Scientists Say Wind Turbines Could Be Recycled Into Edible Gummy Bears And Sports Drinks

"It’s all part of the global carbon cycle, and we’ve shown that we can go from biomass in the field to durable plastic materials and back to foodstuffs.”

The following report was first published on August 27th, 2022, on winepressnews.com.

Researchers from Michigan State University are claiming that in the future recycled wind turbine blades could be transformed into edible gummy bears. These scientists claim they have been able to synthesize a new type of resin that not only can be used in turbine blades, but also for other products including gummy candies and sports beverages.

Conventional and modern gummy bears are made with gelatin as the primary ingredient, and plenty of sugar and corn syrup, along with artificial colorings and flavorings.

Because wind turbines are not the most easily recyclable, they often pile up in landfills, causing all that fiberglass and other materials to essentially stay there untouched. But this new research purports to have found the solution for that. This new resin the scientists have created – which can be used and found in injection molds, sinks, countertops, acrylics, windows, and diapers – can also be ingested and made into things like sports drinks and gummy bears.

The following is a press release from the American Chemical Society:

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Wind power is an increasingly popular form of renewable energy. However, when it’s time to replace the huge turbine blades that convert wind into electricity, disposal is a problem. Now, scientists report a new composite resin suitable for making these behemoths that could later be recycled into new turbine blades or a variety of other products, including countertops, car taillights, diapers and even gummy bears.

John Dorgan, Ph.D., said:

“The beauty of our resin system is that at the end of its use cycle, we can dissolve it, and that releases it from whatever matrix it’s in so that it can be used over and over again in an infinite loop. That’s the goal of the circular economy.”

Made of fiberglass, wind turbine blades can be half a football field in length. Although some companies have found ways to recycle fiberglass into lower-value materials, most discarded blades end up in landfills. And the disposal problem is likely to get worse. Dorgan added:

“Larger wind turbine blades are more efficient, so companies keep making bigger and bigger ones. Often, wind farms will actually replace the turbine blades before the end of service life because the farms can generate more electricity with bigger blades.”

Dorgan and colleagues at Michigan State University made a new turbine material by combining glass fibers with a plant-derived polymer and a synthetic one. Panels made of this thermoplastic resin were strong and durable enough to be used in turbines or automobiles. The researchers dissolved the panels in fresh monomer and physically removed the glass fibers, allowing them to recast the material into new products of the same type. Importantly, the recast panels had the same physical properties as their predecessors.

In addition to new wind turbine blades, the novel resin could be used for a variety of other applications. By mixing the resin with different minerals, the team produced cultured stone that could be transformed into household objects, such as countertops and sinks.

“We’ve recently made a bathroom sink with the cultured stone, so we know it works.”

The researchers could also crush the recovered material and mix it with other plastic resins for injection molding, which is used to make items like laptop covers and power tools.

The material could even be upcycled into higher-value products. Digesting the thermoplastic resin in an alkaline solution released poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a common acrylic material for windows, car taillights and many other items. Raising the temperature of the digestion converted PMMA into poly(methacrylic acid), a super-absorbent polymer that is used in diapers. The alkaline digestion also produced potassium lactate, which can be purified and made into candy and sports drinks.

“We recovered food-grade potassium lactate and used it to make gummy bear candies, which I ate.”

Now that the researchers have demonstrated that the resin has suitable physical properties for wind turbines, they hope to make some moderately sized blades for field testing.

“The current limitation is that there’s not enough of the bioplastic that we’re using to satisfy this market, so there needs to be considerable production volume brought online if we’re going to actually start making wind turbines out of these materials.”

And is there a “yuck factor” involved in eating candy that was once part of a wind turbine? Dorgan doesn’t think so.

“A carbon atom derived from a plant, like corn or grass, is no different from a carbon atom that came from a fossil fuel. It’s all part of the global carbon cycle, and we’ve shown that we can go from biomass in the field to durable plastic materials and back to foodstuffs.”

The researchers acknowledge funding from the David L. and Denise M. Lamp Endowment.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

Boy ‘o boy, doesn’t that sound delicious and nutritious: just what I think of when I imagine peak athletic performance: sports drinks made from industrial waste!

But hey, it’s good for the “circular economy.” Insanity. Once again, we are reminded as to what “science” in the modern, conventional vernacular really means.

1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: [21] Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.

Bill Gates Says ‘Every Piece Of Bread I’ve Ever Eaten Is From Genetically Modified Wheat’ During Climate Conference In Kenya

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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