SSE Renewables
University of Strathclyde, Naval Architecture Department and IDCORE CDT

The development of the wind industry is crucial to reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change. However, while wind energy itself is renewable, the material requirement for wind farms is vast and this resource demand will only increase as the industry grows. To address this material consumption, the adoption of a circular economy is the sector’s best route to reducing waste, reusing materials, and extending the life of resources.

Eve’s project aims to create an assessment tool and a new way to measure how well wind projects are adopting circular economy principles. By looking at all stages of wind farm development the project will review and refine existing indicators and metrics to better assess how “circular” current wind projects are.

The tool will help wind companies evaluate circularity performance across projects informing decision making through qualitative and quantitative indicators. It will offer a standardised way to compare circular performance of wind farm designs and projects, ultimately guiding the industry towards more sustainable practices that can be applied on a wide scale.

Biography:

Growing up near one of the UK’s first commercial wind turbines, Eve developed a lifelong passion for renewable energy. She went on to earn a First-Class MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Hull and after some time in industry joined the IDCORE program to pursue an Industrial-Based Doctorate in Offshore Renewable Energy at the University of Edinburgh. Through this experience Eve has been deeply involved in the Berwick Bank project with SSE Renewables, the industrial partner supporting her EngD research.