Bus 402 Representative Report – Energy (Wind)
Elçim Öneç 10712132
Content 1. Introduction 2. Problems of the Sector 3. Benefits & Requirements of the Wind Energy Projects 4. Suitable Wind Turbine Projects for Turkey 5. Projects and Performance of the Energy Firm 6. Related Disciplines 6.1 Organic Farming 6.2 Fisheries 6.3 Green Technology 7. Conclusion 8. References
1
ďƒ&#x;
1. Introduction
Sustainable development is an alternative way to growth that takes the natural and limited resources of the world into consideration. It is assumed that natural resources will be consumed completely in the next 60 years; therefore countries have to find ways to develop new energy systems and quit. Sustainability is a crucial concept that is globally referenced and that has reached extensive support particularly the last decade. Yet it is challenging to implement due to the complexity of certain systems. The development and implementation of technology are especially difficult for developing countries; the enormous majority of these systems have notable potential harmful consequences for the well-being of both people and environment. Renewable power sources such as wind energy and solar energy are great examples of growth policies that are sustainable. Their sustainability is characterized by their reliance upon illimitably free sources that are occurring naturally. The rapid increase in population will also make use of the essentials of life like food, water, and shelter. If energy is constantly generated on limited fossil fuels instead of sustainable alternatives, the price and environmental damage of fulfilling even basic requirements can become staggering. Agriculture ought to catch up with increasing population as well, finding ways to feed nearly 3 billion more people than it presently does. If the same unsustainable methods are used into the future, the products can become very expensive as fossil fuel resources run out in time. Sustainable agriculture practices like crop rotation and effective seeding practices can help to promote high yields while protecting the integrity of the soil as it produces food for larger amounts of people.
It is undeniable that anthropogenic actions have an effect on climate change. Also, increasing population will eventually force the limits of nature. This issue can be at least remedied to some extend through sustainable development. Green practices would eventually lead governments to lower fossil fuel usage and hydroelectric power plants which are actually 21 times more damaging than fossil fuels.[1]
2
Sustainable development can also construct more economically stable and sustainable economies all over the world. Countries that have limited resources will gain benefits from infinite and accessible power through renewable systems at the same time create new opportunities for workers. This situation naturally created concerns towards current jobs that related to unsustainable systems since they simply have no future. Sustainable development is the only option so governments should start train people in advance. Ethics and sustainable development complement each other as it is not possible to achieve sustainability without acquiring ethical manners. Governments should support the early adoption of sustainable actions to move forward.
ďƒ&#x;
2. Problems of the Sector
Turkey is not capable of producing high-quality turbine components such as cables, steel, and even stairs, which is actually the standard quality in manufacturing countries. Consequently the country has to import not only the turbine itself but also the basic intermediate goods. Only solution would be applying quality certifications to local manufacturers, tax allowances to encourage the industry and research and development should be supported by subsidies. Due to the geopolitical state of the country military has to control borders and it is known that wind turbines get in the way of radar waves. It has been proved that wind turbines can conceal aircraft targets, show misidentified objects and mislead very sensitive radars by causing a false detection.[2]
Wind Turbine Interruption
3
Department of Chief of Staff restricts potential projects because of the political tension between Turkish and Greek governments. However that doesn’t mean that the country have to give up wind turbine projects completely, alternative or mobile wind turbine projects can be implemented. Lack of long-term data on wind forecasts is one of the problems regarding installing wind turbines, it is essential to gather data of wind currents so that, the power plants would be ready for the wind fluctuations.
Turkey is having struggles in technical disciplines due to the weak education system. Technicians are required for wind turbine projects but the country is short of qualified and educated work force. In addition project firms have to deal with convenient spaces for wind turbine installations; they should avoid deforestation, turbines should be installed far away from residential areas to keep people safe from high voltage power lines and they shouldn’t ruin agricultural lands and water supplies that feed crops of local farmers.
ďƒ&#x; 3. Benefits & Requirements of the Wind Energy Projects Today energy is one of the most important factors that ensures the economic development of countries and increases its competitiveness in the world economy. To provide energy with continuous and inexpensive method is the heart of the obstacle to be solved by the society. Currently in global energy production, fossil fuels, renewable systems, and nuclear-based sources are being used. Countries have to make a choice between these systems based on the price of the resources and whether to supply resources domestically or from foreign country considering security. The demand for renewable energy sources became more important in the last decade. Fossil fuel reserves cover most of the global energy demand, but these resources will be wiped out soon. In addition to this, fossil fuels have harmful impacts on climate; they produce air pollution which harms the well-being of humans and animals.
4
Project companies have to pay regard to the environment and find solutions to minimize the damage. Most importantly, they have to execute a detailed analysis reflecting the effects of these resources to the human health. One of the biggest problems in Turkey regarding wind energy is low-quality intermediate goods. Domestic production of some turbine components largely depends on the wind turbine manufacturer. Without producing turbine parts according to the standards of turbine companies (such as cables and steel), the country won't be able to transform wind farm investments as its own advantage because of costs. In addition, turbines interrupt radar waves. As stated by the Department of Chief of Staff, installed turbines in Aegean Region must be removed if Greece declares war against the country; therefore projects need the approval of army authorities as well.
Wind farm projects are extremely unreliable in electricity production due to high unpredictability of wind currents. Turkey does not have long-term records of wind forecasts; this creates an unfavorable condition as it is essential to predict the speed however, due to lack of data errors are common in potential regions. Moreover, measuring equipment is inferior in comparison and number of qualified technicians is very limited. Consequently, employees from other countries are substituting locals. The education system obliged to go through some radical reforms to decrease the outsourcing problem. Moreover, due to high voltage and sounds of wind turbines, modules should installed at least 300 meters away from residential districts. In addition, wind farms occupy excessive areas which drive people away from their settlements.
ďƒ&#x;
4. Suitable Wind Turbine Projects for Turkey:
1. Wind turbines could be installed under viaducts and bridges to generate power. Turkey is very suitable for this type of projects, since the landscape is geographically rugged, these areas can be used as an advantage. This project is verified by calculations carried out by Spanish
5
and British (Kingston University - London) researchers and it can provide energy up to 500 households. [3] This project concept could be implemented in heavily urbanized regions or natural spaces with constructional restrictions.
2. Another potentially useful project that can be applied to reduce the pressure from power plants and energy import from other countries by installing small scale wind turbines into street lights. Aside from reducing overload to power systems, they can contribute to energy production if used deliberately. Highways are waste of space in terms of energy; however, they can be used for small scale wind turbines. Some windmill designs are capable of harvesting the airstream created by passing cars and supply electricity up to 300 households.
3. Since the army has the authority to postpone or reject wind turbine projects for the reason that they interrupt radar signals which track war plane activities of Greece, Turkey cannot take advantage of its full potential. That does not mean that energy firms and the country should give up using wind power potential. The most recent invention regarding off-shore wind power plant has created by Denmark.[4] The design allows countries to transfer wind turbines to another area when necessary.
Floating Power Plant
Floating wind and wave power plant could be the technology that eliminates restrictions caused by foreign diplomatic relations.
4. Creating awareness for the government subsidies and informing people about granted advantages can increase the number of installed wind turbines but, the cost of projects should be lower than the product price of wind turbine firms. Training or DoIt-Yourself projects to build a wind turbine would be beneficial for households.
6
5. Projects and Performance of the Energy Firm:
In their first presentation, the group had addressed several issues in Turkey without referring most important details; they were unaware of regional issues such as forests, residential areas, and issues regarding the military radars. The first proposal was based on constructing wind farms in Aegean cities and districts. Nevertheless, it is not possible to execute the project since the area is heavily forested. Local residents are protesting against wind farm projects because of the sound and deforestation, stating that they lost their settlements because they occupy wide areas. Also, they had to vacate their agricultural lands as they were not be able to reach the water supply for their crops because of power lines of wind farms.
In the general assembly, they have managed to find solutions to several issues that are unique to Turkey. The first project was about installing a wind tree called “Arbre à Vent” to supply power for street lights. A detailed explanation of the project points out that it is suitable for heavily built cities such as Istanbul:
“The 26 x 36 foot tree features 72 “leaves” that act as miniature silent turbines with integrated generators, each producing a small amount of electrical power. Because the leaves are small and light, they are set in motion by winds as light as 4.4 miles per hour, capturing light winds that large vertical turbines can’t and potentially producing power as many as 280 days a year. And while each tree produces only 3.1 kilowatts of power, a streetscape lined with them could power all the nearby streetlights or a small apartment building. Making use of the slightest breeze, the Arbre à Vent is able to exploit all types of wind, in a 360 degree radius—turbulences, vortexes, drays and other wind phenomena found in urban and rural environments,” says the company. The Arbre à Vent is part of the energy harvesting movement, and powerful enough to ensure the electrical autonomy of a family of four.”[5]
7
This is a promising project for Turkey, with the ‘Arbre à Vent’ project, the team can get rid of deforestation, wind forecast data issues and extended space occupation problem. The team stated that 1 module costs 30.000 ₺, and it is powerful to supply energy for the whole street in one year.
The other proposal was about installing urban wind turbines to roofs. Small wind turbines are easy to construct and the government supports personal applications by paying them according to their electricity surplus. Logarithmic spiral model that mentioned by the team is 80% more efficient, light and quiet however, it is too expensive for consumers. The price of this wind turbine is 4000 Euros/ 12000 ₺, if we assume that the average electricity bill is 100 ₺, this wind turbine will decrease the bill up to 50 ₺. Unless they change their wind turbine model, using wind power is not beneficial for households. 12000 ₺/ 50 ₺ = 240 months so, in 20 years the turbine would pay for its price. There will be technical malfunctions and maintenance costs as well, thus we can say that these kinds of projects are not attractive for households in any case. The team should have proposed training projects for building simple and cheap turbines.
Only large sized project of the group was about installing bladeless wind turbines called Vortex to the drought regions in Sivas. The aim of this project is to provide harvested electricity to the manufacturing industries. They also considered bird deaths and the noise pollution created by traditional wind turbines. However, the group emphasized that these modules are 30 % less efficient, the prototype generates 4 kilowatts of energy [6], and one modern turbine generates more than 2 megawatts (2000 kilowatts), with a simple calculation we can assume that more than 500 Vortex turbines can replace only 2 traditional turbines.
8
6. Related Fields: Organic Farming, Fisheries and Green Technology
B 6.1. Organic Farming In their first presentation, the group was focused on simple solutions; the project was all about importing drones like Agribotics and Agriotics. Problems such as disguised unemployment and monopolization are unavoidable in this case. Also private companies will take over the sector when the subsidies of government are withdrawn from farmers, consequently some of them will bankrupt or quit practicing organic agriculture. Another issue regarding organic farming is lack of education; farmers need to learn essentials and requirements of organic farming.
Organic farming projects should be able to maintain economic stability of organic agrarian farmers in rural regions and developing rural cities to keep population in these areas and prevent internal migration. E.g. Sweden & Czech Republic [7] In addition, new methods need to be found to regain infertile soil using composts and mineral fertilizers. [8]
Conventional farmers use numerous chemicals to boost the life-span of their crops. On the other hand, organic farmers can't use chemicals; for that reason, their losses are greater. To cover their costs, farmers increase prices which can cause a discourage consumers against organic products.
The group aimed to reduce transportation costs of growing the plants by distributing organic farming activities to 3 different regions; Erzurum, Konya and Izmir. However, Izmir is also a great potential for wind energy projects, the country should not give up on this region because of farms. This can create a conflict between energy firms and organic farming firms. To resolve this problem, energy firms and organic farming firms should work together; there are suitable wind turbines for farms and they are powerful enough to cover the entire energy demand of a farm.
9
Q 6.2. Fisheries Overall performance of fisheries was among top three, they addressed problems that affect marine ecosystem. According to their main argument bottom trawling is the worst fishing method that affects sea creatures negatively. They stated that artificial reefs are able to block bottom trawling. Project of this group might work in the short-term; the main purpose of artificial reefs is to decrease the pressure of natural reef caused by anthropogenic activities. However, these projects are often criticized by environmentalists; a thrown object gets rusty under the water, they can poison several animals. Besides, deployment of huge concrete items or prefabricated blocks requires heavy machinery at sea, which is hazardous and costly. Another disadvantage related to the weight of these materials is the potential for sinking into the bottom completely.[9] Although concrete substances are known to endure a long time in the marine environment, it is speculated that the cement binding matter will eventually resolve, leaving only the residues, support bars, and wire. Alternative projects to support natural reefs could be implanting healthy larvae from reefs to damaged or bleached reefs. Recent projects on artificial reefs show that they can be built from seashells. [10] Pollution produces algae (seaweed) in seas and it is one of the biggest reasons that prevent the growth of natural reefs. The group could have created a side project to support removing seaweeds with the voluntary activities. On the other hand, because of the quantity of fish that artificial reefs attract there are concerns by various environmentalists that it could drive people to over fishing. Artificial reefs are not noticeable outside of sea so fishing or other boats and vessels can’t avoid them. Mobile wind and wave energy devices (floating power plant) can be more beneficial for maintaining the health of reefs then the artificial reefs. Wave energy systems supported by wind turbines can be used to eliminate bottom trawling without throwing harmful objects to the sea.
10
ÂĄ
6.3. Green Technology
The group has demonstrated the best performance in all sessions. In their presentation they stated that electric vehicles need 3- phase AC power system which reduces time spent on recharging points. Most of the wind turbine models are suitable for 3- phase systems, projects of these groups are complement each other. Also their side projects; Eco Taxi and Turk Park Eco can be supported by wind turbine proposals of the energy group. Arbre Ă Vent and street lights with wind turbines can provide power for these projects.
7. Conclusion To ease the transition of substituting fossil fuels with wind energy, project firms needs to consider geographic features and local capacity of producing intermediate goods. Wind energy sector has started to shift from governments to consumers; enhanced education must be given to the society on wind turbine technology because sustainable change is inevitable. Turkey must shape its labor to integrate into the sustainable work environment and world economy.
11
8. References: [1] Graham-Rowe,
Duncan. "Hydroelectric Power’s Dirty Secret Revealed". New Scientist.
N.p., 2005. Web. 28 May 2016. [2] Brenner,
Michael. Wind Farms And Radar. Virginia: Federation of American
Scientists, 2008. Web. 28 May 2016. JSR-08-125. [3]
Zimmer, Lori. "Wind Turbine Bridge Transforms Italian Viaduct Into Public Space".
Inhabitat.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 24 May 2016.
[4]
Floating Power Plant (FPP),. Company, Concept & Product. 2016. Web. 24 May
2016.http://www.floatingpowerplant.com/upl/website/floatingpowerplantpresentation folder1/FPPAboutthecompany20151.pdf
[5] Pantsios,
Anastasia et al. "Wind Turbine Trees Generate Renewable Energy For
Urban Settings". EcoWatch. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 May 2016.
[6] Jeffrey,
Colin. "Vortex Bladeless Turbines Wobble To Generate Energy". Gizmag.com.
N.p., 2016. Web. 28 May 2016.
[7]
Cudlinova, Eva and Martin Pelucha. "A Scenario Of Rural Development From The
Perspective Of Multifunctional Agriculture In The EU: A Critical Reflection On The Czech Republic". Geogr. Pol. 82.2 (2009): 57-68. Web: http://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/58773.pdf [8]
"To Fertilize – More With Less". Forces.si.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 May 2016.
[9]
Lukens, Ronald R. "GUIDELINES FOR MARINE ARTIFICIAL REEF MATERIALS".
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission TCC ARTIFICIAL REEF SUBCOMMITTEE (1997): n. pag. Print. [10]
Robinson, Debbie. "News - Environment And Sustainability Institute - University
Of Exeter". Exeter.ac.uk. N.p., 2014. Web. 28 May 2016.
12