The development of wind power promises much in terms of providing us with renewable energy for the future and wind turbines could be the most effective way to harness that power.
Danish researchers now suggest that in order to assess the overall environmental impact of wind power, however, the finite lifespan of wind turbines and the need to replace and recycle them must be taken into account. Such an assessment will help policy makers and the industry to develop the green credentials of wind power more effectively.
Writing recently in the Inderscience publication, International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, the researchers describe a prospective case study for managing environmental aspects of wind turbines. Their suggested plan for assessing the overall impact of installing and operating wind turbines should be adopted by the industry and policy makers, they say.
Wind turbines are one of the most environmentally sound technologies for producing electricity, explain the researchers. However, the removal and recycling phase of wind turbines has been identified as a blind spot in assessing their overall environmental impact. Most studies have ignored this phase and focused entirely on their operation and in some cases the production and installation of wind turbines.
Foresight and innovation analysts Per Dannemand Andersen and Mads Borup working with wind energy expert Thomas Krogh have devised a method for mapping and mitigating the negative environmental impacts of wind turbines which considers the future removal and recycling of offshore wind turbines up to the year 2050. By combining life-cycle assessment and taking into account future developments in this area of renewable energy, the team hopes that the wind power industry will be able to minimize any potential negative impact of their use. More .....
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Making More Biofuel Means More Land to Use
These are the two questions that are frequently asked in the production of biofuels: How much biofuel can we grow? How much land will it take?
To estimate maximum biofuels production available acreages are cited, along with crop yields and production rates, but the totals fall far short of current consumption and estimated future growth in transport fuel use.
Meanwhile the twin spectres loom of "Peak Oil" and declining oil supplies on one hand and global warming caused by fossil-fuel carbon emissions on the other.
Seeking to bridge the unbridgeable gap, there's widespread fascination with high-yielding oil crops, particularly oil-bearing algae (though nobody has actually produced any biodiesel from algae yet, apart from laboratory tests), ethanol from cellulose (also a long way from commercial production), and oil palms.
It seems obvious that the highest-yielding crops will produce the most energy from the least amount of land.
But high yield is not the only factor in farming, and it may not always be the most important factor. It can make more sense for a farmer to grow a lower-yielding crop if it has more useful by-products or requires fewer inputs or less labour or it fixes more soil nitrogen for fertiliser or it fits a crop rotation better. Or if it fits an integrated on-farm biofuels production system better. The how-much-land estimates don't seem to include such things as integrated on-farm biofuels production systems. There are quite a lot of things they don't include.
Sustainable farming
Biofuels crops have to be grown, and there's a lot of common ground between growing sustainable fuel and growing sustainable food.
Large-scale industrialised farms claim to be the most efficient. They concentrate on growing high-yielding monocrops (only one crop) by mass-production methods with a lot of inputs, and they use a lot of fossil-fuel to do it. Industrial farming is a major source of global warming carbon emissions.
A sustainable mixed farm can produce its own fuel, with much or possibly all of it coming from crop by-products and waste products without any dedicated land use, and with very low input levels.
That sheds a different light on how much land is needed to grow "enough" biofuels: less land with sustainable farming, which also has much lower fossil-fuels inputs than industrial farming. Sustainable farming is the fastest-growing agricultural sector in many countries, millions of farmers worldwide are turning to sustainable methods.
Source: http://www.journeytoforever.org
To estimate maximum biofuels production available acreages are cited, along with crop yields and production rates, but the totals fall far short of current consumption and estimated future growth in transport fuel use.
Meanwhile the twin spectres loom of "Peak Oil" and declining oil supplies on one hand and global warming caused by fossil-fuel carbon emissions on the other.
Seeking to bridge the unbridgeable gap, there's widespread fascination with high-yielding oil crops, particularly oil-bearing algae (though nobody has actually produced any biodiesel from algae yet, apart from laboratory tests), ethanol from cellulose (also a long way from commercial production), and oil palms.
It seems obvious that the highest-yielding crops will produce the most energy from the least amount of land.
But high yield is not the only factor in farming, and it may not always be the most important factor. It can make more sense for a farmer to grow a lower-yielding crop if it has more useful by-products or requires fewer inputs or less labour or it fixes more soil nitrogen for fertiliser or it fits a crop rotation better. Or if it fits an integrated on-farm biofuels production system better. The how-much-land estimates don't seem to include such things as integrated on-farm biofuels production systems. There are quite a lot of things they don't include.
Sustainable farming
Biofuels crops have to be grown, and there's a lot of common ground between growing sustainable fuel and growing sustainable food.
Large-scale industrialised farms claim to be the most efficient. They concentrate on growing high-yielding monocrops (only one crop) by mass-production methods with a lot of inputs, and they use a lot of fossil-fuel to do it. Industrial farming is a major source of global warming carbon emissions.
A sustainable mixed farm can produce its own fuel, with much or possibly all of it coming from crop by-products and waste products without any dedicated land use, and with very low input levels.
That sheds a different light on how much land is needed to grow "enough" biofuels: less land with sustainable farming, which also has much lower fossil-fuels inputs than industrial farming. Sustainable farming is the fastest-growing agricultural sector in many countries, millions of farmers worldwide are turning to sustainable methods.
Source: http://www.journeytoforever.org
Potential Renewable Energy from Tidal Power in San Francisco Bay
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the Golden Gate Energy Company and the City and County of San Francisco have signed an agreement to conduct a comprehensive study into the feasibility of tide-generated power in the San Francisco Bay.
The study has already begun, with the initial phases expected to last approximately one year. According to a PG&E press release, the study will assess the energy-generating potential of the bay; existing and emerging technologies for transforming tidal motion into electricity; the costs, benefits and economic feasibility of such generation; and any potential environmental impacts of this type of power.
Environmentalists have expressed concern that massive ocean turbines could harm sea life.
The San Francisco Bay has been identified as a prime location for tidal energy generation. "The Golden Gate is the biggest and best site in the lower 48 states," said Roger Bedard of the Electric Power Research Institute "When the tide's going out, the whole Northern California watershed all flows through." More .....
Source: NewsTarget Network
The study has already begun, with the initial phases expected to last approximately one year. According to a PG&E press release, the study will assess the energy-generating potential of the bay; existing and emerging technologies for transforming tidal motion into electricity; the costs, benefits and economic feasibility of such generation; and any potential environmental impacts of this type of power.
Environmentalists have expressed concern that massive ocean turbines could harm sea life.
The San Francisco Bay has been identified as a prime location for tidal energy generation. "The Golden Gate is the biggest and best site in the lower 48 states," said Roger Bedard of the Electric Power Research Institute "When the tide's going out, the whole Northern California watershed all flows through." More .....
Source: NewsTarget Network
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