Crypto News: Texas’ wind turbine graveyard

Abandoned wind turbine blades. Indictments. Broken promises. Rattlesnakes. Ticked off locals and multinational companies. Today's newsletter has it all.

We take you to Texas and the town of Sweetwater, which has a mess on its hands after a company failed to deliver on its promise to recycle the blades. Plus, Japan is taking steps to set up its carbon market.

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Blown opportunity

By Saabira Chaudhuri

For nearly a decade, residents of Sweetwater have been confronted by a jarring sight as they leave and enter this small West Texas town: thousands of used wind-turbine blades.

The blades take up nearly 1 million square feet in a field off Interstate 20. Hundreds more occupy a second site nearby. Originally up to 200 feet long — nearly the wingspan of a Boeing 747 — the blades have been cut into thirds, exposing gaping openings. Locals complain they're a haven for rattlesnakes, collect water that attracts mosquitoes and pose a threat to children living nearby.

The town has repeatedly asked the company that left the blades there to remove them, with no success.

"It's really ugly," says Samantha Morrow, the city attorney. She's received quotes to remove the blades, but they range from $13 million to $54 million, beyond the city's budget.

Disused blades in a field off State Highway 70. Photographer: Brenda Bazán/Bloomberg — Disused blades in a field off State Highway 70.

Thousands of visitors come to Sweetwater each year for its rattlesnake roundup, and the town also draws traffic tied to nearby wind energy projects. Miesha Adames, Sweetwater's executive director of economic development, says the blades have damaged the town's reputation.

Texan officials have had enough. Attorney General Ken Paxton last month filed a civil lawsuit against Global Fiberglass Solutions, the recycling company that left the blades in Sweetwater.

Four people have been indicted for illegal dumping and theft of property. The Nolan County District Attorney is seeking significant jail time and says more charges are likely.

While the case is extraordinary, it offers a window into the larger challenge of disposing of turbine blades, and other complex plastic-infused materials, after their useful life. Blade waste has been increasing as older turbines are replaced or refurbished, and the world could see some 43 million tons of it by 2050, according to one estimate.

Low-carbon wind power is a vital tool to keep global temperatures in check, and waste from wind projects makes up only a tiny fraction of what flows to landfills every year. The local environmental impacts of renewable energy are also far eclipsed by those of fossil fuel production.

But the waste is bad public relations for an industry reliant on appearing clean and green. It's also a ripe target for political opponents of wind farms, which President Donald Trump has decried as dangerous, inefficient and ugly.

Back in 2009, Don Lilly and Ken Weyant founded Global Fiberglass Solutions in Bothell, Washington, after being introduced by a mutual friend. Lilly until that point had worked in software sales and knew nothing about recycling. Weyant — who died in 2015 — was an accountant who had developed an interest in hard-to-reuse materials. He wanted a partner who "thought outside the box," according to Lilly.

Up to 90% of a wind turbine's mass can be easily recycled, but not the blades. They contain layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber wrapped around a core of balsa wood or plastic foam. Liquid resin is drawn through the fibers and cured, hardening the structure. Separating these materials for recycling is complex and costly. Transportation adds to the expense, since moving the blades often requires specialist trucks and permits.

A sign from Global Fiberglass Solutions on State Highway 70 claims discarded wind turbine blades are being prepared for recycling in Sweetwater, Texas on March 6, 2026. Photographer: Brenda Bazán — A sign from Global Fiberglass Solutions on State Highway 70 claims discarded wind turbine blades are being prepared for recycling in Sweetwater, Texas on March 6, 2026.

In 2016, Global Fiberglass sent GE executives a presentation with photos of manhole covers, pallets and panels that it said it could make from old blades. The presentation offered GE the option to buy these at discounted prices as well as "joint PR activity on recycling efforts," according to court filings.

The following year, 2017, the company moved into a former aluminum recycling plant in Sweetwater. Soon after, GE struck two deals for Global Fiberglass to remove and recycle nearly 5,000 old blades, at a per-blade price of more than $3,500.

The company started to amass blades. But there was a problem: It hadn't lined up customers for what it planned to recycle.

Discarded wind turbine blades in Sweetwater. Photographer: Brenda Bazán/Bloomberg Photographer: Brenda Bazán/Bloomberg — Discarded wind turbine blades in Sweetwater.

In 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued an enforcement order requiring Global Fiberglass to obtain permits for existing blades and stop accepting new material until it did. It didn't comply, the commission said, so it referred the matter to the attorney general. According to Paxton's office, Global Fiberglass has since accepted numerous deliveries of turbine parts to its main Sweetwater site.

Some blades were brought in by Dent Trucking, a Sweetwater firm that started hauling for Global Fiberglass in 2017. Owner Cliff Dent said he bought seven extra-long trailers, at a cost of $35,000 each, especially to transfer blades, but after a while he stopped getting paid. He said he is owed $590,000 and has had to use his retirement savings to keep Dent Trucking afloat.

"It's been a wreck for our company," Dent said. Lilly didn't comment on Dent's allegations.

Dent last hauled blades for Global Fiberglass in 2023 but still worries about children from the neighboring housing complex getting hurt by the blades.

"They're like handmade forts to go play in. They're stacked and they're dangerous," he said. "For us, this started out as a blessing but it's turned into a nightmare."

Read the full story for more details on a separate lawsuit in Iowa.

A ton of trouble

3.4 million

The number of tons of decommissioned wind turbine blades in 2050, based on data from BloombergNEF.

Trash or treasure?

"People criticized wind as 'trash energy' because of the unrecyclable blades. I wasn't convinced."

Robert Tsai

Chairman, Swancor Holding Co.

Tsai's Taiwan-based company has developed material that mimics the physical properties of current blades but can be chemically recycled. It remains to be seen if developers will adopt new technology, though.

Japan's new rules

By Aaron Clark

Major companies in Japan face mandatory new rules on climate reporting under the next phase in the country's planned national emissions trading system.

Reporting requirements begin in April for about 300 to 400 firms with annual Scope 1, or direct, emissions of at least 100,000 metric tons. By September 2027, the businesses — which collectively account for about 60% of Japan's emissions — will need to submit calculations on their climate footprint and set out reduction targets.

Trading in the market is scheduled to begin next year following the allocation of emissions allowances.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.

This week's Zero

Zack Polanski is challenging the notion that you can't be Green and a popular politician. Since he became the leader of the UK's Green Party in September 2025, he has run a campaign that's pushed his party ahead of the incumbent Labour Party and opposition Conservative Party in some polls. It's a remarkable rise in a short span of time. How did he pull it off — and what will he do if the Green Party gets into power?

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

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