Blowing Hot, Blowing Cold

One of the big issues, environmentally, at this time is the production of ‘green’ energy. We need it if we are to reduce carbon emissions and thereby save the planet if there is truth that man-made carbon emissions are  responsible for climate changes; another hot topic. Irregardless of that as an issue, we do need to reduce carbon emissions for public safety and health reasons.

Wind turbines dot the landscape

Extracting power from the wind. Wind turbines, or colloquially referred to as wind farms, seem to be the answer. The governments have been sold on the idea, corporations who produce the materials for them and the companies that make them have sold the government on the idea. The idea has been peddled through the mainstream media (controlled by the corporations, of course) to the populace.

Wind farms are the answer.

I, however, am not so convinced. I agree that a wind farm doesn’t produce pollution, soil contaminants, etc. But what about the energy in producing the turbines and generators? From the mining of minerals, to the smelting, to the engineering involved. ALL that produces a lot of pollution, which takes decades of wind production to recover, if the wind blows.

Then there are issues like the wind is not a constant, so fossil fuel generators have to be kept idling on-line in the event of a drop in the wind creating a shortfall.

Image from Patriot's Corner

Ecological considerations like bird-kill that is down played by the industry to be negligible, tell that to endangered species, they won’t think it is negligible. But the human need for energy is far more important than the extinction of rare raptor species. This is an ugly secret of the powerful prop-turbine wind industry, a story that you won’t see on the “feel-good” TV commercials or read about in industry-sponsored ads or mainstream media. You can read more here and on Killer Wind.

I read sometime back about the drying of farmland behind wind turbines. The disturbed wind behind turbines raises the temperature by between 2 and 5 degrees, the result is that evaporates up to 7mm (rain equivalent) from the soil during the day. In some areas that could be catastrophic resulting in the creation of arid land; land that was used for pasture and crops and can no longer support such uses.

The argument is that the turbines don’t affect so much area. But a recent photo shows the magnitude of the area involved.

Clouds forming in the wakes of the front row of wind turbines of Horns Rev wind farm, Denmark. Photograph: Aeolus

Photo from The Guardian: Are Wind Turbines Increasing Carbon Emissions?

The area is, in fact, quite considerable. Not only that but the altitude of the disturbed air can reach up to 1,000 metres (3,000ft) altitude; thereby creating climatic changes, affecting rainfall and storm direction. You can read more on Tainted Green.

Erosion is another highly contentious issue, whereas wind erosion has always existed, the erosion caused by the disturbed wind flow exacerbates the rate rate of erosion.

The military have even noted radar blackout areas associated with wind farms.

Wind power is a multi-million dollar industry, the controllers of which receive huge, and I mean colossal, subsidies, but many call the whole idea a scam.

Where there is money involved there are lies, when there is BIG money involved the lies are proportionately BIGGER.

The governments will never question it, because the corporations tell them not to; after all, who owns the governments?

.

Even then, there are other issues. Wind turbines break, fall, fail, etc. 1,500 accidents and incidents are recorded over a five year period on Britain alone.

“The noise annoyance caused by wind turbines can lead to sleep deprivation, memory and cognitive issues, vertigo and dizziness, and, finally, heart issues like rapid heart rate.” From: ‘Wrecking our heaven’. Airborne dust pollution hasn’t been mentioned, how much more is there to consider when calculating the costs of wind energy.

I remain, not convinced.

The Power of Poo!

The concept is simple; Prisoners go to the toilet, their waste is collected, it makes gas, the gas goes to the kitchen, prisoners cook using the gas, eat the food they cook, go to the toilet… and the whole process starts again.

NSINDA PRISON, Rwanda, Nov 21 (Reuters) – A prisoner ignites a faint blue flame under one of 10 massive stoves in a prison kitchen in eastern Rwanda to start preparing a maize and bean lunch for the inmates.

Once powered by costly, environmentally-damaging firewood, the kitchen in Nsinda prison now runs on a free, renewable resource – the waste from nearly 8,000 inmates, many jailed for their part in the 1994 genocide, and manure from cows.

Rwanda has installed biogas plants in all 14 of its prisons, one small part of the central African nation’s plan to use renewable energy rather than the charcoal and firewood that provides 85 percent of its energy needs.

It plans to take biogas into Rwandan homes, where just 14 percent of the population currently has access to electricity, the Energy Ministry says.

“Before using biogas, we were using 1 billion Rwandan francs ($1.7 million) to buy firewood each year. After using biogas, we have reduced that amount by 85 percent.” Emmanuel Ndori, director of biogas production in Rwanda’s prisons, told Reuters. read more

Source: Kigali Wire