Weekly news from "The Wave" Website by "Only One", dedicated to the ocean

 

"Coming up in The Wave this week, an expansive study shows that seagrass meadows can buffer ocean acidification, East Antarctic expedition scientists focus on predators of krill, and the Biden Administration made a swath of ocean between New York and New Jersey an offshore wind zone".

 

But first, what comes to mind when you envision a resilient future for the ocean nation of The Bahamas?

The Bahamas spans roughly 100,000 square miles of some of the world’s clearest waters, with 700 islands and 2,400 cays that formulate the largest archipelagic nation in the Atlantic. Yet, despite its evident geographic range and extensive microcultures and biodiversity, many outsiders’ perceptions have been reduced to a monolithic construct—a postcard understanding, if you will: secluded pink-sand beaches, private coves, idyllic turquoise waters.

From intricate mangrove forests to bright coral gardens to abundant fisheries, The Bahamas is evidently rich in incredible natural resources. But this narrative should not be told without its human element or representation from those individuals who call The Bahamas home. 

What you find by pursuing a more holistic account is that of myriad stakeholders of the sea who are looking to balance competing interests while acknowledging a complex past—all this compounded by threats from climate change, resource exploitation, and unsustainable development. The key to such success resides in empathy and understanding, both found at the heart of storytelling’s intent.

Our new Land of the Shallow Seas series is an attempt at this understanding, a delve into the challenges that Bahamians are facing and how they are a critical part of the solution. Through films and essays that champion the perspectives of Bahamian conservationists and community leaders, you will have the opportunity to expand your appreciation of the beauty of The Bahamas and to support wavemakers who are working to transform the ocean and world for the better. 

 

Are Recyclable Wind Turbines on the Horizon?

 Here is a report taken from one of my favourite websites; Earth 911

     

"Looming Waste Management Issues

The design life of wind turbines is about 20 to 25 years. The longest wind turbine blade to date is 350 feet, almost the length of a football field. Although certain parts of wind turbines can be relatively easily recycled, others are not designed for recyclability. In particular, wind turbine blades present the biggest waste management challenge, but researchers from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in partnership with Arkema Inc. are making progress in this area.

Most wind turbine blades are currently constructed with composite material infused with a thermoset resin, which makes them highly durable to withstand storms and the elements. Unfortunately, thermoset plastics are almost impossible to recycle, so the blades do not have much scrap value and are not very appealing to recyclers. Therefore, many spent turbine blades are piling up in landfills, although some reinforced plastic blades are downcycled into cement products.

Promising Turbine Blade Research

The good news is that researchers have developed a blade out of thermoplastic resin (instead of thermoset resin) that is low-cost, lightweight, and seems to be recyclable. If the new blade also proves to be durable, this could be a gamechanger for the offshore and onshore wind industry. Lower costs also could help boost wind energy deployment, reducing the use of fossil fuels. A lightweight blade is easier to transport and uses less fuel. It also seems easier to recycle and uses less energy in the manufacturing process. These are all wins for the environment and the wind energy industry.

“With thermoset resin systems, it’s almost like when you fry an egg. You can’t reverse that,” said Derek Berry, a senior engineer at NREL in a press release. “But with a thermoplastic resin system, you can make a blade out of it. You heat it to a certain temperature, and it melts back down. You can get the liquid resin back and reuse that.” This means that the blades could be recycled instead of downcycled into lower-value goods.

So far, the thermoplastic resin blade durability looks promising. “The thermoplastic material absorbs more energy from loads on the blades due to the wind, which can reduce the wear and tear from these loads to the rest of the turbine system, which is a good thing,” said NREL researcher Robynne Murray.

Although the research looks promising, progress will be slow. Most wind farms being constructed today will be decommissioned in a few decades. The benefits of recyclable blades are still decades away at best. The decommissioning of wind farms and the associated environmental impact has largely been a blind spot for the industry. Hopefully, recent advances will help make wind power even greener. Despite the waste issue, wind power is still one of the most sustainable sources of energy.

By Sarah Lozanova

Sarah Lozanova is an environmental journalist and copywriter and has worked as a consultant to help large corporations become more sustainable. She is the author of Humane Home: Easy Steps for Sustainable & Green Living, and her renewable energy experience includes residential and commercial solar energy installations. She teaches green business classes to graduate students at Unity College and holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School."

Let us hope that they can resolve this issue before we have all these things in the landfills, there are areas that have all the broken blades lying around on the ground, just left there to rot. I really do wish that they had thought of all these things before they mass produced and jumped on board the "Green Energy Train".  It seems that we are always playing catch-up, realising after the event that "oh maybe we should have thought of this before"over and over again.  We have the problems with old mobile phones and old solar panels coming to our attention now! How long have mobile phones been around and only now do we realise that disposing of them is a problem. The solar panel manufacture and disposal issue is rearing it´s ugly head now, making question them.

When will we learn?

The blog song for today is " People are strange" by The Doors

TTFN

 

 

 

 

Zero Waste campaign in Menorca -download the app

 

 

 

I really hope that this works better than the RECICLOS campaign. 

I have downloaded the app and registered, it is actually quite good.  It gives a lot of practical advice and there is also a points scheme too!

I have been trying to do zero waste for a while now and it is not as easy as you think, however a slight adjustment of the chip and it becomes easier!

Here is a screenshot of the first challenge, when it is completed you move on to the next!

I will at least be giving it a go!  

The most important thing is that it encourages people to start somewhere, no matter how small the action is!

 The blog song for today is: "Take me I´m Yours" by Squeeze

TTFN