Wind-turbine Blade Repurposing#

A sustainability-focused ideation activity about repurposing retired wind-turbine blade sections.

See Text Problem Catalog for the text family index.

Quick Facts#

Field

Value

Problem ID

ideation_wind_turbine_blade_repurposing

Problem Family

text

Implementation

TextProblem

Capabilities

citation-backed, prompt-packet, statement-markdown

Study Suitability

human-subjects-ready, ideation-friendly

Tags

text, human-subjects, ideation, sustainability, reuse, wind-energy

Taxonomy#

Formulation

textual_prompt

Is Dynamic

no

Orientation

engineering_practical

Objective Mode

qualitative

Constraint Nature

embedded-constraints

Tags

text, human-subjects, ideation, sustainability, reuse, wind-energy

Deliverable Type

concepts

Timebox Hint (Minutes)

20

Participants

individual

Evaluation Mode

idea_generation

Statement#

In this next task you will be asked to generate many alternate uses for different wind-turbine blade sections.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, as of the end of 2019 there are over 650,000 wind turbine installations globally. As wind turbines age and retire, their disposal must be considered. Wind turbine blades are made of materials such as glass-fiber reinforced polyester to increase lightweightness, stability, and corrosionresistance. Such composites are often challenging to recycle; therefore, we must find alternatives to disposal. However, this is also an opportunity to repurpose the used wind-turbine blades for other creative uses.

Please do NOT reuse such parts in wind-turbine, airplane or similar applications that risk safety.

You should maximize the amount of material reused for each part, which is made of fiber-reinforced composites and not meltable (high strength/strong, high stiffness/brittle, low density/light).

You will have 10 minutes each to generate alternate uses for a total of two wind-turbine blade sections.

Prompt Profile#

Field

Value

Deliverable Type

concepts

Timebox Hint (Minutes)

20

Participants

individual

Evaluation Mode

idea_generation

Sources#

Key

Summary

arabian_shu_2021

Arabian and Shu (2021). Sustainable Creativity: Overcoming the Challenge of Scale When Repurposing Wind-Turbine Blades. ASME IDETC/CIE 2021, DETC2021-70668.

Raw Citation Records#

Arabian, K., and L. H. Shu (2021). Sustainable Creativity: Overcoming the Challenge of Scale When Repurposing Wind-Turbine Blades. ASME IDETC/CIE 2021, DETC2021-70668.