Alternative Energy - Research Paper Example

Alternative Energy United s Federal Government needs to increase its investment in alternative energy sources. This is because America is struggling to deal with a weak economy, unemployment and high fuel costs. Washington continues to remain stuck finding ways to give the nation a better and more secure future. Given the current scenario and the times, America needs to find energy that is secure, renewable, and reliable, creates employment and protect the environment. Renewable energy is the need of the hour.

The government will have to invest in and expand its foray of renewable energy more than the non-renewable energy. For this purpose the government should promote renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, geothermal plants, ocean power systems, bio masses and solar thermal power. The engineers have a role where devising these plants and coming up with new ways to generate energy is concerned. (ACORE)There are various alternate energy incentives that the United States Federal Government can offer.

It should focus more on promoting renewable energy and for that there are various incentives that it can offer. The government needs to promote new technology and offer incentives to investors who deploy that technology. Secondly, it should offer opportunities such as tax exemptions for businesses that make use of wind or solar power energy. There is a new law that was recently passed which propagated tax exemptions for home-owners who made energy-efficient improvements in their current homes.

The law is under Residential Energy Property Credit (Section 1121) (IRS)This alternative energy incentive was subjected to improvements at home such as adding insulation, constructing energy efficient exteriors and having energy efficient heating and cool systems at home. The government during Bush’s tenure had chalked out a plan to convert all taxis to hybrids by 2012. Various incentives were offered to back this motive by the government. Ethanol producers were given 50 cents per gallon credit.

(Renewable energy is a job creator, 2011)There are various types of alternate energy today:1. Solar Energy2. Thermal Energy3. Wind Energy4. Nuclear Energy5. Biomasses6. Geo-thermal energy7. Water energySolar energy: Solar technology as the name implies uses sun’s energy to generate heat, light and electricity. There are various types of solar collectors which are used to trap sun’s energy. Passive solar buildings designs are built to trap sun’s heat; photo-voltaic cells are designed to trap sunlight and to convert it into electricity directly.

It is a renewable form of energy. On the plus side, this is an abundant source of energy, is renewable and clean. It is environment friendly and unlike oil it does not produce green house gases such as carbon dioxide. On the negative side, it is very inefficient and is very costly. Operational costs run high. It is dependent on the sun and sun does not come in abundance all the time.Bio-Masses:Bio-mass is energy from derived from plants and plant-derived materials. These are food crops, and residues from forestry, as well as organic matter from industrial waste.

This is a very valuable source of energy for the United States. It not only helps in waste management but also serves as an important source of renewable energy. It is considered to be a supplement to fossil fuel consumption. Because it is produced from plants, it can be produced just about anywhere in the world. However its impact on the environment has its pros and cons. Toxins from municipal waste can cause pollution and negatively affect the wild life. However it helps reducing emissions and pollutants. (SECO)Nuclear Power:Nuclear makes use of nuclear fission to produce energy.

The metal Uranium is particularly important in this field. This is a fast growing source of energy and caters to 11% of world’s energy needs today. However, it is very expensive to construct and can be dangerous if not handled properly. (Nuclear Power)BibliographyACORE. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct 4, 2011, from Outlook on Renewable Energy In Americs: http://www.acore.org/RECAP/docs/OutlookonRenewableEnergy2007.pdfIRS. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct 4, 2011, from Energy Incentives for Individuals in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206875,00.

htmlNuclear Power. (n.d.). Retrieved 0ct 2, 2011, from Energy Resources: http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htmRenewable energy is a job creator. (2011, Oct 3). Retrieved Oct 4, 2011, from The Tenneasean: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111004/OPINION03/310040008/Renewable-energy-job-creatorSECO. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct 4, 2011, from Renewable Energy Incentives : http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_incentives.htm