Environmental assessment of the US Department of Energy's solar-thermal-technology program

Technical Report · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:5289559

Lindberg, R G; Daniels, J I; Hastings, J; Phinney, S ^[1]

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1. eds.

Potential environmental, health, and safety impacts associated with the production and use of solar thermal energy systems (STES) appear in most cases to be negligible, easily mitigated, or site-specific. Occupational health and safety hazards do not differ greatly from those in common industrial practice. Public health issues appear to be limited to concern about accidental or mismanaged off-site releases of heat-transfer/storage fluids, or solid waste from solar ponds, and the possible nuisance of misdirected solar glare. Potential ecological and micrometeorological impacts relate to land requirements of large-scale systems in undeveloped areas, but tend to be site-specific. Uncertainties exist regarding the effect of large-scale loss of habitat on surrounding ecosystems, and the presence of the facility on the behavior of nearby wildlife. Secondary impacts are associated with processing, manufacture, and transport of components and subsystems. These are judged minor. In the short term, when analyzed as a replacement for conventional fossil-fuel systems, STES improve environmental quality by reducing air pollutants; in the long term, STES improve environmental quality by reducing CO/sub 2/ emissions and by minimizing mining, drilling, transport of fuel, and solid waste storage. Solar thermal systems appear no more land-intensive than conventional coal-fired systems. For some industrial applications in metropolitan areas, land requirements are likely to impose a constraint. When suitable locations are available, the primary siting constraint will be institutional barriers associated with land use, zoning, sun rights, and utility interfaces. Available water is a common constraint to any development in the arid west. Depending on the system used and the type of energy produced, STT water requirements can be similar or much less than those of comparable fossil-fueled systems. Reasonable management procedures can mitigate the potential for water quality degradation.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Los Angeles (USA). Lab. of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00012
• OSTI ID: 5289559
• Report Number(s): UCLA-12/1372; ON: DE82019852
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140400* -- Solar Energy-- Environmental Aspects
140700 -- Solar Thermal Power Systems
140905
AIR QUALITY
ARID LANDS
BUILDING CODES
CLIMATES
CONCENTRATING COLLECTORS
CONSTRUCTION
DESERTS
ENERGY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EQUIPMENT
HEAT
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LAND REQUIREMENTS
MATERIALS
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
PONDS
POWER PLANTS
PROCESS HEAT
PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RURAL AREAS
SAFETY
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PONDS
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
SOLAR PROCESS HEAT
SOLAR RIGHTS
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
SOLID WASTES
SURFACE WATERS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
URBAN AREAS
WASTES
WATER QUALITY
WATER REQUIREMENTS
ZONING