{"id":175411,"date":"2025-09-23T03:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T03:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/175411\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T03:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T03:58:11","slug":"wind-waste-plagues-countries-that-shelled-out-for-green-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/175411\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind Waste Plagues Countries That Shelled Out For \u2018Green Energy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Across Europe, countries that once went all in on wind power are now grappling with impending piles of discarded turbine parts and scrambling to find ways to recycle them, The Guardian reports.<\/p>\n

One Scottish town is already struggling under the weight of wind turbine waste as other countries like Germany, Spain and Italy are investing in recycling efforts after pledging major investments in wind power, The Guardian reported<\/a>. Europe has 14,000 wind turbines to dismantle by 2030, which will leave them with 44,000 to 66,000 tons of unrecyclable blade waste, according to WindEurope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWind energy not only has a reliability problem; it has a recycling problem. \u2026 Proponents in Scotland and here in the U.S. say these structures have a 20-year lifespan. But many stop working within five to 10 years,\u201d Director of Independent Women\u2019s Center for Energy and Conservation Gabriella Hoffman told the Daily Caller News Foundation. \u201cThe wind industry has a massive problem on their hands with turbine parts piling up in landfills. Trust in the industry is waning, since it\u2019s a part-time energy source that produces expensive energy while utilizing large swaths of land. Wind energy is weather-dependent and can\u2019t replace natural gas, nuclear, or coal to meet rising electricity demand. The U.K. must quit its addiction to net-zero and adopt an energy abundance posture.\u201d (RELATED: \u2018A Hazard All The Way Around\u2019: Small Town Locals Bristle As Wind Farm Waste Piles Up)<\/a>
\n \"Climate<\/p>\n

Climate change heaven and hell, The Hagshaw Hill wind farm above the Spireslack open cast coal mine in Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK. (Photo by Ashley Cooper\/Construction Photography\/Avalon\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Several European countries, including Scotland<\/a>, Germany<\/a>, Spain<\/a>, and Italy<\/a>, have pledged to reach net-zero emissions<\/a> by 2050 and are working to meet specific targets for wind-generated energy on their grids. Several companies across the industry are working with some government bodies to develop a new generation of wind turbine blades that are easier to recycle, according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n

America may also face mass amounts of blade waste by 2050, according to a 2020 Electric Power Research Institute projection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the Biden administration pushed for both wind and solar power, the Trump administration has recently taken a tougher stance on wind, with the Department of the Interior (DOI) announcing that it will no longer grant the industry the \u201cpreferential treatment<\/a>\u201d that former President Joe Biden supported.<\/p>\n

Notably, wind turbine waste has also been scattered across Texas, with some residents voicing concerns<\/a> to a local outlet<\/a> in 2023 over the potential hazards and rattlesnake infestations.<\/p>\n

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact\u00a0licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across Europe, countries that once went all in on wind power are now grappling with impending piles of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-175411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}