We Need Solutions For Retired Wind Turbines

We need solutions for retired wind turbines — solutions other than landfills. Scott Coenen, the executive director of the Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum, has a lot to say about this, and I think we should sit up and pay attention.

The entire point of clean energy is grounded in one word, “clean.” If we are discarding clean energy tools such as wind turbines into landfills, then we are not being as clean as we could be. That doesn’t put wind power anywhere close to coal or natural gas in terms of dirtiness, but it also leaves open a big window for being greener.

Coenen refers to an incident where there was a photo shared all over social media of wind turbine blades being buried in a Wyoming landfill. The picture illuminates a challenge to wind energy that needs solutions. Coenen believes we can find those solutions. I’m an artist, and I immediately had an idea of repurposing the turbines into artwork. I used to dumpster dive for odd things to paint on in my early twenties, and if I can take a window frame and turn it into a painting, imagine what artists can do with retired wind turbines. Yes, they are huge, but we made them, and we can remake them.