Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 22, 2022
A 1 megawatt vanadium flow battery (a different technology from lithium-ion, but also used for energy storage) is in Pullman, Washington, built by UniEnergy Technologies and owned by Avista Utilities. Source: UniEnergy Technologies / Wikimedia Commons. Engineers develop energy storage battery technologies. Batteries.
Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 22, 2022
Increasing the reuse and recycling of batteries at their end of life is essential to increasing the sustainability of batteries and creating a circular economy. Recycling must ramp up. There are huge opportunities for recycling to decrease the need for newly mined materials in batteries. Source: Courtesy of Li-Cycle.
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Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 12, 2022
Blades are made mainly of carbon fiber, fiberglass, and balsa wood and the wind industry drives a significant portion of global demand for these materials: 10% of world demand for fiberglass and 24% for carbon fiber come from wind turbines. Can wind turbine blades be recycled? Source: Firdaus Latif/Wikimedia Commons.
Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 12, 2022
The World Bank predicts that the demand for neodymium for energy technologies in 2050 will be 37% of total 2018 neodymium production. Global demand for neodymium for wind turbines is estimated to increase 48% by 2050. Our modern technological world wouldn’t function without rare earth elements. Recycling rare earth elements.
Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 12, 2022
Imagine the dazzling dizziness of looking up at the world’s tallest wind turbine: the Max Bögl Wind AG turbine in Germany stands 808 feet tall—the height of two and a half Statues of Liberty. Wind turbines aren’t just big towers. That’s enough to power 39 million homes. Solar Panels Should Be Reused and Recycled.
Union of Concerned Scientists
FEBRUARY 22, 2023
This would require growth rates in the range of 43 to 90 GW per year for solar and 70 to 145 GW per year for wind by the end of the decade, which would mean more than quadrupling the current annual deployment rates for each technology. EIA also projects US battery storage capacity to more than double in 2023.
Union of Concerned Scientists
DECEMBER 22, 2022
Energy from the sun and wind never runs out and is used again and again. Rechargeable large-scale batteries can be charged with solar or wind power and cycled thousands of times in their lifetime. More batteries are being recycled through good policy , innovation, and corporate commitment. Other battery materials.
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