Material consumption and environmental impact of wind turbines in the USA and globally

2022 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 105938
Author(s):  
Angela Farina ◽  
Annick Anctil
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Material Consumption ◽  
The Usa

scholarly journals Novel Application and Validation of a Method to Assess Visual Impacts of Rotating Wind Turbine Blades Within Woodland Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
U. Nopp-Mayr ◽  
F. Kunz ◽  
F. Suppan ◽  
E. Schöll ◽  
J. Coppes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Independent Field

AbstractIncreasing numbers of wind power plants (WPP) are constructed across the globe to reduce the anthropogenic contribution to global warming. There are, however, concerns on the effects of WPP on human health as well as related effects on wildlife. To address potential effects of WPP in environmental impact assessments, existing models accounting for shadow flickering and noise are widely applied. However, a standardized, yet simple and widely applicable proxy for the visibility of rotating wind turbines in woodland areas was largely lacking up to date. We combined land cover information of forest canopy extracted from orthophotos and airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data to represent the visibility of rotating wind turbines in five woodland study sites with a high spatial resolution. Performing an in-situ validation in five study areas across Europe which resulted in a unique sample of 1738 independent field observations, we show that our approach adequately predicts from where rotating wind turbine blades are visible within woodlands or not. We thus provide strong evidence, that our approach yields a valuable proxy of the visibility of moving rotor blades with high resolution which in turn can be applied in environmental impact assessments of WPP within woodlands worldwide.

Estimating the environmental impact of disposable endoscopic equipment and endoscopes

Gut ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. gutjnl-2021-324729
Author(s):  
Sathvik Namburar ◽  
Daniel von Renteln ◽  
John Damianos ◽  
Lisa Bradish ◽  
Jeanne Barrett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Passenger Cars ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Endoscopic Procedures ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Soccer Fields ◽  
The Impact

ObjectiveProcedure-intense specialties, such as surgery or endoscopy, are a major contributor to the impact of the healthcare sector on the environment. We aimed to measure the amount of waste generated during endoscopic procedures and to understand the impact on waste of changing from reusable to single use endoscopes in the USA.DesignWe conducted a 5-day audit (cross-sectional study) of all endoscopies performed at two US academic medical centres with low and a high endoscopy volume (2000 and 13 000 procedures annually, respectively). We calculated the average disposable waste (excluding waste from reprocessing) generated during one endoscopic procedure to estimate waste of all endoscopic procedures generated in the USA annually (18 million). We further estimated the impact of changing from reusable to single-use endoscopes taking reprocessing waste into account.Results278 endoscopies were performed for 243 patients. Each endoscopy generated 2.1 kg of disposable waste (46 L volume). 64% of waste was going to the landfill, 28% represented biohazard waste and 9% was recycled. The estimated total waste generated during all endoscopic procedures performed in the USA annually would weigh 38 000 metric tons (equivalent of 25 000 passenger cars) and cover 117 soccer fields to 1 m depth. If all endoscopic procedures were performed with single-use endoscopes and accounting for reprocessing, the net waste mass would increase by 40%. Excluding waste from ancillary supplies, net waste generated from reprocessing and endoscope disposal would quadruple with only using single-use endoscopes.ConclusionThis quantitative assessment of the environmental impact of endoscopic procedures highlights that a large amount of waste is generated from disposable instruments. Transitioning to single-use endoscopes may reduce reprocessing waste but would increase net waste.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of a Barge-Type Floating Wind Turbine and Comparison with Other Types of Wind Turbines

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5656
Author(s):  
Nurullah Yildiz ◽  
Hassan Hemida ◽  
Charalampos Baniotopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Floating Wind Turbine

The intensive increase of global warming every year affects our world negatively and severely. The use of renewable energy sources has gained importance in reducing and eliminating the effect of global warming. To this end, new technologies are being developed to facilitate the use of these resources. One of these technological developments is the floating wind turbine. In order to evaluate the respective environmental footprint of these systems, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is herein applied. In this study, the environmental impact of floating wind turbines is investigated using a life cycle assessment approach and the results are compared with the respective ones of onshore and jacket offshore wind turbines of the same power capacity. The studied floating wind turbine has a square foundation that is open at its centre and is connected to the seabed with a synthetic fibre-nylon anchorage system. The environmental impact of all life cycles of such a structure, i.e., the manufacture, the operation, the disposal, and the recycling stages of the wind turbines, has been evaluated. For these floating wind turbines, it has been found that the greatest environmental impact corresponds to the manufacturing stage, whilst the global warming potential and the energy payback time of a 2 MW floating wind turbine of a barge-type platform is higher than that of the onshore, the jacket offshore (2 MW) and the floating (5 MW) wind turbines on a sway floating platform.

scholarly journals Bancada para portador de necessidades especiais

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 2573-2585
Author(s):  
José Antonio castro Bartelega ◽  
Joyce Maria de Sylva Tavares Bartelega ◽  
Luis Felipe dos Reis Montemor ◽  
Vinicius Hasmann Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Consumption ◽  
Compact Structure

Visto que a área de mecânica de produção não possui espaço para portadores de necessidades especiais, o que reflete na não-disposição de vagas, devido à falta de equipamentos que possibilitem a realização de seu respectivo serviço,  surgiu a ideia da criação de uma “Bancada Ajustável”, que por sua vez introduziria o portador de necessidades especiais no ramo da mecânica industrial, com foco principal no setor de ajustagem, incluindo-o profissional e socialmente, justapondo a lei nº 12.435. Isso de forma a priorizar a utilização de materiais ecológicos e de baixo impacto ambiental, no caso aço – perfil vazado – e madeira plástica de procedência reciclável, tendo ainda uma estrutura simples e compacta, uma vez que sua área de ocupação é por volta de 1m² (um metro quadrado), o que influi na redução do consumo de matéria-prima. O projeto foi baseado na NBR 9050, visando ao conforto e à praticidade em sua utilização. De acordo com pesquisas de campo, conclui-se que o projeto é interessante, tanto para o funcionário quanto para a empresa. É valido ressaltar que a Bancada pode ser usufruída por funcionários em geral, sendo eles portadores de necessidades especiais ou não, de qualquer forma, proporcionando conforto e mobilidade.     Since the production mechanics area has no space for people with special needs, which reflects in the non-availability of vacancies, due to the lack of equipment which makes it possible to perform their respective service, the idea of creating an "Adjustable Bench" arose, which in turn would introduce the special needs bearer in the industrial mechanics field, focusing mainly on the adjustment sector, including him professionally and socially, juxtaposing law no. 12,435. This in order to prioritize the use of ecological and low environmental impact materials, in this case steel - hollow profile - and plastic wood from recyclable sources, also having a simple and compact structure, since its occupation area is around 1m² (one square meter), which influences in the reduction of raw material consumption. The project was based on the NBR 9050, aiming at comfort and practicality in its use. According to field research, it was concluded that the project is interesting, both for the employee and for the company. It is worth mentioning that the bench can be used by employees in general, whether they have special needs or not, in any way, providing comfort and mobility.  

scholarly journals The environmental impact of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Kafeel Ahmad Ansari ◽  
Gary Owens ◽  
Nasreen Islam Khan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Human Life ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Similar Temperature ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Financial Impacts

COVID-19, previously known as “2019 novel coronavirus”, is a newly discovered virus which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, similar to corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has spread widely through human to human contact and was declared a pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. To cope with this pandemic many countries have adopted nationwide lockdowns which restrict nonessential activities and encourage their populations to avoid public transport, work from hone wherever possible, and to maintain social distancing at all times. While the severity of these shutdowns has varied with country, large geographic regions of the world (including China, India, Iran, Italy, Spain, and the USA) have all been severely affected, not just in the loss of human life, but also in terms of the financial impacts the lockdowns will have on their countries future prosperityIt was previously reported that a number of environmental factors, including humidity and temperature, played an important role in development and spread of the SARS-Corona Virus infection with the virus retaining viability for over 5 days at temperatures between 22–25oC and relative humidity (RH) of 40–50%. Whereas, elevated temperatures and higher RH (38oC, and >95% RH) decreased virus viability (Kroumpouzos et al., 2020). The spread of COVID-19 started in low temperature areas of China, with major outbreaks subsequently occurring in Iran, Japan, Northern Italy and South Korea. These new virus epicenters all had similar temperature and latitude, along the 30-50◦N” zone. Subsequently, the virus was spread to regions of elevated temperature, such as India, the Middle East and Thailand, due to international travel (Kroumpouzos et al., 2020).The aim of this study was to consider the environmental impact of COVID-19, including water pollution. The paper is divided into four sections. In the first section the current literature related to COVID-19 is reviewed. In the second section a recent update on COVID-19 globally is presented, followed by a descriptive impact on the environment in the third section and finally in the fourth section the COVID-19 related worldwide environmental impact is discussed. Since COVID-19 is a currently an active pandemic with no end in sight, while constructive conclusions can only be made on the limited data currently, which may be prone to high errors. However, these conclusions may provide some preliminary suggestions for assisting in assessing spreading patterns of COVID-19 across the globe, and may be of long-term significances with respect to assessing the environmental impact of lockdown policies due to COVID-19 worldwide.

scholarly journals THE RELEVANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE LAND USE FOR WIND POWER ENGINEERING IN SETTLEMENTS OF LVIV REGION

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 154-160
Author(s):  
Vira Sai ◽  
Yulia Кhavar ◽  
Liliya Vynarchyk
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Wind Energy Generation ◽  
Relevance Assessment ◽  
Wind Power Plants

The aim of the work is to study the relevance of new wind power facilities installation for electricity production in the Lviv region. In this paper, all the necessary conditions for the construction of wind power plants are considered. Analysis of the preferred land plot choice for wind energy generation due to favorable wind conditions and limited environmental impact is carried out. The wind turbines with the capacities, which are most appropriate to use in this region, were selected, as well as the environmental impact of the wind power plants is defined. It is proved that it is advisable to use wind turbines of the type “ECO 100” with a capacity of 3.0 MW. The results of the research can be effectively used by design and production organizations in the management of geodetic monitoring of the wind power plants state.

An evaluation of EIA system performance in Turkey in the context of procedural effectiveness

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Çolakkadıoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Administrative Process ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa

Purpose In Turkey, where the environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been applied since 1993, there have been numerous amendments in the legal and administrative process of the EIA. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of those amendments to the EIA process. Design/methodology/approach This paper evaluated EIA system performance in the context of procedural effectiveness in Turkey from the day implementation was begun. From its beginning to the present day, the positive and negative developments at the EIA process in Turkey caused by the amendments were evaluated and at which stages. Measures recommended increasing the effectiveness of each of the EIA systems were also identified. Findings As the EIA Directive first came into force in the USA in 1970, EIA procedures have been widely adopted throughout the world. Although it has been implemented for many years, expectations regarding the EIA process have still not been realized which has forced countries to conduct studies to increase the effectiveness of the EIA process. Turkey, like other countries that are implementing the EIA, acknowledges that the EIA is a significant impact assessment tool and continues its studies to implement this system effectively. In this respect, in Turkey, where the EIA has been applied since 1993, there have been numerous amendments in the legal and administrative process of the EIA. Originality/value The results obtained from this study were expected to facilitate the evaluation of the EIA process in Turkey and to guide other similar countries.

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