<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Palm oil, that is]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Tim Abbott http://www.grist.org/article/big-oil-and-the-environment/ Thu, 09 Feb 2006 06:35:09 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/big-oil-and-the-environment/1 Alternative Energy: Where to Put It?

Environmentalists are on the horns of a mighty sharp dilemma when it comes to alternative energy development.   We recognize the global importance of weaning ourselves and our economies from the soiled teats of Big Oil, but are alarmed at the local and regional impacts of proposed alternatives.  

Bio-Mass? Depends on the size of the facility, whether it captures or expends thermal energy as well as electricity, its impact on rivers used to cool it, forests used to fuel it, and air quality. It may work for Finland, but its forests are managed plantations and there is little species diversity.

Wind Power?  The areas of greatest wind generating potential in the northeast United States are ridgelines and nearshore marine, not coincidentally also a neat overlay with areas of environmental significance that are vulnerable to fragmentation and have impacts at the species and natural community levels.

Hydro?  The trend now is toward restoring connectivity for stream and river sections and removing dams, not building new ones.

These ecological considerations go beyond NIMBY, but nonetheless place conservation organizations and environmentalists in the awkward place of opposing each alternative energy proposal that comes along in practice while supporting it in theory.

Some have sugested that developers of alternative energy sources and conservation organizations establish siting and design criteria that minimize
environmental impacts and remain economically viable.  I gladly support this in theory.  It will be very, very hard to do in practice without strong incentives to compromise and confidence in the results.

]]> Alternative Energy: Where to Put It?

Environmentalists are on the horns of a mighty sharp dilemma when it comes to alternative energy development.   We recognize the global importance of weaning ourselves and our economies from the soiled teats of Big Oil, but are alarmed at the local and regional impacts of proposed alternatives.  

Bio-Mass? Depends on the size of the facility, whether it captures or expends thermal energy as well as electricity, its impact on rivers used to cool it, forests used to fuel it, and air quality. It may work for Finland, but its forests are managed plantations and there is little species diversity.

Wind Power?  The areas of greatest wind generating potential in the northeast United States are ridgelines and nearshore marine, not coincidentally also a neat overlay with areas of environmental significance that are vulnerable to fragmentation and have impacts at the species and natural community levels.

Hydro?  The trend now is toward restoring connectivity for stream and river sections and removing dams, not building new ones.

These ecological considerations go beyond NIMBY, but nonetheless place conservation organizations and environmentalists in the awkward place of opposing each alternative energy proposal that comes along in practice while supporting it in theory.

Some have sugested that developers of alternative energy sources and conservation organizations establish siting and design criteria that minimize
environmental impacts and remain economically viable.  I gladly support this in theory.  It will be very, very hard to do in practice without strong incentives to compromise and confidence in the results.

]]> Comment #2 by ninshubur http://www.grist.org/article/big-oil-and-the-environment/ Thu, 09 Feb 2006 07:55:00 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/big-oil-and-the-environment/2 There's only one way to get oil --

You have to drill oil out of the ground, fight over it, go to war over it, build a huge, morally bankrupt infrastructure around it, and then release all of its carbon into the atmosphere when you burn it.

At least with biofuels there are choices. And there is research being done into those choices -- research on biofuels made from rapeseed (canola), from algae, from waste products. We should encourage that research, not just declare war on biofuels because they'll necessarily raze all rainforests.

Biofuels are not all of the solution. But they certainly can be part of it. Here's to a polyfuel future!

]]> There's only one way to get oil --

You have to drill oil out of the ground, fight over it, go to war over it, build a huge, morally bankrupt infrastructure around it, and then release all of its carbon into the atmosphere when you burn it.

At least with biofuels there are choices. And there is research being done into those choices -- research on biofuels made from rapeseed (canola), from algae, from waste products. We should encourage that research, not just declare war on biofuels because they'll necessarily raze all rainforests.

Biofuels are not all of the solution. But they certainly can be part of it. Here's to a polyfuel future!

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