Andrew Harwell

Andrew Harwell guides how turbines are designed, manufactured and retired, to reduce emissions and waste at Vestas, the wind turbine maker. 

From 2023 to 2025, Harwell spearheaded Vestas’ first industrial-scale use of low-emissions steel, unlocking over 95,000 tons in projected carbon dioxide emissions avoidance and creating a model for an even larger deployment. Harwell also helped turn a cutting-edge blade recycling innovation into a commercially scalable solution, enabling thousands of end-of-life blades to be recovered and reused instead of sent to landfill or incinerated.

Harwell, who has undergraduate degrees in ecology and environmental sociology, has also worked as a park ranger, policy researcher and legal intern in Washington, D.C.