in Scotland is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. And the Mount Lucasa Wind Farm Walk and Cycle Park in Ireland is visited by more than 500 people a week. Tours to offshore wind farms are also increasingly popular. The Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm in France has developed a green industrial tourism concept which includes coastline viewpoints and boat excursions to the wind farm ⁴⁹.

Rural and sustainable tourism is trending. Across studies, especially young travellers state that sustainability influences their travel decisions ⁵⁰. The Wind Power Ecotourism Guide, promoted by the Spanish Wind Energy Association AEE, includes 10 extraordinary routes through rural Spain ⁵¹.

Contrary to conspiracy theories that claim wind power is being forced onto rural communities or that it harms farming, farmers themselves are speaking out to clarify that these claims are false and misleading. Decisions to host turbines are voluntary and based on long-term benefits ⁵².

Wind turbines occupy only a small portion of farmland, leaving the vast majority available for crops or livestock. The infrastructure is designed to minimise disruption, and access roads are often shared with existing farm paths. This means that agricultural productivity is not compromised. The additional income from leasing land for turbines can help stabilise farm operations, especially in times of economic uncertainty or climate-related challenges ⁵³.

Learn more about the farmers embracing wind energy in this emotional "The Guardian" piece, which portrays John Davis, a Texas rancher, Trump supporter and former Republican lawmaker. He fights against his party’s plans to limit renewables, as wind energy has become the financial lifeline for his deprived rural community ⁵⁴.

Or learn more in this YouTube video of a German farmer who proudly hosts a 200m turbine on his land ⁵⁵.

With an average global temperature increase of 1.5°C due to climate change, 6% of insect species, 8% of plant species and 5% of vertebrates would lose more than half of their habitat ⁵⁷. Currently, we are moving towards an increase of 2°C and more.

Tackling climate change is essential to conserving our diverse bird populations, which are at risk globally ⁵⁸. We are committed to protecting the natural environment (wildlife and plant life) where we develop our projects. We consider the impacts of individual wind farms and their cumulative long-term impacts and do everything we can to prevent, manage and mitigate them.

Before construction, all our projects are assessed by a rigorously independent planning and approval process. We carry out Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to identify all the potential impacts of the wind farms and their supporting facilities ⁵⁹.

The installation phase of a wind farm is time-limited, and we have an array of measures and techniques to minimise its impact ⁶⁰. We avoid building a wind farm during bird nesting season and reduce noise pollution for marine life in offshore wind farms using technology such as air bubble curtains and hydro sound dampers. We experiment with different colours to make wind turbines and grid connections more visible to birds and avoid collisions, see examples from RWE ⁶¹ and Elia ⁶².

The impact of wind farms on birds is extremely low compared to other human activities. Wind turbines are responsible for a relatively small percentage of bird deaths compared to cats, traffic, buildings and agriculture, as highlighted in the graph below ⁶³.

The impact of wind on birds is also far lower than other forms of power generation – research shows 0.3 bird fatalities per gigawatt-hour of wind compared with 5.2 bird fatalities per gigawatt-hour of fossil fuel generation ⁶⁴.

Environmental experts were quick to question the validity of the findings ⁶⁷. Even if the numbers were correct, the 1,200 tonnes of deceased insects would still be negligible in comparison to 400,000 tonnes of insects eaten by German birds every year ⁶⁸.

The German Wind Energy Association BWE published a fact-checking document. It puts the insect fatalities caused by wind turbine blades in comparison with other human-made factors, such as climate change, intensive agricultural practices, monocultures, pesticides and insecticides, urbanisation and changes in space use. The result: wind energy is not among the main reasons for the decline of insect populations. The paper also states that insect populations have been in decline well before the commercial use of modern wind turbines ⁶⁹.

Generally, most insect populations live outside the rotor height of modern wind turbines.

They fly closer to the ground (not higher than 30 meters above the ground) and often only short distances, around existing habitats, food sources, nesting habitats and other vital resources. This is especially true for bees. Wind energy projects could even have positive effects on local insect populations. Wind farm developers usually have to undertake restoration measures to compensate for their interference with nature.

Growing flower strips is a common compensation measure. On these strips, native plants can thrive, creating new biotopes for insects and other animals. Or take German wind developer WPD. They built a shallow water basin to compensate for the impact of the Mahndorf wind farm. The 2,000m² basin provides vital habitat for insects, amphibians and bats ⁷⁰.

However, offshore wind farms can have both positive and negative impacts on the environment. In the EU, offshore wind farms must undergo a site-specific Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)⁷² which lays out the potential negative impacts and how to avoid, mitigate or compensate for them. The goal is to have projects delivered successfully and with limited permitting risk while ensuring a positive impact on the species population.

Furthermore, the wind industry takes an active part in researching the environmental impacts of its wind farms together with local authorities and scientists and often makes results publicly available.

Examples include research on birds ⁷³, dolphins ⁷⁴ and harbour porpoise ⁷⁵. This experience allows the industry to develop advanced models for assessing population effects ⁷⁶ of any disturbances to biodiversity.

During construction offshore wind farm developers can use different technologies, e.g., bubble curtains, to limit sound emissions generated from piling, helping to mitigate disturbances to marine life ⁷⁷. Any disruption during construction is temporary. And the fish often return to wind farms in greater numbers as the wind farms act as an artificial reef. This has been demonstrated through long-term monitoring programmes, for example, in Denmark ⁷⁸ and in Belgium ⁷⁹.

Wind project developers also take extra measures, where needed, to protect biodiversity during wind farm operation. They use technology to detect and deter birds and bats; and in some cases, stop the turbines from spinning at certain times to prevent collisions. During this phase, environmental impacts must be carefully monitored, as per by the EIA Directive ⁸⁰. This allows operators to manage potential negative impacts and ensure compliance with environmental permits.

Positive effects on biodiversity

Once built, each wind turbine can support up to 4 metric tons of shellfish that attract other marine wildlife ⁸¹. This leads to a healthy marine ecosystem that may not have been as abundant or productive before construction. As a result, larger sea mammals, including seals and harbour porpoises, can thrive in offshore wind farms ⁸². A Dutch study found more porpoise activity in the operational wind farm area than in reference areas outside the wind farm, which is most likely linked to increased food availability, the exclusion of fisheries, and reduced vessel traffic ⁸³.

There are several measures today that can enhance these positive impacts and help seabed and local ecosystems recover even more quickly. For example, the sector is involved in ecodesigning offshore wind infrastructure, such as energy islands and cables, that support benthic and reef ecosystems ⁸⁴. These Nature Inclusive Designs (NID) act as a catalyst for biodiversity.

Positive impact can go beyond upgrading the design of wind-related infrastructure. Offshore wind developers and their partners are also considering how to add protection around the infrastructure to sustainably manage and restore nature-so-called Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). For example, they deploy oyster reef cultures between wind turbines as they actively improve seabed conditions, increase water quality through filtration and boost local ecosystem services, including food production ⁸⁵. These solutions are being tested in the Dutch North Sea, where flat oysters were once abundant but are very scarce today due to overfishing. The Rich North Sea ⁸⁶ has several oyster-related projects ongoing, including at the Eneco Luchterduinen, Gemini, and Blauwwind offshore wind farms.

Other applications include blue mussels and seaweed cultures. The latter is particularly promising, including for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. The first commercial project, a collaboration of Amazon Right Now Climate Fund and North Sea Farmers in the Netherlands, invested €1.5m to construct a 10-hectare seaweed farm, which is expected to produce at least 6,000 kg of fresh seaweed in its first year (2024) ⁸⁷.

There are also promising solutions for more complex species. The Rich North Sea is testing fish hotels ⁸⁸ attached to the Hollandse Kust Noord high voltage station. These allow small fish to enter, keeping predatory fish out, thus providing shelter and a safe foraging area for small fish. And Ørsted has built artificial nesting structures for kittiwake, a vulnerable bird species, off the coast of Lowestoft, UK. Each structure will have approximately 500 nesting spaces to introduce new chicks into the population ⁸⁹.

You can explore various offshore wind nature enhancement and restoration projects across Europe via Ocean’s Energy and Nature Database ⁹⁰.

Protected forest areas with especially high ecological value for humans and animals, or forest areas with particularly valuable deciduous and mixed woodlands, are always excluded from wind energy use. Wind turbines are mostly installed in monoculture forestry areas which typically have lower biodiversity.

Especially green-minded citizen initiatives are often protesting if trees have to be cut down for wind energy projects, sample image here. Right-wing boulevard and environmental press often jump on that train with glossy headlines ^91,92, claiming that “whole forests need to be cut down for wind energy” and alleging “green schizophrenia”.

The reality is far less frightening. Yes, installing wind turbines in forests does require some space, but only small-scale clearings. The overall land use can be minimised through compact construction methods and favourable site conditions - such as low terrain slopes.

Suitable locations are often existing clearings caused by storm damage, or areas already affected by infrastructure, like highways or transmission towers. Areas already deforested due to climate-change-induced droughts and pest infestations can be used directly for this purpose too.

Wind turbines in forestry areas require much less deforestation than most people would imagine. Take these numbers from the German broadcaster MDR ⁹³: An average of 0.46 hectares of open space is required per wind turbine - less than a football pitch. But even this area is later put back into natural condition, leaving only a minimal impact, as neatly illustrated here. In Germany, around 2,100 wind turbines were built in forests by 2020 - with a total area of approx. 966 hectares (2,100 x 0.46).According to the Federal Forest Inventory, around one-third of Germany's 11.4 million hectares are forested. According to this, less than 0.01 per cent of the forest was cleared for wind energy.

The number of trees cut down varies from project to project. According to Gudula Lermer, Chairwoman of the German Forestry Association, the number of trees that have to be felled for a wind turbine is not a major issue. She speaks of a ‘very small impact on the forest’ ⁹⁴.

As with open land, the planning and construction of wind energy projects in forests are subject to strict regulations to ensure ecological concerns are carefully considered throughout the approval process. Forestry authorities are involved early in the planning stages. When a site is approved, compensation measures are mandated. These typically include reforestation or enhancing the ecological quality of existing forest areas to offset any environmental impact ⁹⁵.

Wind energy should be viewed as an opportunity to protect forests from environmental damage. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, turbines help mitigate the rising impact of climate change on forests. A study found over half of Europe's forests are currently vulnerable to climate-related hazards such as wildfires, insect outbreaks, windthrows and droughts ⁹⁶.

And wind energy can be a crucial source of income for forest authorities to make investments in climate resilience - for example, funding reforestation, improving firebreaks, or introducing more drought-resistant tree species. German forestry groups, like the Waldbesitzerverband Niedersachsen, stress that expanding wind power in forests is key to enabling these efforts ⁹⁷.

Another common misperception in this context: forests absorb more CO₂ than a wind turbine can save. Therefore, wind farms should not be built on forestry land. This is not true, as Correctiv has already checked ⁹⁸.

According to Germany’s Federal Environment Agency, the amount of CO₂ saved by wind turbines is more than 1,000 times higher than the amount of CO₂ lost due to the clearing of forests required for this ⁹⁹.

Within this layer, turbines can create small, localised changes in wind speed and turbulence, but these effects are limited in scale and intensity.

Offshore wind farms may slightly influence evaporation and cloud formation near the surface, but these changes do not disrupt weather patterns.

Wind turbines extract energy from the wind, causing a decrease in wind speed behind the rotor. Like any large object exposed to wind (planes, bridges, skyscrapers, etc.), turbines create wakes that mix the air and slightly reduce wind speeds in the direction the wind is blowing. These effects are temporary and fade with distance from the turbines. While they may cause minor variations in airflow or temperature near the turbines, they don’t lead to significant or lasting changes in the weather.

Some of this air mixing can redistribute heat close to the surface, which may cause small, short-term changes in temperature. However, these shifts are insignificant compared to the natural movements of heat and energy in the ocean and atmosphere. Importantly, turbines do not generate or add heat to the system, unlike fossil fuel emissions, which are the real contributors to climate change.

Studying these interactions is complex and requires advanced modelling to account for all the variables involved. Some research exists, but it often carries significant uncertainty and is sometimes misrepresented by opponents of wind energy. More detailed studies, especially those using high-resolution climate models, will help improve our understanding of how offshore wind farms interact with the ocean and atmosphere over time. In the end, while wind farms may have very minor, localised effects on the air around them, they do not disrupt the broader weather system. What they do offer is a crucial solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the real threat to long-term climate stability.

Related to this, disinformation pieces have claimed that wind turbines negatively affect microclimates in their area of installation and climate change. Find debunking articles in the footnotes ¹⁰⁰.

Wind energy is among the most sustainable and environmentally friendly forms of electricity generation. A German State Agency found that for each kWh produced, wind turbines produce the least greenhouse gases of all technologies ¹⁰¹. PV causes about 3 times more greenhouse gases per kWh, fossil fuels generate up to 100 times higher quantities. Modern wind turbines avoid around 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year ¹⁰².

The CO₂ emitted in producing, installing, operating and disposing of a modern onshore wind turbine is regained within less than a year of operation. After that, the wind turbine only avoids emissions ¹⁰³. Other sources indicate even faster energetic amortisation rates ¹⁰⁴.

You can also compare the external costs. Externalities include all positiveor negative impacts associated with energy production and consumption. These costs or benefits do not directly appear on energy bills, but are borne indirectly by society as a whole. They are related to areas such as pollution, land use and climate change. They cover the entire lifecycle and include manufacturing, installation and decommissioning. Out of all technologies, wind energy has the lowest external cost. The average external cost of wind generated electricity in 2018 was below 3€/MWh. This is 50 g. 12 to 60 times lower than solid fossil fuels and five times lower than Solar PV. Offshore wind had a slightly higher footprint than onshore wind. The difference can be explained by offshore wind’s reliance on the maritime supply chain. As the maritime sector decarbonises, the onshore-offshore disparity will diminish. Graph from this ¹⁰⁵ report:

A lot of attention focuses on the CO₂ emissions of different electricity generation technologies. But there are other – perhaps equally harmful – emissions which should be taken into account when evaluating their environmental impact. Operating wind turbines do not emit other greenhouse gases like methane or any other air pollutant such as nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur oxide (SOx) or particulate matter (PM).

Wind turbines contribute very minimally to other forms of emissions, such as microplastics and bisphenol A (BPA). For instance, the estimated annual BPA emission per wind turbine is a mere 0.2g ¹⁰⁶.

Compared to fossil fuel-based electricity generation, wind energy significantly reduces the emission of numerous pollutants. Fossil fuel power plants release large quantities of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter into the atmosphere which contribute to respiratory problems and other health issues ¹⁰⁷.

The microplastic emissions by wind turbines are negligible compared to those by tires, paints or textiles. Almost every human activity nowadays produces microplastics to some degree, in either a direct or indirect way. For example, a Dutch study ¹⁰⁸, estimated that wind turbines contribute to only 0.0005% of microplastic pollution in the Netherlands.

What about PFAs?

The EU is currently discussing restrictions on PFAS. They are used in textiles, building materials, food contact products and packaging, medicine and many other sectors of the economy. They are also used in insulation materials and seals in switchgear, and in the nozzles of circuit breakers – equipment we need to build grids. The use of PFAS in these cases is critical. Alternatives do exist, but have limited availability. Technology continues to develop. To deliver the energy transition, Europe needs to accelerate the build-out of transmission and distribution grids and ensure that existing grids can be repaired and maintained.

And wind turbines?

The wind industry is already using PFAS-free coatings for the rotor blades. And it continuously assesses whether other components and materials may contain PFAS and, if so, whether PFAS-free alternatives are available. The wind industry acknowledges that in certain use cases, downstream industries may need time to develop performant substitute materials. PFAS are a problem. However, wind energy is largely working with PFAs-free materials.

Some voices in Poland have misused the decommissioning of Germany’s first offshore wind farm, Alpha Ventus, to falsely claim that offshore wind is unreliable and short-lived. In reality, Alpha Ventus was a pioneering test site that successfully operated for 15 years, fulfilling its purpose of gathering data and advancing the industry. Its planned dismantling is not a failure but a valuable next step, offering the sector a chance to learn from one of the first full-cycle offshore projects and set best practices for future decommissioning.

At the end of their operational life, wind turbines are typically repowered, meaning old turbines are replaced with new, more powerful models that significantly increase energy output. Where repowering is not an option, wind farms are safely decommissioned. And the land is restored to its original condition.

Up to 90% of a wind turbine’s mass is already recyclable using well-established waste management practices. Components such as the tower, foundation and nacelle are treated with conventional recycling methods. Wind turbine blades are made of special materials that provide strength and durability. This makes them harder to recycle. However, the industry is addressing this challenge with a range of solutions:

• Reuse: Blades enter a thriving second-hand market.
• Repurposing ¹¹¹: Blades are being transformed into pedestrian bridges, urban furniture, playgrounds and even small buildings.
• Recycling ¹¹² & Recovery: Several technologies are being scaled up, including:
  • Cement Co-Processing: The glass fibres in a blade are recycled and integrated as a raw material in cement production, while the remaining resin is used as an energy source in the process. This method reduces cement production CO₂ emissions by up to 1 tonne per tonne of waste ¹¹³.
  • Mechanical Grinding: Converts blades into fibres and powders for reuse in other industries.
  • Pyrolysis & Solvolysis: Chemical and thermal processes that break down composites to recover fibres and resins for new applications.

For new wind farms, Siemens Gamesa has already developed fully recyclable blades ¹¹⁴.

Although fossil fuels are used to produce their materials, and oil is used to lubricate the moving parts, wind turbines have some of the lowest lifetime greenhouse gas emissions among power generation technologies. The ‘carbon payback’ period for wind turbines is approximately 5–12 months. This is how long it takes for a turbine to offset the amount of carbon used in its lifetime (including manufacture).