Trouble in renewable energy spotted in China's idled wind farms
This article addresses the shortcomings of renewable energy, quoting the wind farms in China as an example. It states that China has a large concentration of wind turbines in the country, "accounting for about one in every three turbines currently installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. In turn, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology". However, even with its large capacity, the efficiency of the wind farms in China is outweighed by wind farms in USA which has only half the capacity of wind turbines.
China's wind capacity increased by 89 times from 2006 to 2015, while USA wind capacity only increased by 7 times. However, China's wind farms only produced 0.5 Terrawats/hour more electricy than USA.
The inefficiency of China's wind farms is due to various regions, which include the low quality wind turbines with low turbine efficiency used in their wind farms due to a shift on low cost energy production. Wind quality is also another factor which impacts the energy output of the wind farms in China, the breezes are weaker in China compared to USA and wind turbines work more efficiently on short periods of strong wind as compared to long periods of constant weak wind. There are also many other issues such as grid connection problems and reluctance of connecting wind energy to the grid due to preference for other energy sources such as coal in China, as coal is more predictable and reliable and does not have the problem of being intermittent.
Despite the huge increase in renewable wind energy in China, majority of its energy still comes from coal-fired power generation, which is much less environmentally friendly, and China has to, at some point, make sacrifices in one area in order to stablize the energy output from different sources.
In my opinion, they should focus on having more high quality wind turbines instead of using more coal as coal not only one of the most non environmentally friendly sources of energy but is also a rapidly depleting source and is not a reliable source in the long run. The impact on the environment in China would also be increased negatively by coal. China is now in a lose-lose situation as they are not using renewable energy efficiently, and also relying on a non-renewable carbon heavy source. I feel that they should sacrifice some of the profits made from coal and move on to cleaner sources of energy if they are striving for a sustainable environment in China in the future.
A SEA CHANGE is an environmental documentary shot in Diego Martin, Mayaro and Toco, Trinidad. People always ask is climate change really affecting the world? Or how is it affecting us? This documentary uses Trinidad and Tobago as examples of the devastating effects of our human activities on the environment and climate, which ironically affects our livelihood.
As Diego Martin, where the documentary is filmed, is located near the sea the main topic addressed is how our human activities, which all have a carbon footprint, is affecting the sea and climate in that area.
Diego Martin has been affected several times by hurricanes, floods and landslides that destroyed many homes in the area, as mentioned in the documentary. Locals that were interviewed said that it was hotter during both wet and dry seasons, and that the rains during both wet and dry season were also heavier. The climate expert in the video, Dr Roger Pulwaty from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, mentioned that the reason for this seemingly odd climate change is that every desert is shaped by water, as the temperature of the atmosphere affects the amount of water it holds, thus affecting the rainfall patterns. A warmer atmosphere holds more water, thus having larger interval between rainfalls but has is more intense as more water is released.
The documentary then moves on to talk about the various negative effects of climate change, such as floods, caused by a mix of human and physical events, humans are responsible for the design of drainage systems and also the management of the wetlands and forests in the area which serve as natural protections against floods, as for physical (natural) factors, they are unpredictable. Another significant impact on Diego Martin is the obvious loss and erosion of land, which is caused by higher sea levels and also a not so known factor which is the increasing acidity of the ocean. The acidity of sea rises due to carbonic acid produced when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the sea. The acidity of the ocean not only affects the shores and the structures near the shore but also several coral specimens which therefore affects the food web of the sea, resulting in a decline in the number of fish in the sea. This phenomena is witnessed by the local fishermen of Diego Martin as they said they used to be able to catch truckloads of fish everyday during the fishing season but now only maybe one or two days of the fishing season they are to catch that amount.
Next, the documentary shows the importance of well managed forest areas as they help reduce storm runoffs, as the leaves of the trees and plants reduce impact of the intense rainfall on the surface thus help keeping local water bodies such as rivers and nearby seawaters clean of pollutants such as fertilizers and pesticides that may be present in the soil when it is eroded into the river.
A group of passionate locals in Diego Martin, aware of the climate changes in their area, constantly work on Reforestation, which is planting of trees and plants to restore forested areas destroyed by landslides and forest fires.
The host of the documentary stated that, " The best way to save the environment is to plant more trees.". Trees are often overlooked, as they seem to just stand and do nothing, however they are of huge importance to the environment. They are silent workers, helping to regulate the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen through photosynthesis, helps to remove other more harmful gases such as Sulphur oxide, Carbon Monoxide and also Nitrous Oxides, and lastly, help prevent soil erosion as their roots cling firmly on to the soil, not allowing surface runoff to wash away the soil. Preventing soil erosion also improves the quality of water in the water bodies as less soil and pollutants enters the water bodies which also leaves the flora and fauna in the water bodies unharmed as their living environment is not tampered with. Therefore, well managed forest = Better quality of water in water bodies.
Lastly, the documentary touched on how the daily activities and the daily choices of the locals in Diego Martin and also everyone, affects the climate. One factor that is most significant but we all are ignorant to is our food choice, which is now a luxury for all of us, we do not even check the labels on our foods to see where it comes from. The main comparison is Local VS Imported Food. The host recommends local food as it has less embodied energy, as it does not require pesticides, and a huge amount of workmanship and non-renewable energy sources spent on agricultural machines and transport required for the food to be imported from one country to another, which is not environmentally friendly in the least.
Plastic also causes many problems to the environment from the way people handle them as garbage. Plastic is produced from another non-renewable source, oil, and does degrades in a much longer period of time compared to organic matter, and also produces harmful gases when it is incinerated. The plastic bottles when dumped into the water bodies, restrict the flow of water and affects the fauna of water bodies if any happen to ingest the plastic bits thinking its food. The hosts started a program to help educate the locals on recycling, teaching them to separate the plastics from their trash and giving it to them to bring to recycle.
The documentary ends of by giving 6 tips on how to improve the environment and reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the climate:
1. Plant trees
2. Eat/ Grow local food
3. Reduce Reuse Recycle
4. Preserve Wetlands
5. Improve drainage systems
6. Refrain from building on flood prone areas or hillsides
Personal Opinion
I feel that it is a very inspiring documentary and that they show us the effects of climate change around each one of us instead of melting ice glaciers which no one can relate to. They also mention that the most important thing is Inter-generation equity, which is one generation of humanity preserving the environment for the next generation. I also feel that climate change not only affects our livelihood and environment but also affects us psychologically as we are constantly in fear of intense natural disasters which could be reduced or prevented.
We all play a part in preventing climate change and saving the environment as we are the creators of our own future through our everyday actions. As quoted at the start of the documentary, " Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk." , all dependant on what we do with it.The link to watch the documentary is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRX-ZmPbjms&index=2&list=PLeH6JyFuC4snZADrdMvd-K7hZQRQlrc7d
