Modern Marvels - Renewable Energy - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The solar-powered homes can sell the extra electricity back to the grid at a good price. The use of solar energy also enables homes to withstand fluctuations in electricity prices along with an increase in the premium.
Wind power: Wind power has been a major contender as the energy source of the future. Some of the economic factors hampering the growth of wind energy are the high estate rentals for wind farms and the high capital costs of turbines and connecting to the grid. However, the operational costs of the turbines are very low.

Geothermal: Geothermal energy is another renewable source that can be used. The source is extremely successful in the volcanic regions of the world. The use of this energy to regulate the temperature of homes can be a viable option for replacing ACs and heaters. However, the construction of power grids based on this source is a costly affair.
Biofuels: With a small modification of a car engine, vehicles can be driven by biofuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or used or unused vegetable oil. These biofuels are cheaper than petrol, have similar performance, and emit less toxic gases. However, the efficiency of the process in terms of gasoline as input and ethanol as output is still less and needs significant improvement.

Tidal Power: With many of the rivers drying up, the future of hydropower is going to be coming from tidal waves. The major issue facing this energy source is the high maintenance cost of the propellant turbines in the marine environment. However, the return in terms of power generated is maximum for the minimum area covered in this case.
Economics of Wind Energy

Wind energy provides us with a cheap low-cost abundant energy source that can be used as an alternative to our current power grids. Over the years, wind energy production prices have gone down considerably thereby making it a cheap viable renewable energy source. The cost of generating electricity from wind comprises of:
• Capital Cost of building the turbines, and connecting them to the grid
• Operational Costs of maintenance, fuels, land rentals, etc
• The cost of financing
• Wind resource

However, certain developments in recent years have led to significant reductions in the prices of wind power.
Over the years, technological advances have made it possible to achieve large economies of scale, with larger turbines and plant size, more grid-friendly power electronics, and cost reduction as a result of development in the wind turbine technology
Moreover, the development of understanding of the wind as a cleaner efficient, and cheaper energy source has raised a lot of interest in the private equity market. The various rebates given by governments to wind power projects have led to a reduction in the overall cost of capital.

Moreover, wind as a resource is statistically predictable thereby resulting in fixed costs over the long term. The technology used in today’s turbines is reliable thereby resulting in favorable economics of wind energy production.
To sum up, wind energy holds the potential for exponential growth over the next decade.
Summary
The video discusses many alternative renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, geothermal, biofuel and tidal power. All have significant importance in various sectors and geographies. All the sources have different economics and financing issues that make each source preferable over the other. ...Download file to see next pages Read More