Our Environment

It is a little known fact that one of the major contributors of carbon emissions into the atmosphere is deforestation. If we could stop deforestation today, we would effectively eliminate the number two man made cause of carbon emissions.The United Nations declared that deforestation accounts for around 25 percent of all emissions of carbon dioxide as a result of human activity. This is roughly the same amount of carbon discharged by the United States each year, the world’s largest polluter.

Over 30 billion tonnes of carbon in the form of CO2 is predicted will be released into the atmosphere this year (2009). It is estimated that this will continue to increase to a staggering 33.1 billion tonnes by 2015.

Deforestation Causes 25% of all Man Made CO2 Emissions

Of the estimated 30 billion tonnes of carbon discharge this year, the felling of trees in Brazilian forests, old growth forests in Asia and in Africa will contribute over 2 billion tonnes. That is unless we start acting now to actually stop deforestation.

The World’s forests harbour a total of approximately 280 gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass. The total amount of carbon stored in forests including their biomass, fallen timber and debris, leaf litter and the soil in which the forests grow is estimated to be one trillion tonnes. This represents almost twice the amount of carbon already present in our atmosphere today.

Is the Answer to The Problem Plantation Grown Timber?

I think yes. Let’s look at the basic forest cycle. Trees like all plants use carbon dioxide as a food source. CO2 combined with sun light and water by means of photosynthesis, converting CO2 into carbohydrates for nourishment and oxygen which is released as a by product.

Planting renewable forests is beneficial in two main ways, firstly new trees will leech CO2 out of the atmosphere, secondly oxygen as we have already said is a by product released by photosynthesis. The new trees will keep the carbon dioxide contained for the life of the plant.

The only trouble with plantation timber being when trees die or indeed are harvested for our use, the original carbon dioxide is released and our CO2 discharge increases with it. As I write today globally we fell many more trees than we are replanting and replacing.

This means that more CO2 is being released than is being captured by the plants and trees photosynthetic processes, leading to our carbon emissions accelerating.

By planting new trees at the same (or indeed a faster) rate than we are consuming the forest resources, we reduce our carbon output by 25%, that’s 7.5 billion tonnes per year at current levels, a huge decrease in CO2 emissions that can be achieve with very little penalty at all.

Plantation Forests May Be the Answer

So are there good reasons to stop deforestation? I believe the answer is self evident. By putting a halt to the felling of old growth forests and replacing our timber consumption with plantation grown trees, and replacing them at an equal or better rate than our prevailing timber appetite, we can put a halt on the second the biggest contributor of man made CO2 emissions that exists today.

We can still use timber for construction, we can enjoy its warmth and beauty in furniture and around our homes. We can stop deforestation without any negative impact on our lives at all. How can we work together to help stop deforestation once and for all?

What do you think?

Only a few years ago talk of residential wind turbines was thought of as the territory of the “Greenie” or the extreme environmentalist. Such is not the case any more.

Residential Wind Turbines

Conversion of the kinetic energy of the wind to usable and clean electric power via a residential wind turbine is now a very simple business. Sophisticated off the shelf wind powered generators cost from around $800 (US) up to many tens of thousands for larger high output varieties.

Residential wind turbines are now more affordable, much more practical and applicable to a wider variety of situations than ever before (and without the need of an electrical engineering degree).

Of course yachties have known how effective wind turbines are be for years. Mainly used to keep boat batteries charged between uses, a relatively small marine wind turbine can supply enough electricity to run a television or small appliance and run several lights in a breeze of about 8-12 knots (about 14 mph or 20 kph). Wind turbines have been common place on cruising boats for about a decade.

These maritime versions of  the residential wind turbine usually work on a twelve or twenty-four volt system, though with the use of smart, cheap technologies now available, they can be used to supplement many more domestic uses too.

While I was sailing in Greece this year I visited an island called Levitha, which lies about three quarters of the way to Turkey from the Greek mainland in the Aegean Sea (see the images).

Only one family live Levitha, this rugged though beautiful island, when speaking to the owner I found out that they are 100% energy self sufficient and are less dependent on fossil fuel (diesel) generators than ever before. A large percentage of this power now being generated by the small wind generators pictured here.

Wind power electricity provided them with not only enough electricity to live a normal (if secluded) life on their island home. It proved more effective (in their case) than solar electricity generation because the wind blows here both day and night.

Residential wind turbines are not science fiction, they work. They are clean, quiet and require very little maintenance. The do not interfere with television reception and most small residential wind turbines now days have an expected useful life of over twenty years.

Most residential wind turbines and small wind powered generators have very few moving parts (two only in newer systems) and once installed operate in a completely automated way.

Wind power electricity does not suit everyone. To get the most from your wind turbine you need to have it quite a long way above the ground, the higher the better. The reason being trees, houses and other ground obstacles disturb the flow of the wind in an effect know as “Ground Friction”.

Ground friction, impedes the flow of the prevailing wind and reduces the effectiveness of your residential wind turbines power output.

Depending on the size of your small wind generator, a height of 60 plus feet is not out of the question. So that said, wind power is not really suitable for suburban use just yet.

You realistically need minimum of about an acre of land to erect a suitably sized tower for your  wind turbine, so the ideal situation is a rural and semi rural situation (at least for now).

This is where residential wind turbines shine. Places where power has traditionally been unavailable now can have a cheap clean power source that will supply electricity for 20 plus years.

Many people on the land who are approaching retirement are adopting residential wind turbines to help offset the cost of their power once they retire. Typically a residential wind turbine system will pay for itself in as little as 6 years, any power produced after this is effectively free.

As I said earlier the costs of a residential wind turbine can vary from about $800 up to $20,000+ depending on what you need.

When considering wind as a power option, be sure to investigate the average wind strength in your area over say a 12 month period to really determine if wind powered electricity is for you. You should look for wind speeds of 10 mph or better for at least 6 months of the year. Checking with the local Bureau of Meteorology would be a good place to start to find this information.

So if you do find yourself in a position where you are fortunate enough to be able to use wind power to generate all or at least some of your electricity. Not only will you be reducing carbon emissions and green house gas production. You will reduce your dependence on the electricity power grid and have the option of selling your surplus power back to your utility provider to offset the cost of your own power.

Another bonus of this is that the power you sell back to your provider is clean power for others to use.

If you currently use wind generated electricity, or indeed own a residential wind turbine I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

World Environment Day at Vathy

Today, around the world, there is an increased focus on the environment. Its World Environment Day. What does this really mean to you and me?

For me, it’s a time to reflect on how I have contributed to improving climate change educational opportunities available online since last year. It’s my aim to have freely available project material for all ages of students in a variety of formats. By the end of this month the first packages will be ready for download so I’m very excited about the progress being made whilst I am continuing my research here in the Cyclades.

One of my colleagues is involved in the management of national parks and wildlife reserves in Australia. For her it is a reminder that our climate is changing and there is a limited time to carry out research into native habitats before we need to be preparing plans of management for the changes that are already occuring.

Take some time out today to think about what World Environment Day means to you…..

World-Environment-Day-2009

View from the yacht before leaving dry dock

In the last few northern hemisphere spring and summer seasons I have found myself on board a yacht travelling as much as we can via wind power (i.e. sailing) through international waters from Croatia to Greece. Along the way I am keeping an eye on changes in the climate from year to year as well as listening to locals about their observations on climate change, wind generated power, solar power and global warming.

For the next couple of months I am going to be travelling thanks to wind generated power. So, every couple of days I’ll be updating this blog with my exploits and discoveries.

This year I am setting sail from Leros, Greece. This island is part of the Dodecanese Islands. It is located in the north western part of the archipelago, between the islands of Patmos and Kalymnos – closer to Turkey than Athens!

Its surface is about 54 square kilometers with a length of 15 kilometers. The coastline is about 46 kilometers, littered with small bays that are ideal for sightseeing, swimming, diving or fishing.

This is an island that does not have any smog with secluded coves as well as a gentle countryside and impressive bays for larger yachts.

Climate change is not a media phrase to these people. On this island they live off agriculture, particularly bee keeping, so what is happening with the climate directly affects them each and every day. In summer, tourism is another source of income – one which can also be adversely affected by changes in the climate.

My conversations with the locals have confirmed that this past winter was the wettest anyone can remember and this has been followed by rain in spring (the first time I have encountered this in my travels). There also appears to be many more biting insects this year – especially mosquitoes, again something I have not experienced here before.

Let the adventure and research begin – I’ll keep you posted.

View of a bay near Lakki