Published: 24 Sep 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the six final
winners of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize. Each team was awarded
$500,000 in cash prizes, as well as $100,000 in vouchers to work with DOE
national laboratories, for creating cost-effective recycling technologies that will
increase the sustainability of U.S. wind energy systems.
This combined $3.6 million will expand domestic capabilities
for the recycling and recovery of wind materials as teams use their winnings to
bring their technologies closer to commercialization. This prize, funded by the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges
program, provides environmental benefits, supports domestic supply chains, and
reduces dependence on foreign sources of these materials.
"Wind energy is expanding rapidly across the United
States and now is the time to be planning for the complete life cycle of wind
turbine materials,” said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant
secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. “The
winners of this prize, and their innovative recycling technologies, prove that
we can decommission turbines in a manner that is sustainable, economical, and
advances our vision for building a comprehensive domestic recycling ecosystem.”
In January of this year, 20 teams were selected as winners
of the first phase of the prize, Initiate! and awarded $75,000 each for their
innovative wind material recycling concepts that focused on economic and
environmental sustainability. These teams have since been competing in the
final Accelerate! phase, where they’ve worked to further develop their
concepts, perform prototype demonstrations of their technologies, and submit a
plan to demonstrate the technology at full scale.
As wind energy deployment in the United States continues to accelerate, enhancing recycling has been a key piece of DOE’s ongoing efforts to create a circular economy for wind energy. A critical component of this work is addressing the 10%–15% of a wind turbine’s mass that cannot currently be commercially recycled.
This prize
incentivized the development of novel recycling solutions for these
difficult-to-recycle materials—such as carbon fiber or fiberglass composites
and rare earth elements—and supports the commercialization of these
technologies to help grow the U.S. wind energy industry.
The Accelerate! phase submissions showcased the wide range of technology that can contribute to a sustainable wind energy ecosystem in the United States, from solutions for recovering rare earth elements from used wind turbine magnets to technologies that transform the fiber-reinforced composites in turbine blades into usable materials for other applications. The six winning teams, who hail from five states, demonstrated that their prototypes have exceptional potential as full-scale technologies that will enhance the wind recycling industry.
The Accelerate! phase winners are:
The winning teams can use their $500,000 cash award and technical support vouchers to advance their prototypes toward relevant scale demonstration and validation. While Accelerate! is the final competition phase of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize, a Pitch Day event is planned for 2025, at which participants will have the opportunity to present work completed since the close of the prize and demonstrate the commercial potential of their technologies.
The Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize is funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. It is part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges program and is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Source - www.energy.gov
Published: 24 Sep 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the six final
winners of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize. Each team was awarded
$500,000 in cash prizes, as well as $100,000 in vouchers to work with DOE
national laboratories, for creating cost-effective recycling technologies that will
increase the sustainability of U.S. wind energy systems.
This combined $3.6 million will expand domestic capabilities
for the recycling and recovery of wind materials as teams use their winnings to
bring their technologies closer to commercialization. This prize, funded by the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges
program, provides environmental benefits, supports domestic supply chains, and
reduces dependence on foreign sources of these materials.
"Wind energy is expanding rapidly across the United
States and now is the time to be planning for the complete life cycle of wind
turbine materials,” said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant
secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. “The
winners of this prize, and their innovative recycling technologies, prove that
we can decommission turbines in a manner that is sustainable, economical, and
advances our vision for building a comprehensive domestic recycling ecosystem.”
In January of this year, 20 teams were selected as winners
of the first phase of the prize, Initiate! and awarded $75,000 each for their
innovative wind material recycling concepts that focused on economic and
environmental sustainability. These teams have since been competing in the
final Accelerate! phase, where they’ve worked to further develop their
concepts, perform prototype demonstrations of their technologies, and submit a
plan to demonstrate the technology at full scale.
As wind energy deployment in the United States continues to accelerate, enhancing recycling has been a key piece of DOE’s ongoing efforts to create a circular economy for wind energy. A critical component of this work is addressing the 10%–15% of a wind turbine’s mass that cannot currently be commercially recycled.
This prize
incentivized the development of novel recycling solutions for these
difficult-to-recycle materials—such as carbon fiber or fiberglass composites
and rare earth elements—and supports the commercialization of these
technologies to help grow the U.S. wind energy industry.
The Accelerate! phase submissions showcased the wide range of technology that can contribute to a sustainable wind energy ecosystem in the United States, from solutions for recovering rare earth elements from used wind turbine magnets to technologies that transform the fiber-reinforced composites in turbine blades into usable materials for other applications. The six winning teams, who hail from five states, demonstrated that their prototypes have exceptional potential as full-scale technologies that will enhance the wind recycling industry.
The Accelerate! phase winners are:
The winning teams can use their $500,000 cash award and technical support vouchers to advance their prototypes toward relevant scale demonstration and validation. While Accelerate! is the final competition phase of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize, a Pitch Day event is planned for 2025, at which participants will have the opportunity to present work completed since the close of the prize and demonstrate the commercial potential of their technologies.
The Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize is funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. It is part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges program and is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Source - www.energy.gov
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