Heavy metal, heavy energy

Desert lands and wastelands are a favourite destination for renewable energy projects like solar, wind and biofuels. But often the question we fail to ask is, if these regions are really dead and waste? And if not, can we tamper with the ecosystems at work?

For example, Doors of Perception (a unique international conference on sustainable designs for future) wonders if windmills are really green?

Once topsoil and plant life have been disrupted for the placement of solar arrays, wind farms, power plants, transmission lines and CO2 scrubbers, restoration would be cost-prohibitive, if not technically impossible - and in any case can take 100 years or more. widespread desert construction, even of projects aimed at environmental mitigation, "would devastate the very organisms and ecosystems best able to adjust to a warming world".

Remember, these vast arrays and farms also mean huge amount of materials deployed. In wind farms, the compartments at the top of each tower, that contain the generator, hub and gearbox, each weigh 15,000 kilos upwards (30,000 to 45,000 pounds)!

Other components of a utility-scale wind farm include underground power transmission systems, control and maintenance facilities, and substations that connect farms with the utility power grid. That's a lot of embodied energy. Yes.

Are we looking at the material costs and energy expended to build all those equipment we will need if we are to replace all the fossil fuel plants??