As a multi-faceted 118-acre
organic agricultural site, Highfield Farm in Topsham runs not only as a fully
functioning farm, but also as an established campsite and well-known local
educational facility.
So, when its owners, Ian and
Lyndsay Shears, started working towards an even more environmentally friendly
agricultural establishment, there were many elements to consider in their
long-term plans.
They began their eco-systems by
installing 42 PV panels throughout the farm. Having already started to see the
huge benefits associated with creating their own electricity, when the time
came to replace the old gas-fired boiler, they were already considering the
installation of a replacement, environmentally friendly and renewable
energy-sourced biomass boiler.
Mr Shears explained: “We’d been
considering biomass for a couple of years. We are Soil Association-certified
and we installed solar PV panels to create our own electricity harnessed from
sunlight, which also meant a lot of economic sense.
“When we converted some of our
barns, an additional heat requirement was created that our old gas boiler
simply could not cope with efficiently. So, we decided biomass was the way
forward.”
Exeter-based renewable firm Fair
Energy provided the new biomass heating and water system, not least because,
based in Exeter, they were the most local to his farm too.
“Our conference facility
accommodates up to 50 people. Rain water from our barns supplies the loos, and
the 10kW solar PV system provides the electrical power,” Mr Shears added. “So,
we felt that to be able to heat it and the water with a renewable energy source
– our own wood from the farm – would really enhance the whole building itself,
particularly in relation to our organic, environmental status.”
The installation at Highfield
Farm took place in August and the 90kW biomass boiler was installed and sized
to cope with both the immediate and future requirements. Already covering 2,000
square feet, the system will cope with an additional 3,000 square feet when all
the buildings are converted.
At first, the biomass boiler ran
on wood chip pellets, but now Mr Shears is sourcing wood chippings locally in
Newton Poppleford. Next year, Highfield’s fuel will be totally self-sufficient
as he intends to use the farm’s own coppice, which will be cut next summer in
time for use in the autumn.
He explained: “We’ve been really
impressed with the biomass installation and feel it might also eventually help
us with the campsite facilities. We’re currently installing a new shower block
that will initially run off the solar panels next year, but also have the
option with the new biomass system to consider linking the showers to the mains
if necessary.
“It’s estimated that our new
biomass boiler will save us a massive £12,500 with RHI and fuel savings
annually.”
Highfield Farm has already run an
event about renewable energy and, with its weekly visits from local schools,
who help with all sorts including the kitchen garden, sewing seeds, soil
preparation, weeding and harvesting, the Shears feel that if renewable energy
gets included on school curriculum’s, they are well placed to talk about and
demonstrate the benefits of biomass.
Fair Energy’s Director, Kirsten
Parrick, commented: “Highfield Farm is an extremely proactive farming site in
terms of its environmental awareness, eco-systems and renewable energy. Ian and
Lyndsay display a clear understanding of all the benefits as well as a
deep-rooted environmental conscience”.
More Related Topic:
Study: Climate Change Could Put Millions More at Risk of Water Scarcity
YanıtlaSilChanges in rainfall and evaporation will put pressure on water resources
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/12/16/study-climate-change-could-put-millions-more-at-risk-of-water-scarcity
Although water scarcity is already a problem in many countries today due to factors like population growth, the effects of global warming could put millions more people at risk of absolute water scarcity, according to a new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
The study, published Monday in a special issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that water resources will be affected by changes in rainfall and evaporation due to climate change, putting 40 percent more people at risk of absolute water scarcity.
[READ: Consequences of Global Warming Could Occur Soon, Report Says]
"We conclude that the combination of unmitigated climate change and further population growth will expose a significant fraction of the world population to chronic or absolute water scarcity," the study says.
Now, between one and two people out of 100 live in countries with absolute water scarcity, which is defined as less than 500 cubic meters of water available per year and per person, according to the study. On average, each person consumes about 1,200 cubic meters of water each year. But population growth combined with the effects of global warming could bring the ratio of people living in countries with absolute water scarcity up to about 10 in 100 people.
"The quantities that most humans need for drinking and sanitation are relatively small, and the fact that these basic needs are not satisfied for many people today is primarily a matter of access to, and quality of, available water resources," the study says.
[MORE: Severe Heat Waves Are Expected to Double by 2020]
Unless greenhouse gas emissions get cut soon, this situation could become reality "within the next few decades," Jacob Schewe, the study's lead author, said in a statement.
But because climate change does not have the same effect across or even within certain countries, some areas will be hit harder than others. The Mediterranean, the Middle East, the southern United States and southern China, for example, could see a "pronounced decrease of available water," while southern India, western China, and parts of eastern Africa could see an increase.
To account for the uncertainty of climate change – the magnitude of its effects and water scarcity changes at a regional level – the researchers used 11 hydrological models, produced by five different global climate models. The results in the study represent the multiple-model average.
"The purpose is to explore the associated uncertainties and to synthesize the current state of knowledge about the impact of climate change on renewable water resources at the global scale," the study says.
[ALSO: Warming Waters Will Harm Freshwater Fish and Thousands of Jobs, Report Says]
While the average level of water scarcity resulting from population change alone is amplified by 40 percent with climate change, some models suggested the amplification could be as high as 100 percent.
"This dwindling per-capita water availability is likely to pose major challenges for societies to adapt their water use and management," the study says.
Why Did Reddit Ban Climate Change Deniers From Commenting In Their Science Forums?
YanıtlaSilThe latest to be banished from the Reddit realm are not an organization, but a certain type of commenter. The online magazine Grist reports that Reddit will no longer accept comments to science forums, including the most notable, reddit.com/r/science, from people who deny climate change.
The Grist piece, written Nathan Allen, a PhD chemist and volunteer moderator of content on Reddit's science forum, explains the decision to ban climate change naysayers.
“Given that our users are mainly academics (and all are nerds), the discussion generally resembles any scientific debate,” Allen wrote. “That is, there are always numerous links to peer-reviewed science to support positions. People don’t deliberately mislead or misrepresent content, and there is a basic level of respect shared regardless of position. When a user strays from such decorum, they are kindly warned and, if necessary, the comment is removed.”
Inflammatory remarks are now, regrettably, part and parcel of online journalism, where every comments section becomes a platform for bitter debate. Allen said particular topics, including evolution and vaccines, had their fair share of hecklers, but climate change consistently drew the most ire. He described the comments section on articles about climate change as a “battleground.”
“Rather than making thoughtful arguments based on peer-reviewed science to refute man-made climate change, contrarians immediately resorted to aggressive behaviors,” he wrote. “On one side, deniers accused any of the hard-working scientists whose research supported and furthered our understanding of man-made climate change of being bought by ‘Big Green.’ On the other side, deniers were frequently insulted and accused of being paid to comment on reddit by ‘Big Oil.’”
As the science of climate change becomes increasingly clear – today, virtually all climate scientists agree that man is responsible for shifts in global temperatures – there is increasingly less room for ill-informed polemics.
Organizations across the globe, including governments and independent research groups, have all endorsed the position that climate change is real – and is happening right now. Climate change science has been rigorously tested, retested and reviewed, and the answers always come out the same. Of course, there will always be the occasional misstep. In 2007, Al Gore stated that Arctic summer ice could be long gone by 2013. Well, that’s hardly the case.
Is climate change skepticism wearing out its tolerance at last? The problem is, as Allen notes, that climate deniers’ rejection of climate science is based on both “political preferences” and “personality.” In other words, their reasoning is not grounded in scientific discipline.
“As a scientist myself, it became clear to me that the contrarians were not capable of providing the science to support their ‘skepticism’ on climate change,” Allen wrote. “The evidence simply does not exist to justify continued denial that climate change is caused by humans and will be bad.”
Lost Freshwater May Double Climate Change Effects On Agriculture
YanıtlaSilDec. 16, 2013 — A warmer world is expected to have severe consequences for global agriculture and food supply, reducing yields of major crops even as population and demand increases. Now, a new analysis combining climate, agricultural, and hydrological models finds that shortages of freshwater used for irrigation could double the detrimental effects of climate change on agriculture.
"It's a huge effect, and an effect that's basically on the same order of magnitude as the direct effect of climate change," said Joshua Elliott, a research scientist with the Computation Institute's Center for Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy (RDCEP), Argonne National Laboratory, and lead author of the paper. "So the effect of limited irrigation availability in some regions could end up doubling the effect of climate change."
The research was led by Elliott and colleagues from the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), as part of the Inter-Sectoral Impacts Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP). The paper is among 12 featured in a special feature dedicated to ISI-MIP research inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online December 16.