Environmental impact of cleantech? What should be taken into account with application of a technology? Lets, if possible, discuss several fields (biogas, waste treatment, water etc.)?

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Environmental impact of cleantech? What should be taken into account with application of a technology? Lets, if possible, discuss several fields (biogas, waste treatment, water etc.)?

Created February 13, 2012 by George Rybakov 简体中文 Русский

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A wide question, indeed. In general, cleantech should have and has a positive reputation although there are some recent examples of potential adverse impacts like Talvivaara Oy - case, where the application of a combination of biotechnology and conventional chemical and mining engineering have caused large-scale environmental problems. This example demonstrates that the new technology should be proven enough and it's impacts should be predictable enough prior to full-scale application. The World Bank and also other International Financing Insitutions have carried out a series of cleantech projects, where the concepts of "appropriate technology", "proven solutions" and "affordability" are relevant regardless if we are talking about biogas, waste treatment or water sector issues. With biogas there are particular features which I deem to be also very important which are health and safety aspects of this technology. Biogas production includes always explosion and fire incident risks which not only require technical solutions like ex-protection of electrical equipment, interlocking of process controls (which are a must) but it requires also special training of operating staff in order to minimise or prevent human errors.

February 21, 2012 by Juhani Anhava 简体中文 Русский

Too often there are some (political) "hype" of one environmental issue forgetting other possible harmful effects. In the name of climate change mitigation there are also examples of overly one-sided political decisions or bad regulation. Of course these issues are often hard to evaluate, e.g. is the upper atmospheric CO2 always more harmful than air quality hazards like fine particles, NOx and sulphur which cause direct health problems. There should be more research about external costs of different emissions and their total effects.

February 24, 2012 by Mikael Ohlstrom 简体中文 Русский

Very bold answer, Mikael. Recognition of the fact that not all the techs are really Green is crucial. Some technologies solve just specific problems and it is really hard to predict their cumulative effects globally. Companies are not really eager to spend much money for huge investigations (especially SMEs), however, what could be an incentive in order to promote holistic studies of global effects of a new technology (by this companies indeed)?

February 28, 2012 by George Rybakov 简体中文 Русский

Actually, I didn't mean the companies or their technologies should be blaimed for this, but the bad legislation without wide enough evaluation studies before implementing a law. So, the EU (e.g. JRC or IIASA) should do this kind of research work before Commission introduces new regulation. Companies need not to fund this kind of research for public good. But of course companies must then at the end know all the impacts of their own technologies and solutions.

March 02, 2012 by Mikael Ohlstrom 简体中文 Русский

Absolutely, it is neither about companies nor about technologies and definitely not about blaming someone. They are just innovators who need to be supported in many ways. However, such the holistic research of upper level take a lot of time, whereas technologies are desperately needed right now and such solutions more often are very local and specific (not only about mitigation of the global warming but also about purifying of air or water around). Does that mean that the regulation should be more or less global (based on global agreements/standarts) and, on the other hand, is there a place for some sort of parallel activity (institution or a new expertise) supported by governments/states/public support (may be) that will on a regular basis check and approve the new technologies if they are truely Clean?

March 04, 2012 by George Rybakov 简体中文 Русский

Global problems need global solutions, so of course global regulation would be the best and the most efficient way! And, at the same time, it would ensure level playing field for all the companies regardless of their home country. In addition, global regulation would create globally a true demand for efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, which would be an advantage for Finland and Finnish companies. Finland's GHG emissions are globally negligible, but our companies and their solutions could reduce global emissions by a huge share.

March 04, 2012 by Mikael Ohlstrom 简体中文 Русский

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