Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
NREL to study the environmental impacts of large solar farms
National Renewable Energy Laboratory senior biologist Brenda Beatty is supervising revegetation and wildlife studies at the new solar array field at NREL's National Wind Technology Center. (Courtesy of NREL)
As renewable energy technology gains momentum as a viable replacement for burning fossil fuels (thanks largely to environmentalists concerned about the toxins and the carbon dioxide spewed by coal plants), opposition is also starting to grow — from other environmentalists.
In order to replace a utility-scale coal plant, renewable energy projects may also have to be, well, utility scale. And for solar plants, that may mean covering thousands of acres of land with mirrors or PV panels. This has some environmentalists concerned about how those panels will affect local ecosytems.
Now, biologists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have begun a three-year study to look at how the land under solar panel arrays — which is typically graded, stripping the earth of its native vegetation — can be restored.
“In order to make a difference environmentally and make a difference economically, renewable-energy projects have to be built at a utility scale,” NREL spokesman Joe Verrengia told the Daily Camera. “That raises questions about environmental impact because of their size. NREL is a research lab and can begin to investigate those questions.”
NREL researchers are using the lab’s own solar array at the National Wind Technology Center, just south of the Boulder County line, as its laboratory. The solar panels were installed in December on top of a shortgrass prairie ecosystem. The researchers will reseed the land the spring, planting a variety of native (but shade tolerant) plants.
To learn more about the project, visit DailyCamera.com.
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