Wind Power – the year round
Wind power is only one of many possibilities of using renewable energy. In order to tap this energy on a commercial scale, windmills must be equipped with very long rotor blades. These blades are almost entirely made from fibre-reinforced plastics, as only this material is able to withstand the permanent mechanical stress on a rotor of this size. At present, offshore windmills are built with a rotor diameter of 125 m and a rated output of five megawatts of electricity.
Renewable energy
With major prospects for the future, Europe will take a leading part in the development of new sources for renewable energy. At a meeting in Brussels held in March 2007, the EU‘s 27 heads of state and government agreed to boost the share of renewable energies in the European energy balance from currently 6.4% to 20% by 2020. Intelligent plastics solutions will make a substantial contribution to the improvement of the European energy balance sheet.