by Komoneed | Mar 5, 2025
ACCIONA has partnered with Australian professional surfer Josh Kerr and his brand Draft Surf, to create surfboards made from a retired wind turbine blade.
The initial range, crafted from a decommissioned blade from ACCIONA’s Waubra wind farm in Victoria, included 10 prototype surfboards as part of the company’s Turbine Made initiative.
The surfboards, hand-crafted on the Gold Coast, feature repurposed turbine blade strips built into the deck for strength and flex control. The fins of the board, made from recycled fibreglass, are said to provide stability, drive and speed, and the outer shell is further strengthened by incorporating recycled turbine blade particulate into the fibreglassing process.
Kerr said, “When ACCIONA approached us about being part of the solution and working together to create these surfboards, we jumped at the opportunity. At its core, our brand is about enabling the best surfing experience with quality products, in a sustainable way — which aligns with ACCIONA’s vision for Turbine Made.”
Draft Surf founder Josh Kerr with an ACCIONA Turbine Made surfboard prototype.
Launched in February 2025, Turbine Made is an initiative dedicated to exploring ways to transform decommissioned wind turbine blades into new materials and products. It represents the next step in ACCIONA’s efforts to advance circular economy in the renewable energy sector in Australia.
ACCIONA Energia’s global sustainability director Mariola Domenech said, “We know that in the next five to 10 years, countries like Australia will have a large volume of decommissioned wind turbine blades, so we’re acting now to explore new ways to recycle and reuse the material they are built from.
“The creation of a surfboard prototype, developed locally, is an example of how we’re reimagining the materials from decommissioned turbine blades and pushing the envelope of innovation when it comes to the circular economy.”
The Turbine Made initiative builds on ACCIONA’s previous work to repurpose decommissioned wind turbine blades. This includes a collaboration with European fashion brand El Ganso, to create sneakers featuring recycled blade material in their soles and integrating recycled blade materials into the torsion beams of solar trackers at a solar plant in Extremadura, Spain.
The company is also advancing in end-of-life turbine recycling through the development of a blade recycling plant in Navarra, Spain, which is set to become operational in 2026, creating 100 jobs and a processing capacity of 6000 tonnes of material per year.
“Sustainability isn’t just about reducing waste, it’s about product stewardship, ensuring that what we build today doesn’t become tomorrow’s environmental challenge,” Domenech said.
“By working with Australian manufacturers, designers and innovators, we can encourage the creation of practical, high-performance applications that benefit both industry and the environment.”
Top image caption: Professional surfer Josh Kerr holding an ACCIONA Turbine Made x Draft Surf surfboard prototype. Images: Supplied.
by Kate Mothes | Mar 5, 2025
Winning images highlight the vulnerability of the earth’s inhabitants and juxtapositions between nature and the human-built environment.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Our Beautiful and Fragile Planet Takes Center Stage in the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards appeared first on Colossal.
by Komoneed | Mar 4, 2025
This post was originally published on We Build ValueL’articolo From Burj Khalifa to The Shard: 10 structural engineering masterpieces with incredible viewpoints proviene da We Build...
by Komoneed | Mar 4, 2025
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by Komoneed | Mar 4, 2025
RMIT University’s coffee concrete inventors have won an award at Universities Australia’s Shaping Australia Awards in the ‘Problem Solver’ category.
Australia generates around 75,000 tonnes of ground coffee waste annually, contributing to 6.87 million tonnes of organic waste in landfills. This waste accounts for 3% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The coffee innovation, made by Dr Rajeev Roychand, Professor Jie Li, Associate Professor Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, Dr Mohammad Saberian, Professor Guomin (Kevin) Zhang and Professor Chun Qing Li, strengthens concrete by 30% using biochar made from spent coffee grounds, reducing this waste going to landfill. The coffee biochar can replace a portion of the sand that is used to make concrete.
Roychand and Li received the Problem Solver 2024 People’s Choice Winner award on behalf of the team at Parliament House in Canberra. Roychand, the lead inventor of the coffee concrete, said the team was thrilled to win the award.
“Winning this national award is outstanding recognition of our vision to transform waste materials into valuable construction resources,” said Roychand, from the School of Engineering.
“What began as research into coffee grounds has now evolved into a comprehensive program converting various types of organic waste into biochar that could help reshape the environmental footprint of the built environment.”
Dr Rajeev Roychand (left) and Professor Jie Li (right) celebrate their national research award with RMIT Vice-Chancellor Professor Alec Cameron at Parliament House in Canberra. Image: Supplied.
Within a year, the team progressed from the lab to real-world applications with industry and government partners, including a footpath trial in Gisborne, Victoria.
The team’s coffee concrete is also being used in Victoria’s ‘Big Build’ projects and is displayed in Germany’s prestigious Futurium museum as an innovative material for a sustainable future.
Li said their research advanced sustainable construction, enabling the transformation of diverse organic waste streams into high-performance construction materials.
“This Australian-led innovation demonstrates how we can pioneer solutions for global environmental challenges,” Li said.
Kilmartin-Lynch, a proud Taungurung man from Mansfield in Victoria, was at RMIT when the School of Engineering team conducted this research and is now at Monash University.
“By integrating the circular economy with advanced materials engineering, we’re creating new pathways for reducing carbon emissions while enhancing structural performance,” said Kilmartin-Lynch.
Saberian said their innovation came at a crucial time with global sand demand projected to rise by 45% over the next four decades.
“We’re not only addressing waste management but also helping preserve this increasingly scarce natural resource that is vital for construction worldwide,” Saberian said.
Following the success of the research, the team has expanded its collaboration with industry leaders both locally and internationally, including RMIT’s partnership with Ambiolock in Australia and C-Green in Sweden.
‘Transforming spent coffee grounds into a valuable resource for the enhancement of concrete strength’ is published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
Image caption: Coffee biochar for concrete.
