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Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is not a new concept. There is archaeological evidence that rainwater harvesting dates as far back as 6,000 years ago in China.

Today, there are improvements in technology to capture, filter, store and use rainwater.

The primary drivers for doing so are becoming more prevalent:

  • Limited or poor quality, water supplies

  • Areas where wells offer poor yields

  • Cost of water and energy consumed to move water (e.g., more than 20% percent of all energy in California is consumed conveying, storing, distributing and discharging water)

  • Storm water run off reduction. There are national, regional and local mandates to reduce run off which stress municipal wastewater treatment systems due to age, lack of maintenance and population growth

  • Green building trends. LEED and Passivehaus ratings, as well as government stimulus dollars promote rainwater harvesting as a sustainable way to reduce potable water use

  • Periods of drought raise the awareness of the need to conserve and increase the desire to have on site storage

The potential for rainwater collection is tremendous. For every 1,000 square feet of rooftop, you can potentially collect 623 gallons of rainwater for every inch of rain that falls.

In Flagstaff, Ariz., which receives an average of 23 inches of rain per year, a home with a 1,000 square foot roof could collect 14,329 gallons of water annually.

In a residential setting, that water can be used for:

  • Irrigation

  • Wash-down

  • Toilet flushing

In an industrial setting, the water can be used for:

  • Industrial processes

  • Fire stations and emergency services

  • Agricultural nurseries and garden centers

  • Any place where large quantities of non-potable water are frequently used

As the price of potable water becomes less subsidized and water bills go up, rainwater harvesting is beginning to reach the economic tipping point.
 
More tidal power for Scotland

A 100ft underwater turbine destined to form part of a major tidal energy project has been installed in the sea around Orkney.

The one megawatt (MW) device, which can power the annual electricity needs of 500 homes, will now undergo a series of tests to check its performance and reliability.

The turbine will eventually be used in the world's largest tidal stream energy development, in the Sound of Islay in the west of Scotland.

Those behind the project said the installation of the device at Orkney signalled a "major step forward for the global marine renewable energy industry".

The HS1000 tidal turbine has been developed by the company Hammerfest Strom and was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.

It will now enter a test period in preparation for larger-scale production.

It is the same machine that will be used by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) as part of the world's first tidal turbine array in Islay. The £40 million project, aimed at harnessing the power of the sea to generate enough electricity for more than 5,000 homes, received planning consent from the Scottish Government in March.

Officials hope the Orkney tests will help them to finalise the timetable for the Islay project, with machines being installed as early as possible between 2013 and 2015.

SPR chief executive Keith Anderson said: "We are delighted that the HS1000 turbine has been successfully installed in Orkney, and Hammerfest engineers deserve huge credit for carrying out this difficult operation in very testing weather conditions. We look forward to monitoring its progress when fully operational next year.

"This is a major milestone in the development of tidal power technology in Scotland, and for the tidal power industry across the world. We anticipate using this turbine as part of our project in Islay, which will be the first of its kind in the world, and remains the only consented tidal array project in Scotland. Beyond this, we have ambitions to use this turbine as part of even larger-scale projects in the Pentland Firth, which we are currently investigating."

Managing director of Hammerfest Strom Stein Atle Andersen said: "The device was installed in one of Europe's most challenging waters, during the roughest time of the year, which shows the extreme conditions the technology and the team is capable of handling."

WWF Scotland director Richard Dixon, said: "This announcement is another positive step forward for the marine renewable industry in Scotland. There is a massive amount of power in our seas and Scotland is well placed to lead in developing the technologies to turn this potential into clean, green electricity.

"Alongside energy-saving measures, wave and tidal energy have a critical role to play in meeting the Government commitment to decarbonise our power supply by 2030.

"Given the huge renewable energy potential around our coast, and the strong skills in offshore engineering, marine energy offers a fantastic opportunity for Scotland.

"With careful planning, we can harness wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions while safeguarding the nation's tremendous marine environment."

First Minister Alex Salmond said the project was a "fitting end" to an exceptional year for renewable energy in Scotland.

He said: "This year projects were switched on representing £750 million of investment in renewables, and a staggering £46 billion of investment is in the pipeline.

"We have seen momentous progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables and more from other sources by 2020, with enough renewable energy capacity installed to more than meet our interim target of 31%.

"The testing of the HS1000 tidal turbine is another exciting and significant development, and is a tribute to the engineers involved. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the tests."
 
Windfarm death tolls

On 12 January 2012, at the First Scientific Congress on Wind Energy and Wildlife Conservation in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, the Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO/Birdlife) made public its estimate that, yearly, Spain’s 18,000 wind turbines may be killing 6 to 18 million birds and bats . The average per turbine comes down to 333 – 1,000 deaths annually, which is a far cry from the 2 – 4 birds claimed by the American wind industry, or the 400,000 birds a year estimated by the American Bird Conservancy for the whole United States, which has about twice as many turbines as Spain.

Bats are included in the Birdlife estimate, comments Mark Duchamp, president of Save the Eagles International (STEI). “Therefore, supposing for example that wind farms would kill twice as many bats as they do birds, the figures would be: 111 - 333 birds per turbine per year, and 222 – 666 bats per turbine/year. The mortality figures that were recorded in Germany and Sweden in the early nineties are not unusual after all”, he notes. Quoting from a California Energy Commission study: “In a summary of avian impacts at wind turbines by Benner et al. (1993) bird deaths per turbine per year were as high as 309 in Germany and 895 in Sweden.”

Duchamp has always maintained that earlier studies, made when bird mortality at windfarms wasn’t such a hot potato, were more credible than recent ones. “It is a curious business where those consultants who find or predict the lowest mortality land all the contracts. This is what is being asked of them, and this is what they do. This unethical conduct has already condemned the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed eagle to extinction , and more recently the Golden Eagle in the United States . Another factor is the occultation of carcasses by windfarm employees, as may be seen in the SEO/Birdlife report.”

The report also stresses that even a small incremental mortality for bird species whose populations are not abundant may drive them to extinction. “This is what I have been claiming for years”, laments Mark, who has been banned from ornithology forums as an unwelcomed messenger of bad news. “I am now vindicated, but that won’t save the birds”, he says.

SEO/Birdlife puts the blame on poor-quality environmental studies. So did Duchamp, as early as 2004:

“ ...(avian impact assessments)... are sometimes voluminous and obfuscating, sometimes short and to the point, but mendacious always, minimizing the avian impact. They serve the purpose that is assigned to them: permit the erection of windfarms where the promoters want them, regardless of bird activity in the area.”

Mark has long been claiming that it was foolish to allow environmental impact assessments to be directed and controlled by wind farm developers. It now appears he was right. The question is, he concludes: “will this aberration be allowed to continue?”
 
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