Ecological Footprint

Part of the controversy surrounding the use of fossil fuels stems from their often drastic ecological impact: extensive pollution of ground and surface water resulting from mining and extraction activities, air pollution resulting from the processing and use of fossil fuels, and land pollution resulting from spillages. Renewables, on the other hand, have very minimal ecological impact and terms like ‘environmentally friendly’ have been used to describe power generation from renewable resources. Also, fossil fuel power plants and nuclear power stations require the circulation/evaporation of considerably large quantities of water for cooling/electricity generation. This is in stark contrast to renewables which do not require large quantities of water to generate electricity. In hydrogen buffering systems, the amount of water used up in the electrolyser is comparatively small and can usually be regenerated in the fuel cell, so that it can be used all over again. However, lubricating oil or hydraulic fluid which may leak from wind turbines can be scattered over wide areas by the rotating action of the turbine blades. This may pose a danger to agricultural soil and contaminate nearby drinking water sources.

Bibliography:

[1] http://www.tai.org.au/documents/dp_fulltext/DP91.pdf

[2] Renewable Energy - Wind Power's Contribution to Electric Power Generation and Impact on Farms and Rural Communities (GAO-04_756)