Sustainable Material Life Cycles - Is Wind Energy Really Sustainable?

Renewable energies, for example wind energy, are regarded as sustainable energies. A conference at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute for Advanced Study, HWK) in June, 2012, raised the question wether this is really the case. The conference addressed all materials involved throughout a full life cycle of a wind turbine. Sessions on the most relevant issues structured the event: material flows and sustainability, international developments, life cycle approach, logistics and rotor blades. Stimulating presentations and lively discussions characterized all sessions. With wind energy being a very young field, a lot of research still needs to be done, especially on all aspects of sustainability. Two areas were identified as especially relevant: offshore wind park maintenance and material efficiency.