Alternative Energy Available Today - Assignment Example

Nowadays the problem of environment protection and rational use of its resources has become a question of vital importance. According to McGee, 'sustainable alternative energy is becoming attractive as oil costs rise and the negative side effects of traditional energy systems begin to become apparent1'. It is generally known that humankind needs energy. Moreover in the course of time with the development of technological progress the demands for energy constantly grow. At the same time natural reservoirs of traditional sources of energy such as oil, gas, coal, and other are not inexhaustible. So the point is that the only way to avoid the global power crisis in future is to follow the policy of natural recourses saving and to use renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy, geothermal energy, wind power, water power, and biofuel. So renewable energy is 'energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes can not be depleted2'. Wind Power Wind - is one of the renewable energy sources. The wind is considered by experts as one of the most perspective energy sources, capable to replace not only traditional sources, but also nuclear power. Production of the electric power by means of wind has a number of advantages: a) Ecologically clean production without any harmful wastes; b) Saving of scarce expensive fuel (traditional fuel and fuel for nuclear stations); c) Availability; d) Practical inexhaustibility. But as well as in other sources of energy usage, we can find some negative aspects in usage of wind power. The essential defect of a wind power is its intermittency. Moreover the usage of wind power may lead to a kind of environmental pollution, which existence and importance are often undervalued. It is a noise pollution. In Ohio one of the leading American companies has constructed the world's largest wind power plant with rating power 10 MW. This massive construction with the general height over hundred meters has worked just for some days and after has been sold for demolition at the price of 10 dollars per ton. The thing is that the life in radius of several kilometers has become just impossible. And question is not only in audible noise and vibrations. There is a very strong infrasonic, low frequency component in this noise. The point is that an infrasound on the frequency of 7 Hz conterminous with an alpha rhythm of a human's brain at sufficient intensity is very harmful. It may cause the strongest health disorders. Moreover the usage of wind turbines may result desertification of the grounds and in this case animals would have to leave their traditional areas of living. So the biodiversity may be decreased. Solar Power The leading clean energy source is the solar power. The energy of a solar radiation coming on the surface of our planet, almost in 40 times exceeds all energy consumed by the mankind. Every second the Sun gives the Earth 80 thousand billion kilowatt of energy, that in some thousand times more, than all the power stations of the world produce all together. Now mankind use only insignificant part of a solar energy, as existing solar batteries have rather low efficiency and are very expensive to produce. However we should not refuse from this practically inexhaustible source of clean energy. According to the statements of experts, this source could cover all needs of mankind for energy thousand years forward. The solar power is the most powerful and accessible of all kinds of non-traditional, renewable energy sources. Sunlight is not only inexhaustible, but also absolutely clean energy source having enormous energy potential. Nevertheless the usage of solar power also has own disadvantages. Solar energy is distributed on the big area, or in other words, has low density. That is why any plant for direct use of solar energy should have collecting device (collector) with a sufficient surface. Besides, large-scale use of a solar energy presupposes a huge increase of demands for materials, and consequently, for manpower for the production of theses materials, manufacture of heliostats, collectors, and other equipment, their transportation. Today the electric energy born by solar power is much more expensive than energy received by traditional ways. Scientists hope, that experiments, which they will conduct, will help to solve not only technical, but also economic problems. Water Power For centuries, the energy of water power, serves to the whole mankind. Its resources are colossal. Not without reason many researchers note that it would be more accurate to name our planet the 'Water', but not the 'Earth', since most of our planet surface is covered by water. There are many different forms of water power: waterwheels, hydroelectric energy, tidal power, tidal stream power, and wave power. According to California Energy Commission website, 'tidal power requires large tidal differences which, in the U.S., occur only in Maine and Alaska, ocean thermal energy conversion is limited to tropical regions, such as Hawaii, and to a portion of the Atlantic coast, and wave energy has a more general application, with potential along the California coast3'. Ocean is a gigantic accumulator of energy, which absorbs the energy coming from the Sun. So it is natural that people in quest of energy just could not overpass such huge resources. As a matter of fact this kind of energy source is very efficient. The water energy is free as no fuel needed, and what is even more important, no waste produced. The new stage in use of water energy is development of waves energy engineering. Wave energy can be converted into electricity through both offshore and onshore systems. It should be mentioned that 'economically, wave power systems have a hard time competing with traditional power sources, however, the costs to produce wave energy are coming down4'. Increasing of environmental pollution and infringement of thermal balance of an atmosphere gradually lead to global change of climate. Deficiency of energy and limitation of fuel resources testify the inevitability of transition to 'clean' alternative energy sources, such as water power, solar power, biofuel, geothermal energy and other. But in any way it is important to study all advantages and disadvantages of these sources critically in order to reduce all negative impact to minimum and to protect the environment in all possible ways. Bibliography: 1. McGee, Tim. " Wave Power - Alternative Energy Available Today." 2000. TreeHugger. 28 Feb. 2007 . 2. "EERE Consumer's Guide: Glossary of Energy-Related Terms." Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 28 Feb. 2007 . 3. "Ocean Energy." California Energy Commission. 28 Feb. 2007 . 4. "EERE Consumer's Guide: Ocean Wave Power." Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 28 Feb. 2007 . Read More