Original version

BBC World Service Australasia

The Climate Question

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that.

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Climate Question: How renewable are renewables?

Magazines & Reviews

23/04/2023 GMT

How renewable are renewables?

BBC World Service - The Climate Question, How renewable are renewables?

Why we could be heading for a renewables waste ‘mountain’, and how to avoid it

As the world scales up its production of wind turbines and solar farms, how can we avoid a future renewable waste mountain?

Wind and solar power will play a crucial role in curbing climate change, but what happens to all the worn-out turbines and photovoltaic panels once they are past their best?

Most wind turbine blades are almost impossible to recycle, and solar panels are very expensive to disassemble, but efforts are under way to prevent a possible renewable waste mountain.

Presenter Graihagh Jackson hears how old wind turbine blades are being turned into everything from bridges to flowerbeds, and we visit one of the world’s only solar panel recycling facilities. Plus – what’s the carbon footprint of a wind turbine or a solar panel in the first place?

Plus we hear from listeners Prateek, Alex and Elle. 

Let us know what you think about the show – email theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Contributors:
Paul Leahy, lecturer in wind energy at University College Cork, Republic of Ireland, and principal investigator at Re-Wind;
Ute Collier, deputy director of the Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre at the International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi;
Guy Chichignoud, chief technology officer, ROSI, France;
Vivian Jia Tong Li, campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia, Beijing.

Producer: Simon Tulett 
Researchers: Matt Toulson and Pierre-Antoine Denis
Series Producer: Alex Lewis 
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell 
Production Coordinators - Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Climate Question

How renewable are renewables?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

About BBC World Service