Green Safety: Manage Risks Arising from Green Technologies
August 28th, 2009 by Dr. Saraf Green is “In”. But just because you have a green technology does not mean you have ZERO risks. Let me give you a couple of examples. Biofuel Industry... Dr. Saraf makes a very valid and important point in his blog post. It has been my experience that emerging technologies often lag in safety as the technology and process dangers develop. Our readers may note that biofuels are both liquid and solid forms. I can speak directly to the pellet Industry, and specifically to the wood pellet process as this growth industry is now experiencing critical mass with 100 pellet plants in N.America and an ever increasing number of incidents of fires and explosions. Fires and explosions in this industry are predominantly due to lack of awareness of the combustibility of the product and byproduct from these processes, as well as lack of properly designed process controls, dust collection, safety systems (such as adequate spark detection & extinguishment and explosion ...