German scientists develop natural fiber wind turbine blades to reduce waste

German researchers from Kiel University of Applied Sciences (HAW Kiel) and boatbuilder Nuebold Yachtbau GmbH are developing wind turbine rotor blades made entirely from renewable natural materials—flax, balsa wood, and paulownia—to replace conventional fiberglass blades and reduce the wind energy sector’s growing waste problem. Supported by €175,000 from the Schleswig-Holstein Energy and Climate Protection Agency, the team aims to produce a prototype for small wind turbines (rotor areas under 200 square meters) by 2027. Their goal is to demonstrate that natural fiber blades can meet technical requirements while enabling a more sustainable lifecycle for wind turbines. Traditional fiberglass blades, though durable, pose significant environmental challenges due to their energy-intensive production and difficulty in recycling, contributing to tens of thousands of tons of waste annually, with projections of 2.2 million tons in the US by 2050. Unlike previous recycling efforts focused on recovering glass fibers, this project emphasizes a natural fiber approach. The researchers will test