Importance and Use of Renewable Energy - Essay Example

Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy coming from natural sources. Scientists all over the world are carrying out research to come up with cost effective and environmental friendly sources of energy. Several households and industries in the United States have now adopted these alternative sources, but the older fossil fuels still retain popularity (Boyle 17). This is because the renewable sources, despite their regeneration capacity, also have disadvantages. Wind energy, which is a renewable source of energy, has been in use for many centuries. In the Holland farms, in the United States, wind mills became used for grinding grain and pumping water. In the modern world, wind turbines have replaced wind mills. Wind turbines convert wind energy, into electrical energy (Boyle 27). Wind turbines can be connected to the power grid systems or as stand-alone wind turbines. Stand-alone wind turbines play a significant role in communications and water pumping. Residents living in windy areas can use them to cut off electricity costs. In power grid systems, many wind mills constructed close together to form a wind plant. Electricity providers use them to provide electric power to their customers. Several advantages accrue to wind energy (Boyle 37). It is free, because wind farms do not require fuel and they do not produce waste gases. Furthermore, wind mills occupy a small piece of land. The land beneath can, therefore, be used for other purposes such as farming. It can be used in remote areas as well as provide tourist attraction. Despite all the advantages above, wind as a form of renewable energy has its setbacks too. Wind farms become known to hinder television reception. Though considered a non-pollutant the older wind mills became reported to cause noise pollution. In fact, some people have estimated the noise from the rotating mills to the one from a moving automobile (Boyle 79). In addition, the turbines can kill wildlife such as birds due to collisions with the former. This is a serious threat to wildlife since it affects migratory routes. Other minor disadvantages of wind energy include aesthetics. Windmills become perceived as ugly, unsightly and unpleasant. For this reason, many people view them as disfigurations to the landscape. In terms of expense, it is expensive to set up a wind farm. Furthermore, wind is unpredictable as it changes with weather and in other places; wind power cannot support a wind farm because it is too weak. Wind strength is also variable with time. Therefore, wind mills do not give out uniform amount of energy at all times. Sometimes, not even the slightest amount of power becomes generated (Kaltschmitt, Streicher & Wiese 96). If everybody is to turn to wind as an energy source, large tracts of wind farms would become needed to supply sufficient electricity. For instance, the most immense wind mill available in the United States is only able to supply electricity to about 400 homes. Solar energy is another renewable source of energy that people have failed to embrace fully. Solar energy has been in use since ancient times, with several technologies getting harnessed to collect heat and light from the sun with two main systems been used in this modern age (Boyle 89). These are photovoltaic, also known as solar cell and concentrated solar power systems. Concentrated solar systems have lenses which concentrate a significant area of light into a beam. The concentrated heat becomes used as a heat source. The photovoltaic cell, on the other hand, converts light into electric current. Solar energy gets applied in several fields, for instance industries located in remote places, use solar energy to power monitoring devices as well as corrosion protection devices (Johansson 66). Residents living in such areas use it to pump water, to cook, through the use of solar cookers, to heat and purify water and to dry fruits and herbs. Tests are underway on the use of solar powered planes. Recently, solar trash became designed in some of the big cities. Solar energy is cost effective, easy to install, present almost everywhere, silent and do not pollute the environment to large extends (Kaltschmitt, Streicher & Wiese 56). However, the initial cost to install solar cells is high, making it costlier to other traditional sources such as coal. It can also be limited by weather conditions, especially in places where clouds cover almost the whole sky all day. This prevents sun’s rays from reaching the solar cells to recharge them. Moreover, in some parts of the world, nights are normally longer than days. In such areas, using energy from the sun does not necessarily cut the expense, and what one might have saved from the cost of non-renewable energy might not offset the cost of the solar panels and collectors (Johansson 32). This limits their ability to run round-the-clock. An example of such areas is tropical countries. Here, the rainy season can take as much as six months or half a year (Boyle 90). Unfortunately, in places where it is always sunny for the better part of the year, like in most parts of India and Africa, the socio-economic situation in those countries is so wanting that governments concentrate more on basic concerns such as food and housing, rather than energy (Kaltschmitt, Streicher & Wiese 86). Geothermal energy, another renewable source of energy, is energy extracted from within the earth. Wells get drilled in areas close to a dormant volcano; the steam recovered becomes then connected to a power plant. During winter, Italian farmers use geothermal energy to heat water for planting vegetables (Kaltschmitt, Streicher & Wiese 76). Furthermore, farmers use it to dry fruits and vegetables. Geothermal energy plays a significant role in the industry; it gets used in extraction of gold from its ore. During winter, it becomes used to in heating roads during winter to prevent freezing. Geothermal energy is cost saving, clean and environmental friendly because it contains insignificant amounts of chemical pollutants. However, nobody fully relies on it for their energy needs to the following reasons. One, improper drilling can lead to pollution as dangerous gases get their way onto the surface of the earth. Two, geothermal wells are not wide spread in the United States (Johansson 82). Thirdly, installation costs are high, and at times, the sites can run out of steam. Therefore, the reliability of this source of energy has attracted a lot of research in recent years. Another example of renewable energy is hydropower. This is energy generated from flowing water. The first hydroelectric power plant became constructed in 1879, at Niagara Falls and produces almost one-fifth of the world’s electricity. It is the most affordable source of energy across the world. It is also readily available. Pollution due to hydroelectric energy is minimal, and not many employees get required to run power station. Maintenance costs are relatively low. It is, however, expensive to build and construct large dams. Furthermore, the giant dams have become associated with serious geological damage. Sometimes they become predisposed to earth quakes. Another limitation is that rivers across which the dams become built have other competing uses, such as fishing, irrigation, and human settlement. Some authorities become known to have displaced people from their land in order to create a reservoir for harnessing hydroelectricity. Dams may also cause catastrophic floods, which may sweep human beings and animals away, causing massive loss. Other significant limitations of hydroelectric power include drought that can easily cause stoppages in energy production of a power plant. The dam can also decrease the levels of aeration in water (Johansson 82). This and the rotation of turbines inside the water can cause intolerable disturbance to fish and other aquatic organisms. Furthermore, regions that are flat are not suitable for production of hydroelectricity. So people in such areas just have to rely on the non-renewable sources of energy. Another form of renewable energy, biomass, makes use of solid wastes such as animal waste. The waste is burnt, producing steam which turns turbines. The turbines get to turn the generators which release electrical power. By use of wastes, it helps reduce environmental pollution. Moreover, the fuel is cheap. Biomass power faces several challenges. Collecting substantial amounts of the fuel is difficult. During generation of energy, the greenhouse gases produced cause global warming, which is a serious concern all over the world. For people who farm biomass crops, it is possible to decrease biodiversity and negatively impact wildlife habitat (Johansson 22). The waste becomes used in biomass feedstock may be toxic, leading to environmental pollution. One can also not forget the challenges associated with growing the plant mass. Therefore, the energy is not any cheaper than fossil fuels. In conclusion, renewable energy seems not only fashionable but also sustainable. However, due to various shortcomings of these sources of energy, the non-renewable sources continue to be widely used. Therefore, the two sources become required to complement each other, but complete dependence on either of them is unwise. Works Cited Boyle, Godfrey. Renewable Energy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Johansson, Thomas B. Renewable Energy. New York: Island Press, 1993. Martin Kaltschmitt, Wolfgang Streicher, Andreas Wiese. Renewable Energy. New York: Springer, 2010. Read More