Integrating life cycle assessment and material flow analysis for the environmental sustainability assessment of wind power: a case study for Mexico

Wind energy is one of the key technologies to address global climate targets. However, its End-of-Life (EoL) represents a challenge due to the material management, mainly the concrete of the foundation and composites of the blades. Mexico is one of the countries with the highest wind power installed capacity in the Americas, with 7.445 MW in 2022. With the first wind farm installed in 2007 for commercial production, it is expected to reach its EoL from 2027, followed by other wind farms over the next 20 years. Thereby, the aim of this work was to report circularity opportunities by comparing four EoL scenarios by conducting an environmental sustainability analysis of the wind energy sector in Mexico, through the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Analysis (MFA) methodologies. The methodology consisted of developing (i) a Mexican wind technology characterization, (ii) a literature review concerning LCA applied to wind energy, (iii) a technology-based analysis by an LCA and MFA in a cradle-to-grave approach applied to a wind farm as a case study, and (iv) a nationwide analysis by an MFA to inquire the national availability of materials after the EoL of the currently installed wind turbines. The results of the circular EoL modeling in the technologybased analysis revealed that the most challenging scenario in this study (S4) presented a reduction of approximately 30% in the environmental impact in most of the impact categories assessed compared to the linear scenario (S2). This reduction was presented mainly regarding mineral resources use (~70%) and human toxicity (~75%). In addition, the production stage was the main contributor in most of the impact categories assessed accounting for around 90%. Moreover, 2032, 2035, 2039, and 2041 were identified as the peak years in the availability of material from wind turbine waste, representing the most challenging years for material management. In 2039, the material availability will be the highest set between 645,760 to 1,018,206 tons, shared between Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon states Finally, this work concluded with the identification of the benefits of EoL circular modeling in the wind technology life cycle and the opportunities for developing a more sustainable wind turbine waste management in Mexico.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6805-3836