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We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
The article discusses a report published by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) that examined the technical feasibility of using wind energy for electricity generation. The report assessed the costs, impacts and challenges associated with the production of 20% wind energy by 2030. Results have shown that there is a need for an enhanced transmission infrastructure and an increase in turbine installations to achieve 20% wind energy.
By replacing fossil fuels bioenergy has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but indirect effects might partly or even completely eliminate this benefit. Production of bio-energy products, such as biofuels for transport, causes several indirect effects through their interactions with the global economic and physical systems. Indirect land-use change leads to GHG emissions – in some cases in the same order of magnitude as the fossil emissions – and loss of nature, but there are other relevant indirect effects as well. Intensification of agricultural production is another indirect effect and could be stimulated more to minimise the undesirable land conversion. However, intensification through increased...
One of the highest priorities in carbon sequestration science is the development of techniques for CO2 separation and capture, because it is expected to account for the majority of the total cost ( 75%). The most common currently used method of CO2 separation is reversible chemical absorption using monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent. In the current study, solvent degradation from this technique was studied using degraded MEA samples from the IMC Chemicals Facility in Trona, California. A major pathway to solvent degradation that had not been previously observed in laboratory experiments has been identified. This pathway, which is initiated by oxidation of the solvent, is a much more significant source of solvent degradation...
The Arctic National wildlife Refuge (ANWR) , located on the Alaska North Slope, is believed to contain high petroleum production potential. This region also has outstanding wildlife and wilderness values. Currently ANWR is closed to oil and gas leasing. However, Congress is considering an Interior Department recommendation to open a portion of ANWR to oil and gas production. Environmentalists maintain that petroleum exploration and development will have severe environmental effects on the calving activities of one of the largest caribou herds in the Arctic, negative impacts on the peregrine falcon, lesser snow goose, and muskox populations, as well as other detrimental environmental consequences. A draft study by...
The increased urgency of dealing with mitigation of the looming climate change has sparked renewed interest in the nuclear energy option. There exists a substantial stream of research on the amount of embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with nuclear generated electricity. While conventional fossil fuelled power plants cause emissions almost exclusively from the plant site, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear fuel cycle are caused in processing stages upstream and downstream from the plant. This paper distils the findings from a comprehensive literature review of energy and greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear fuel cycle and determines some of the causes for the widely varying...
As policy makers consider strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they need to understand the available options and the conditions under which these options become economically attractive. This paper explores the economics of carbon capture and sequestration technologies as applied to electric generating plants. The MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a general equilibrium model of the world economy, is used to model two of the most promising carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. The CCS technologies are based on a natural gas combined cycle plant and an integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant. Additionally, the role of natural gas combined cycle plants without...
As policy makers consider strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they need to understand the available options and the conditions under which these options become economically attractive. This paper explores the economics of carbon capture and sequestration technologies as applied to electric generating plants. The MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a general equilibrium model of the world economy, is used to model two of the most promising carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. The CCS technologies are based on a natural gas combined cycle plant and an integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant. Additionally, the role of natural gas combined cycle plants without...
Tidal energy has the technical potential to form part of a low carbon electricity sector, however, its ‘social potential’ is less clear, as few empirical studies of public beliefs and responses have been conducted to date. This research addressed this gap by investigating a tidal energy convertor in Northern Ireland, said to be the first grid-connected device of its kind in the world. Data was collected from 313 residents of two nearby villages using mixed methods, guided by a conceptual framework that avoided ‘NIMBY’ assumptions and instead drew on place theory. Findings indicated strong support for the project, arising from beliefs that the project enhanced local distinctiveness by ‘putting the area on the map...
Tidal energy has the technical potential to form part of a low carbon electricity sector, however, its ‘social potential’ is less clear, as few empirical studies of public beliefs and responses have been conducted to date. This research addressed this gap by investigating a tidal energy convertor in Northern Ireland, said to be the first grid-connected device of its kind in the world. Data was collected from 313 residents of two nearby villages using mixed methods, guided by a conceptual framework that avoided ‘NIMBY’ assumptions and instead drew on place theory. Findings indicated strong support for the project, arising from beliefs that the project enhanced local distinctiveness by ‘putting the area on the map...
Climate change has become a serious threat across the U.S. and nowhere in the U.S. is this more evident than in the potential impacts to the species inhabiting the low-lying Florida Keys. Over 30 threatened, endangered, candidate and at-risk species occur in the Florida Keys. Developing and implementing adaptation strategies is a critical part of planning for the survival of these unique species. A systematic and programmatic look at the threats, species and their habitats in the Florida Keys will leverage existing resources. This project will use a stakeholder-based process to identify and target alternative actions where changes to, or additional guidance may improve our ability to address climate change in our...
Lynch, D. 2009. Environmental impacts of organic agriculture: A Canadian perspective. Can. J. Plant Sci. 89: 621-628. Canada, in 2009, will enact a regulatory regime to oversee certified organic agricultural productions systems, based on a management standard. The overreaching goal of that standard is to develop farm enterprises that are "sustainable and harmonious with the environment". However, empirical evidence to shed light on claims of environmental benefits from organic agriculture is particularly scarce in Canada and North America generally, and has not been comprehensively summarized. This review examines the literature of Canadian and US studies which relate to environmental impacts of organic agriculture...
The purpose of this study was to develop land use projections for the middle of the next century. To separate the influence of climate change from other factors on land use, projections (a Central Projection and two variants) were made under both unchanged and changed climate. They cover the plausible range of alternative land claims of agriculture and urbanization. Impacts of climate change on land suitability as well as overall changes in the acreages of several land use categories are presented.
We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
By replacing fossil fuels bioenergy has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but indirect effects might partly or even completely eliminate this benefit. Production of bio-energy products, such as biofuels for transport, causes several indirect effects through their interactions with the global economic and physical systems. Indirect land-use change leads to GHG emissions – in some cases in the same order of magnitude as the fossil emissions – and loss of nature, but there are other relevant indirect effects as well. Intensification of agricultural production is another indirect effect and could be stimulated more to minimise the undesirable land conversion. However, intensification through increased...
The increased urgency of dealing with mitigation of the looming climate change has sparked renewed interest in the nuclear energy option. There exists a substantial stream of research on the amount of embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with nuclear generated electricity. While conventional fossil fuelled power plants cause emissions almost exclusively from the plant site, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear fuel cycle are caused in processing stages upstream and downstream from the plant. This paper distils the findings from a comprehensive literature review of energy and greenhouse gas emissions in the nuclear fuel cycle and determines some of the causes for the widely varying...
This paper introduces the analyses of the potential impacts of climate change on the city of Chicago and the Great Lakes region and potential response options that provide the basis for this special issue. Covering projected changes in climate and hydrology, this collection of studies first estimates the potential impacts of climate change on human health, natural ecosystems, water resources, energy, and infrastructure in the city of Chicago and the surrounding Great Lakes region. A consistent set of future climate projections have been used as the basis for each analysis, which together provide a vivid impression of the consequences likely to result under the SRES higher (A1FI) as compared to the lower (B1) emission...
As policy makers consider strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they need to understand the available options and the conditions under which these options become economically attractive. This paper explores the economics of carbon capture and sequestration technologies as applied to electric generating plants. The MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a general equilibrium model of the world economy, is used to model two of the most promising carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. The CCS technologies are based on a natural gas combined cycle plant and an integrated coal gasification combined cycle plant. Additionally, the role of natural gas combined cycle plants without...
Tidal energy has the technical potential to form part of a low carbon electricity sector, however, its ‘social potential’ is less clear, as few empirical studies of public beliefs and responses have been conducted to date. This research addressed this gap by investigating a tidal energy convertor in Northern Ireland, said to be the first grid-connected device of its kind in the world. Data was collected from 313 residents of two nearby villages using mixed methods, guided by a conceptual framework that avoided ‘NIMBY’ assumptions and instead drew on place theory. Findings indicated strong support for the project, arising from beliefs that the project enhanced local distinctiveness by ‘putting the area on the map...
More than 20 countries generate electricity from geothermal resources and about 60 countries make direct use of geothermal energy. A ten-fold increase in geothermal energy use is foreseeable at the current technology level. Geothermal Energy: An Alternative Resource for the 21st Century provides a readable and coherent account of all facets of geothermal energy development and summarizes the present day knowledge on geothermal resources, their exploration and exploitation. Accounts of geothermal resource models, various exploration techniques, drilling and production technology are discussed within 9 chapters, as well as important concepts and current technological developments.