Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. I. Geothermal and biomass

An evaluation of potential occupational and public health aspects of geopressure, hydrothermal, hot dry rock, silviculture, crop and animal residues, fermentable plant products, municipal waste, and plantation energy technologies has been performed. Future development of these energy options in the United States will contain hazards that could easily be eliminated by safer equipment design and common-sense attention to operation and maintenance. Occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas occurs near all geothermal sites and wherever organic matter decomposes anaerobically. Respiratory damage has occurred to laborers in geothermal fields, while farm workers have been fatally overcome when employed near agitating liquid manure systems. However, the most frequent and severe of reported injuries to geothermal workers is dermal exposure to caustic sludges produced by H₂S abatement systems.Principal health and safety considerations of biomass pathways are directly related to the diffuse nature of solar energy fixation by photosynthesis and subsequent transfer to animal food chains. Since the potential fuel is in an unconcentrated form, cultivation, harvest, and transport are necessarily laborintensive. Thus, a significant potential for occupational injuries and fatalities exists. Of all biomass systems evaluated, direct burning of solid fuels presents the greatest public health risk. Data are presented to characterize the population at risk and the frequency and severity of injuries.Operated by Union Carbide Corporation under contract W-7405-eng-26 with the U.S. Department of Energy.