Sustainable energy wind turbines

Key words sustainable energy, wind turbines, tidal energy, wave energy, solar power, advanced polymer/fibre composites. 

Abstract This chapter will discuss advances in the properties, production and manufacturing techniques of the advanced synthetic fibre/polymer composite materials that are utilised in the manufacture of machines that produce sustainable energy. Furthermore, it will suggest methods for the repair, maintenance and recycling of advanced polymer composite wind turbine blades. 

Abstract This chapter will introduce advances in properties, production and manufacturing techniques of the advanced polymer/fibre composite materials that are utilised in the manufacture of machines that produce sustainable energy. Chapter 19 discussed the various methods of transferring wind, tidal, wave and solar energies into electrical power and this chapter will show how advanced composites are utilised in these various machines. Furthermore, it will suggest methods for the repair, maintenance and recycling of advanced polymer composite wind turbine blades. Finally, the future trends of sustainable energy systems and the role that polymers and polymer/fibre composites will have in their manufacture/fabrication will be evaluated. 

This chapter could not have been written without the help of manufacturing firms concerned with composite materials and structural components made from those materials which are associated with the field of sustainable energy. These firms include ACG, Derbyshire, UK Gurit, Isle of Wight, UK Solent Composite Systems, Isle of Wight Wind Power Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK Aviation Enterprise, Lamboum, UK Pulse Tidal Ltd, Sheffield, UK Marine Turbines, Bristol, UK Exxonmobil, Leatherhead, UK Grimshaw, Architects, London, UK and the journal Reinforced Plastics, Elsevier, Oxford, UK. The author would like to express his thanks to the members of staff of these firms for their invaluable help. 

Offshore wind power has recently become a highly sought after source of sustainable energy. It consists of the generation of electricity through wind turbine farms located in bodies of water off the coast. Wind farms are increasingly proposed offshore as there are higher wind speeds available and they do not take up valuable land space. 

---