Research on repurposing decommissioned wind turbine blades is making European headlines, as two BladeBridges have been installed in Ireland.

The Re-Wind Network developed the bridges, which use sections of wind turbine blades for structural support. Russell Gentry, professor in the School of Architecture, leads the United States team.

The Network is an international collaboration of academic researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, University College Cork, Queen’s University Belfast, City University New York, Munster Technological University, University College Dublin, and the BladeBridge.ie company. 

The Tech team is developing a third BladeBridge for installation in Atlanta.

Although the first bridge was installed in January of 2022, the team's work has been featured in several media stories in recent months:

• The Conversation: Wind turbine blades: inside the battle to overcome their waste problem
• RTE TV, Ireland's public service broadcaster, documentary: Heated
• World Economic Forum: video on wind turbine blade end-of-life
• The Independent: Wind turbine blades repurposed into bridges
• Newsweek: Wind Turbine Blades Could Soon Appear on Your Street
• Time: This Group Is Helping Find New Ways to Recycle Old Wind Turbine Blades

Gentry and other members of the Re-Wind Network also presented at the International Energy Agency Wind Task 45 meeting in mid-November.