Repurposed Wind Turbine Blades and 5 Other Amazing Signs of Progress in the Southeast

A few clean energy projects around the Southeast show how the shift toward renewables is playing out on the ground. In North Carolina, a new study found solar farms use very little farmland compared to other common land uses, while still paying landowners and generating local tax revenue. More than 200 electric school buses, spread across 31 utilities in 21 states, are now sending stored battery power back to the electric grid during high-demand periods, a setup known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Costco built a distribution center in Port St. Lucie, Florida that runs on solar power and battery storage, covering both the building and its electric vehicle chargers.

Atlanta now requires reflective roofing on new construction, which can lower rooftop and neighborhood temperatures by several degrees in the hottest parts of the city and may help residents spend less on air conditioning. Tennessee has launched a rebate program to help apartment buildings and other multifamily properties install electric vehicle chargers; buildings with at least four units can apply for rebates covering up to 10 charging plugs per site.

Elsewhere, retired wind turbine blades are getting a second life: one became a bus-stop bench in Huntersville, North Carolina, and another was turned into a footbridge in an Atlanta park. These reuse projects are part of a broader push to deal with turbine blades, which are harder to recycle than most other turbine parts. None of these programs require action from homeowners outside the areas mentioned, but they point to changes — like EV charging rebates or roofing rules — that may eventually show up in other states too.