A Sustainable Solution: Compostable Wind Turbine Blades

Wind turbine blades are a major source of environmental pollution and waste. Learn how UC Davis is creating an ecologically sound solution for their disposal. Students, faculty and researchers in the Advanced Composites Research, Engineering and Science (ACRES) lab in the UC Davis College of Engineering are building compostable wind turbine blades from bamboo and mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. While the researchers are currently focused on building a wind turbine blade prototype, incorporating mycelium into building materials could have larger implications for sustainable structures. #Sustainability | #WindTurbine | #compost Chapters: 0:00 - Intro to the ACRES lab 0:20 - Testing wind turbine blades 1:00 - Mycelium as a self-healing material 1:33 - Using fungi to decontaminate soil and water 1:45 - Sustainable engineering practices Video description: Four people in a research lab look at a small wind turbine blade prototype made of bamboo. There are close-ups of the blade with bamboo and composite material inside, a ball of mycelium with biomass, and white mycelium growing underground. The researchers attach the blade prototype with a green fabric cover to the wind turbine and demonstrate how it spins. Photos show a mushroom growing out of a block of composite material and a bag of white mycelium with brown biomass and brake fluid. The researchers talk and look at the wind turbine and attached blade prototype. Written on screen: 0:01 - The Advanced Composites Research, Engineering and Science lab at UC Davis is designing compostable wind turbine blades. 0:12 - The biodegradable blades are made of bamboo and mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. 1:40 - Mycelium with biomass and brake fluid