Alternative Sources of Energy to Fossil Fuels

Alternative Sources of Energy to Fossil Fuels

Wind: Wind power is the conversion of wind into electricity. Wind turbines convert kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. 

Benefits:

1) Wind energy is a clean fuel source. Wind energy doesn't pollute the air like power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. Wind turbines don't produce atmospheric emissions that increase health problems like asthma or create acid rain or greenhouse gases.

2) Wind power does not use water, unlike conventional electricity sources. Producing nuclear, coal, or gas-fired power uses water for cooling. Water is becoming a scarce resource all over the country. Wind power uses zero water in its energy generation.

3) Wind power is cost-effective. It is one of the lowest-cost renewable energy technologies available today, with power prices offered by newly built wind farms averaging 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending on the wind resource and the particular project’s financing. Even without government subsidies, wind power is a low-cost fuel in many areas of the country.

Challenges:

1) Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city. 

2) Turbines might cause noise and change the viewshed. Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment and communities compared to conventional power plants, concern exists over the sound sometimes produced by the turbine blades and visual impacts to the landscape.

3) Wind turbines don't produce consistent energy.

Wind Turbines

Hydroelectricity: Hydroelectric power is electricity generated by hydropower. Water is needed to run a hydroelectric power-generating unit. The water is held behind a dam, forming an artificial lake, or reservoir. The force of the water being released from the reservoir through the dam spins the blades of a giant turbine, which generates electricity

Benefits:

Hydroelectricity does not "use" water, all of the water is returned to its source of origin. Hydroelectric power can be created 24/7 indefinitely assuming that the body of water it is utilizing never runs dry. It is also another absolutely clean source of energy. The power plants, once in place, do not create any waste byproducts in their conversion. Dams constructed can also shut their gates and conserve the water for use when power is in higher demand.

Challenges:

Like all power plants, hydroelectric plants are very expensive to build, and must be built to a very high standard. The high cost means that plants must operate for a long time to become profitable. The creation of dams can also create flooding of land, which means natural environment and the natural habitat of animals, and even people, may be destroyed.

The building of dams for hydroelectric power can also cause a lot of water access problems. The creation of a dam in one location may mean that those down river no longer have control of water flow. This can create controversy in places where neighboring countries share a water supply.

The Akasombo Dam (Volta River - Southeastern Ghana)

Biomass/Biofuels: The term biofuels refers to a wide range of fuels which are in some way derived from biomass, organic matter. In today's society they are gaining increased public and scientific attention due to rising gas and oil prices.

Benefits:

Biofuels are a renewable energy source in that they are created from plants that can be regrown each year. Biofuels also do not require many changes(if any) in cars and other places of use to be utilized. Some consider the use of biofuels as carbon neutral since the carbon produced when burning them is offset by the carbon consumed by the plants they came from. In the United States, biofuels can help reduce the dependence on foreign oils, which fluctuate in price rapidly.

Challenges:

While some consider their use "carbon neutral," the machinery required to farm the plants for biofuels does create carbon emissions, this machinery is also typically not powered by biofuels. 

Biofuels Life Cycle

Nuclear Power: Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat, which in nuclear power plants, is used to heat water and fuel steam powered generators of electricity. 

Benefits: 

Nuclear power plants also produce no greenhouse gas emissions after they are up and running. The running costs of nuclear plants are also very low due to the fact that a very small amount of uranium produces a very large amount of energy. If the cost of uranium were to doubled, operating costs of a nuclear power plant would only increase by about 7%. A single truck of uranium can produce as much energy as 1000 trucks of coal. Nuclear wastes have been stored safely underground for decades now.

Challenges:

A nuclear power plant undergoing a meltdown would make the land many miles surrounding the plant uninhabitable for several decades.

Besides the obvious direct dangers, nuclear fuel also requires machinery to mine and transport which ultimately means that nuclear power does produce some greenhouse gases. Nuclear power plants are also very expensive to build.

Nuclear wastes also take a very long time to degrade depending on the elemental isotope. Scientists argue that we cannot simply place nuclear waste in the ground and forget about it.

Nuclear Reactor

Solar Power: Solar power is the the conversion of the energy from the sun to usable electricity. Photovoltaic (PV) cells covert sunlight to direct current (DC) electricity. The inverter converts DC into alternating current (AC) electricity. The electrical panel sends power to your lights and appliances. The utility meter measures the energy you draw and feed back to the grid. 

Benefits:

Solar energy is a resource that is not only sustainable for energy consumption, it is indefinitely renewable (at least until the sun runs out in billions of years). 

Solar panels also require little maintenance. After installation and optimization they are very reliable due to the fact that they actively create electricity in just a few millimeters and do not require any type of mechanical parts that can fail. Solar panels are also a silent producer of energy, a necessity if dealing with picky neighbors. The federal government has also introduced generous tax credits for individuals and companies that invest in solar and other clean energy systems.

Challenges:

Solar power panels are expensive. 

The primary disadvantage of solar power is that it obviously cannot be created during the night. The power generated is also reduced during times of cloud cover. 

Even todays most efficient solar cells only convert just over 20% of the suns rays to electricity. 

Solar panels used to generate solar energy

Natural Gas: Natural Gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0-20% of other hydrocarbons.

Benefits: 

A major plus of natural gas is that it can be efficiently and safely stored. Like petroleum, it is a fossil fuel in the thermogenic sense, however it is considered to be more environmentally friendly due to its low emissions after burning 

It emits 60-90% less smog-producing pollutants than petroleum after burning. 

Challenges: 

Like other fossil fuels, natural gas still does create greenhouse gas emissions. In the sense of large scale use, gas from landfills would not be able to meet demand, and it would therefore be relying on the non-renewable forms of gas.

Natural gas is highly volatile and can be dangerous is handled or transported carelessly.