California Energy Commission, n. Words: - Pages: 2, alternative energy sources essay. This concern is particularly pronounced in a connection with coal burning as the most polluting technology. Not only can renewable energy help save money, it can also help make money. the Arabs have threatened to blow up their oil fields if recourse is taken to war by the U. The main direction of using wind energy is to obtain electricity for autonomous consumers, as well as mechanical energy for raising water in arid regions, in pastures, draining alternative energy sources essay, and so on. Unfortunately, the fossil deposits we have in the world cannot last forever.
Introduction
The world energy use is doubling every fourteen years Hodgson. Still, the main energy source is oil. The other primary source of energy is coal and there is still plenty of it. The only problem is that coal is even more polluting than oil, which can lead to climate change and acid rain. These are the reasons why the world is in an energy crisis right now. There are many different types of renewable energy sources and they all work in different ways. Most alternative energy sources give off little to no pollution and help reduce global warming, alternative energy sources essay. Also, renewables end up paying for themselves in as little as five years. A few popular alternative energy sources are wind power, solar power, hydropower, and biomass power.
The use of alternative energy sources should be increased because they decrease global warming, do not give off pollution, are renewable and cost-effective. Since oil and coal are not renewable resources and the environment that we live in is highly polluted, there are some questions that bring up many arguments. Questions such as: Should the use of alternative energy sources be increased dramatically or not at all? Or are these alternative energy sources really going to help save the environment? In spite of the arguments, some believe alternative energy use should be increased for certain reasons and others believe they should not be increased, also, for certain reasons.
Although I believe that alternative energy sources should be increased, some experts say otherwise. My opponents argue that coal and oil are still much better than renewable energy sources. Admittedly, a problem with renewable resources is that they are, on average, much harder to collect, transport, and store than fossil fuel resources Mills. People are working on fixing this problem so that renewables will be able to be easily transported and stored. This is also one of the very few large problems with alternative energy sources. Some experts also believe that legislative inadequacies, alternative energy sources essay, high costs, and powerful fossil fuel lobbies are the big reasons why renewable energy sources should not be used yet Anderson.
Fossil fuel costs have increased and will continue to increase. The costs of renewables will remain abundant and will begin to steadily decrease with time. Alternative energy sources essay, there are still powerful fossil fuel lobbies but fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource. With world energy use doubling every fourteen years, fossil fuels will run out quicker than we can imagine. It is true that alternative energy sources have some downfalls but I believe fossil fuels have more hazardous disadvantages. I believe that the use of alternative energy sources should be increased for many reasons.
One major reason is that unlike fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are not bad for the environment. Essentially, the environment could benefit dramatically from the use of alternative energy sources because they alternative energy sources essay little to no pollution and do not contribute to global warming. Fossil fuel-based electricity generation may have alternative energy sources essay production costs but the external costs are what people should really be worried about. Acid rain and global alternative energy sources essay have also alternative energy sources essay attributed to the use of fossil fuels, alternative energy sources essay. Fossil fuels affect the health of the entire human population. Alternative energy sources will not cause health issues and will also help by reducing global warming.
The environment, now and for the future, is counting on people to stop the pollution, global warming, and other negative environmental impacts that are cause by fossil fuels. Each type of alternative energy sources has different costs, ways in which they work, along with advantages and disadvantages. Wind power is the most promising renewable energy source. The total energy in the wind is more than enough to satisfy all of our energy needs Hodgson. Another advantage of wind power is that it is extremely easy to take care of. Wind power is very efficient because it uses natural wind so no pollution is produced. Some believe that wind power should not be used because it decreases the bird population dramatically by killing birds.
The number of birds killed by wind turbines is not large though. To some people, that may seem like a lot but a study was done at a single coal-fired power plant and it recorded about bird deaths. When comparing the two for bird deaths, wind turbines are much, much better than coal power plants. That pretty much sums it up for wind power. Another type of alternative energy source is solar power. Since the sun is natural, solar power also does not produce any pollution. Solar power can be used by solar panels that homes alternative energy sources essay small businesses could use to generate electricity. Solar power is cost-effective also. One problem with solar power is that when the sun is not out, little electricity can be generated.
This problem is in the process of being fixed by finding a way to store extra electricity. Hydroelectric power uses wind turbines, which are spun by water stored behind dams. Hydropower is safe and produces a good amount of energy. Hydroelectric power can cause a number of changes to ecosystem. However, each project is different. People may criticize hydropower because they think each project has the same environmental impacts but that is not so true. Last but not least, biomass power, alternative energy sources essay. Biomass power is very similar to hydropower but it differs by the form of water that it uses. Biomass power uses turbines, alternative energy sources essay, which are spun by steam produced using the heat of burning plant matter.
Biomass is organic since it uses plant matter. A problem that arises with the use of biomass power is that it can give off a little amount of air pollution but not close to the amount that fossil fuels do. The use of biomass power can still greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to the use of fossil fuels. The advantages of these alternative energy sources are so large that they weigh out the disadvantages. Should the use of alternative energy sources be increased? You can either help the environment by being part of the solution or you can harm the environment and continue to use fossil fuels for everything, alternative energy sources essay.
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However, to address this issue, it is better to understand some of the sources renewable energy. Among the proposed sources of power to be used is solar energy. Solar energy is a renewable source of energy because the sun has been there and can only be absent for a very short period of time. On the same note, harnessing of solar energy is noise proof which means that noise pollution is avoided when using solar power Boxwell Similarly, solar power is environmental friendly because it does not produce any form of pollution. In addition, equipments used in the production of solar power are cheap to maintain thus the long run cost of production is low.
Moreover, it is easy and cheap to install appliances of solar power. Similarly, the electricity produced from solar energy can be used to power virtually every thing that uses power Boxwell It is also important to note that the production of solar power does not lead to environmental degradation like digging up the ground or deforestation. However, solar power has its disadvantages. To begin with, some people have argued that the initial cost of installing solar power harnessing equipment is very high. Additionally, harnessing of solar power is affected by whether and cannot be done during cloudy or rainy days and at night. Therefore, another source of energy is needed to act as a back up Boxwell On the other hand, wind energy is also another source of energy that can replace fossil fuel.
Wind energy does not emit green house gases which are dangerous to the environment. Furthermore, no fossil fuels are burnt to produce wind energy thus it does not pollute the environment Miller and Scott Besides, extraction of wind energy is more efficient given the advancement in technology. The turbines used to produce wind power only occupy little space at the base leaving room for other activities to be done on the ground. Moreover, wind energy is highly applicable in under developed parts of a country and can add to the tax base of the area. In addition, renewable sources of energy, wind being among them, require minimal subsidies to maintain.
On the same note, the cost of producing wind power is constant and therefore prices for wind power do not fluctuate. Most importantly, wind is free and thus cost of producing wind power is low in the long run Miller and Scott It is crucial, however, to highlight that wind power has its share of disadvantages. Firstly, wind power depends on the flow of wind. On the days when the weather is calm wind power might not be generated. On the same note, the initial cost of producing wind power is quite high and individuals may not afford it Miller and Scott Lastly, power produced by the turbines is insufficient compared to power produced by fossil fuels. Despite the disadvantages of wind and solar power, their advantages are definitely more.
They are renewable and therefore they will never get depleted. Sooner or later the government will have to find alternative ways of producing power. Consequently, it is high time that the government increased its financial support in the production of the two types of power Miller and Scott Reduction of restrictions is necessary but it might not be sufficient given the heavy initial cost. Similarly, renewable sources of energy, especially wind and solar power, are both economically and environmentally viable in the long run hence the need to invest in them. The fact that the country currently satisfies most of its energy requirements should not blind our eyes.
We will need to think of how we will operate in future. The fossil fuel that forms the giant part of energy source will definitely be exhausted with time. It will be a great disservice to the future generations if we do not find sustainable energy sources. Consequently, the government has no option but to encourage the production wind and solar energy. Boxwell, Michael. The oil producing countries used it as a political weapon to put pressure on the U. They not only reduced the production of oil and its products but also increased greatly their prices This produced the worst type of energy crisis all over the world.
India has been badly hit by this crisis. the Arabs have threatened to blow up their oil fields if recourse is taken to war by the U. So the deadlock continues and the industrialization of the world has received a serious setback. If this is the condition of industrially and technologically developed countries of the world, the plight of India, an underdeveloped country can be well imagined. She is one of the poorest countries of the world in terms of energy consumption. The energy crisis has been responsible for the low production in almost all sectors. No further economy or reduction in the use of crude oil is possible. Our minimum demands of diesel for transportation and agriculture, of naphtha for fertilisers, cannot be further minimised. What other alternative sources of energy are available for us?
Oil is very costly and the deposits of coal and gas may be exhausted soon. Should we not then turn to nuclear and solar energy for our immediate needs? India is at present producing 4. This is less than one-fourth of her present needs. The main item of our energy policy should be to replace the imported fuels by the indigenous ones because we cannot pay the heavy foreign exchange bill nor can we slow down our production. So it would be a sound policy to revert to coal and electricity as the chief sources of energy for running machines.
Of course, whatever little oil we have should be reserved for railway engines and the Naphtha based fertiliser. The method to be evolved for using atomic energy and solar energy in a controlled manner may yet take some time.
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