What are wind turbines made of?
Wind turbines take 7 things directly, among them fiberglass, carbon fiber, epoxy, steel, copper wire and neodymium magnet. Trace them back and you pass 44 made things on the way to 25 raw materials.
How wind turbines are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 25 raw materials
- Silica sand through fiberglass
- Limestone through fiberglass
- Air through carbon fiber
- Rare earth ore through neodymium magnet
- Rock salt through fiberglass, soda ash
- Water through fiberglass, soda ash
- Trona through fiberglass, soda ash
- Crude oil through epoxy, propylene
- Natural gas through carbon fiber, ammonia
- Iron ore through steel, manganese
- Dolomite through steel, magnesium
- Manganese ore through steel, manganese
- Copper ore through printed circuit board, copper
- Nickel ore through neodymium magnet, nickel
- Zinc ore through neodymium magnet, zinc
- Corn through fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide
- Sulfur through epoxy, chlorine, sulfuric acid
- Coal through steel, manganese, coke
- Quartz through steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Tin ore through printed circuit board, solder, tin
- Lead ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Silver ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Sugarcane through fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through fiberglass, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 37 things
Metals 12
Chemicals and fuels 20
Soda ashPropyleneAmmoniaPhenolAcetoneChlorineCaustic sodaOxygen gasQuicklimeArgonCarbon dioxideNaphthaBenzeneSulfuric acidPropaneHydrogenTolueneCharcoalFormaldehydeMethanol