Casper company aims to improve wind turbine recycling process

Via Wyoming News Exchange

CASPER — Wind turbines, which produce some of the cheapest energy on the grid, have long been an environmental darling. But in recent years the wind industry is catching blowback for its end-of-life footprint as decommissioned blades– some of them longer than the wings of a BOEING 747 airplane–are piling up in landfills across America.

The Casper Regional Landfill has interned more than 1,200 blades since 2020 and is slated to receive hundreds more in the coming years.

As utilities nation-wide double down on wind power, these so-called “boneyards” are destined to grow. While companies like PacifiCorp recycle much of their turbine components, the blades themselves, designed to withstand galeforce pressure, present unique recycling challenges.

Now one Casper company is working to make boneyards a thing of the past.

“When I saw all those blades at the Casper landfill that PacifiCorp sent there, I just knew I had to do something. So I started doing research and about a year and half later I said, ‘I think we’ve got it figured out,’ ” said Jake Milne, founder of the recycling logistics startup ReviablEnergy.

Reviabl is among five Wyoming startups selected to participate in Microsoft’s “gBETA” business accelerator program, which helps fledgling businesses ramp up promising concepts with access to coaches, mentors and investors.

Following an intensive 7-week business bootcamp, the company will pitch its plan to investors and the community during a showcase event at Frontier Brewing on Aug. 2.

The Reviabl process relies on industrial shredders that minimize wind blade material in ways that make it viable in other applications, including fibermesh for cement and agricultural products like culverts. It also boosts the industry’s sustainability by reducing transportation emissions.

Typically, decommissioned turbine blades are transported one at a time, after sectioned into 40 foot lengths, on semi-truck trailers.

The Casper Regional Landfill, which is run without tax support as an enterprise fund, in 2021 received one thousand semi truck trips as a result.

“That’s more revenue to us from a business standpoint, but from a citizen perspective, I hope they come up with better recycling or reuse options for those blades,” Cyndie Langston, manager of landfill, told the Star-Tribune.

If Milne succeeds, the landfill will see less business, and trucking emissions will drop too.

“We can reduce the cost of trucking by up to 500%. Where normally you can fit one blade on a truck, maybe two, we shred them and can fit sometimes 10 blades onto a truck depending on the weight and density of the material,” Milne said.

Some turbine parts are dealt with differently. Turbine “roots,” the base sections that connect the rotor box and generator, are composed of thick hard material that cannot be shredded. Instead Reviabl is partnering with a variety of manufactures to repurpose blades into furniture, along with industrial and agricultural uses for things like culverts.

“It’s a huge full circle to make sure these things end up in the landfill,” said Milne, who is excited that the gBETA accelerator program will help catalyze growth for his service and bring more accountability to the industry.

“I truly believe that you can always find room for improvement. And anyone that says that they know everything doesn’t know anything, so I’m really looking forward to the knowledge that I can gain from it,” he said. “Hopefully we can find some partners that want to join us and make sure we hold industries accountable, because if we’re calling something green and renewable, we need to stick to that name.”

This story was published on June 19, 2024.

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