The Environment Thread :-)
58 watchers
Feb 2022
3:46pm, 4 Feb 2022
4,891 posts
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run free
When does Photovoltaic stop being green? Have a look at Taihang Mountain in China: - Is this good? - Will this reduce biodiversity? |
Feb 2022
4:40pm, 4 Feb 2022
41,303 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
I think we need to do everything we can to stop carbon emission into the atmosphere. We need to site PV where it has the least damaging effect - deserts presumably or other locations with minimal biological impact. In UK, and I'm sure rest of Europe there is quite a stringent environment impact survey done as part of planning - yes, even those big, some would say ugly, wind farms on our pretty hills and mountains. I don't know what the specific environment is at that location in China. If thousands of hectares of trees or other plant life had to be damaged, covered, or removed, it does seem a poor choice of location. In a positive tech story - how about this for energy storage for excess wind, to be releasable when demand is greater than supply...? bbc.co.uk Looks pretty cool to me. The ocean battery. Not a battery at all, but another one of these weight or pressure stores, filled using excess energy, then drawn from when supply is low. Like pump hydro, or weights down a shaft or the air pressure ones on land. But this is sacs of water under pressure on ocean floor?  G
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Feb 2022
4:41pm, 4 Feb 2022
41,304 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Just watched the video and to be honest run free, it looks reasonably sympathetic with the natural environment. But that's a completely ignorant visual appraisal on my part from a 30 second video! G
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Feb 2022
4:43pm, 4 Feb 2022
16,565 posts
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rf_fozzy
Small scale disruption for bigger benefits. Bigger biodiversity loss due to a warming planet/changing climate. There does seem to be vegetation in amongst the panels, so they've not stripped it, and quite often the situations create opportunities for some species. As long as the whole area for miles doesn't get plastered with panels, it's probably ok. Otherwise you could make the same arguments about, e.g. housing developments, any buildings. Any human activity at all really. |
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Feb 2022
4:44pm, 4 Feb 2022
16,566 posts
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rf_fozzy
That looks promising Happy.
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Feb 2022
5:20pm, 4 Feb 2022
4,892 posts
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run free
Thanks all. Hope it really does balance off. HG - that does clever
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Feb 2022
5:25pm, 4 Feb 2022
2,872 posts
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JRitchie
I read a piece (can’t remember where) about PV over canals in India which has the double benefit of keeping it cooler underneath and supporting the effectiveness of the canal system.
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Feb 2022
5:50pm, 4 Feb 2022
11,951 posts
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jda
PV panels don’t necessarily kill the underlying vegetation, there’s often more than enough sunlight and reduced evaporation can be a benefit.
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Feb 2022
5:59pm, 4 Feb 2022
2,513 posts
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Fields
I’ve seen sheep grazing around them at a few locations so there must be something for them to eat!
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Feb 2022
6:02pm, 4 Feb 2022
11,952 posts
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jda
Yes using sheep to aid maintenance is common. Keeps the panels clear of vegetation and the sheep get the grazing. There may be some reduction in farm productivity compared to no PVs, I don’t know for sure and it may depend on the density of the panels.
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Useful Links
FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.- why Kodak completely missed the boat when it came to digital cameras
- rf_fozzy: This is quite a good article about how disruptive technology work
- run free's Grand Designs example Ben Laws is a man who built his dream
- Carbon Commentary carboncommentary.com
- UK ombudsman for problems with electricity or gas
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