Browsing by Author "Yilmazel B."

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Assessing the effects of wind farms on soil organic carbon
(2021-04-01) Pekkan O.I.; Senyel Kurkcuoglu M.A.; Cabuk S.N.; Aksoy T.; Yilmazel B.; Kucukpehlivan T.; Dabanli A.; Cabuk A.; Cetin M.
Wind energy is considered one of the cleanest and most sustainable resources among renewable energy sources. However, several negative environmental impacts can be observed, unless suitable sites are selected for the establishment of wind farms. The aim of this study is to determine the change in the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock resulting from land cover changes that were caused by wind farm establishments in the Karaburun peninsula. Within the scope of the study, remote sensing and geographic information system technologies were utilized. Maximum likelihood algorithm, one of the supervised classification techniques, was used to classify the land cover, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analyses were performed to determine land cover changes. The findings were correlated with the “Turkey Soil Organic Carbon Project” data. As a result, depending on the establishment of wind farms in the Karaburun Peninsula, a total decrease of 18,330.57 tons of SOC in the study area between 2000 and 2019 was determined. It should be taken into consideration that besides many other negative effects (effects on human health, effects on the ecosystem, effects on animals, etc.), land cover changes caused by wind farms may indirectly cause important problems such as climate change. Recently, this situation shows that there is an important dilemma in terms of current implementations. Wind farms are the most invested renewable energy sources and alternative energy supply to fossil fuels in terms of preventing climate change. However, the results of this study have reviewed that lack of proper approaches and methods to establish wind farms may result in various problems such as physical, chemical, and biological degradations and an increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon. Consequently, the investments in renewable energy sources should be comprehensively reevaluated in terms of current technologies, quality in the scope of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment processes, legal regulations and national policies, long-term environmental costs, etc.
Assessment of the Ecological Footprint of Eskisehir Technical University–Iki Eylul Campus
(2021-10-01) Cetin M.; Agacsapan B.; Cabuk S.N.; Senyel Kurkcuoglu M.A.; Isik Pekkan O.; Baran Argun E.; Dabanlı A.; Kucukpehlivan T.; Yilmazel B.; Cabuk A.
Sustainable development is a concept that has started gaining importance in recent years. It helps reduce the environmental impacts of cities with dense human populations. On a smaller scale, social spaces, localities and institutions can be—in many ways—accurately representative of the cities they’re in. In other words, a place like a university campus can be considered a small city. Based on this point, this study was conducted to calculate the ecological footprint (EF) of Eskisehir Technical University (ESTU) campus and to determine the effects of the campus on the environment. The EF of the previous, current and future land use types within Iki Eylul Campus of ESTU was calculated using GIS software. The results showed that the major land use and land cover types in the study area were pasture, agricultural land and natural plant patterns in 1990, and most of them were converted into built areas—including the campus building. The change in EF due to this land use and land cover change was determined to be approximately 148,85 gha. However, when the land use and the campus user data for 2018 were included into the process, the EF of the study area was found to be 251,251.3 gha. Regarding the new structures and increase in the number of users in accordance with the campus development plan, it was determined that the EF of the campus area—barring any preventive actions—would reach 541,898.8 gha in the future. The current EF was calculated based on the artificial surfaces, energy consumption, transportation, waste production information; and determined that the highest EF value related to the electricity consumption. The total EF value of the campus in 2018 was 1148.2 gha.