Alternative Energy Sources Currently in Use

Solar Power The idea of harnessing the suns power has been around for ages. Only since the late 1970s has there been the technology to really make it happen. The basic process is simple. Solar collectors concentrate the sunlight that falls on them and convert it to energy. This is done in a number of ways, depending on whether the goal is electricity for a region or warm water for a pool. The biggest hurdle for solar energy is the price of installation. Solar equipment costs Photo courtesy DOE/NREL, Bill Timmerman photographer significantly more than traditional energy equipment. It takes many years of use to see Rooftop PV modules on a village health center; that investment pay off. Despite the expense, Calcutta, India. solar power is a feasible way to supplement power in cities. In rural areas, where the cost of running power lines increases, solar power becomes the best choice for electricity. Hydroelectric Power Hydroelectric power uses the energy from falling water to turn turbines and generate electricity. Power generated this way relies on controlling flowing water such as a river often with a dam. Hydroelectric power has many advantages. It almost goes without saying that it is renewable. Water-powered generators do not produce emissions. Water flow controlled within the hydroelectric plantdetermines the amount of electricity produced, so power can be provided as needed. About 20% of the worlds electricity comes from this source. Leading users of hydroelectric power include Norway, Russia, China, Canada, the United States, and Brazil. Biomass Fuel

Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL, Andrew Carlin, Tracy Operators photographers

Truck unloading wood chips that

will fuel the Tracy Biomass Plant, Tracy, California.

Biomass describes almost any plant wastewood waste, agricultural waste, landfill wastesas well as certain crops used as a fuel. These wastes come from industries such as lumbering, building, or paper; agricultural wastes from farming; and even solid wastes from municipal landfills and the methane gas created in these landfills. In addition, certain grasses can be grown for fermentation into biofuels. Around the world, biomass fuelmostly wood productsburns alongside coal in coal-fired electricity plants. Biofuels represent the other major use of biomass. Ethanol can be used alone or as an additive to gasoline. Brazil powers most of its vehicles with ethanol. Biodieselmade from vegetable oil, animal fat, and restaurant grease can fully replace standard diesel fuel. It also can be used in a blend. The biggest biodiesel producer and user is Germany. Even though it burns and produces carbon di oxide, biomass fuel is considered to be carbon neutral. Fossil fuels release CO2 from eons ago, creating an extra load of CO2 in the atmosphere. The CO2 released when biomass fuels burn is taken up by the plants grown to replace them. However, fossil fuels are still used in the production of biomass fuel, powering the farming equipment, fueling the log trucks, and in other steps along the way. At this time biomass fuel is not truly carbon neutral. It does decrease overall CO2 emissions, though, which is a step in the right direction. Wind Power

Small windmills were common around the world until steam engines and, later, electricity replaced them. Interest in large wind turbines increased with the oil crises of the 1970s. By the 1980s wind farmsrows of turbinesbegan to dot countrysides all over the world. Leading users of wind energy include Germany, the United States, Denmark, and Spain, with India and China the up-and-coming users of wind power. Giant wind turbines generate power when the wind turns the large blades. The blades attach to a generator, making electricity. Large wind farms can meet a utilitys basic power needs. Smaller wind farms and single windmills can power homes, telecommunications dishes, and water pumps. As with solar power, building a wind farm requires a large initial investment that does not necessarily pay off quickly. Geothermal Energy
Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL, Sandia National Laboratories

Geothermal energy takes natural features like hot springs Lamar, Colorado and steam vents and uses them to produce electricity or supply a region with hot water. Geothermal power plants send the steam that reaches the Earths surface to turbines. The turbines turn, powering generators that make electricity. The first steam-based geothermal power plant opened in Larderello, Italy, in 1904. This plant remains in operation today. The United States, Iceland, the Philippines, El Salvador, Russia, Kenya, and Tibet are among the 24 countries that used the 8,900 megawatts of electricity generated by geothermal facilities in 2005. Direct geothermal heating utilizes hot water at the surface of the Earthsuch as hot springsto heat homes and other buildings.

Colorado Green wind farm, near

Over 16,000 megawatts of energy came from direct geothermal sources in 2005, in some 72 countries.

Nuclear Power Nuclear power was pushed as an alternative to fossil fuels in the 1970s. Plants conducted nuclear fission in a controlled setting, producing power. Low fuel costs balanced the financial investment needed to build nuclear power plants, resulting in cheaper electricity. Despite the notable accidents at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania and at Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power continues to be a viable source of power in many places. Nuclear power plants Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL, Joel Renner, NEEL, provide 16% of the worlds energy, in 70 photographer countries. They are a vital source of power for The Steamboat Hills geothermal power plant in countries without much natural fossil fuel Steamboat Springs, Nevada. resources. France and Japan have particularly active nuclear power programs. Plants now incorporate multiple safety systems to prevent core meltdowns and release of radioactive substances. Concerns remain about the disposal of spent fuel, which potentially could be used to make nuclear weapons. Ocean Power

A tidal power plant captures the energy from the flow of the tide in and out of a bay or estuary. A special dam called a barrage separates the tidal area into upper and lower basins. Turbines within the barrage turn as the water flows from one basin to the other, depending on the direction of the tide. The turbines power a generator, which then makes electricity.

Installing a tidal plant is expensive, so the plant Photo courtesy of Dan Chiras, author, The New must be able to generate enough energy to make Ecological Home it worth the investment. That happens only when Passive solar house, Evergreen, Colorado. there is a difference of at least 5 m (16 ft) between high and low tide. Any less does not generate enough power to make a tidal plant financially feasible. Only about 40 sites around the world meet these criteria. The bestknown tidal plant is La Rance Station in Brittany, France. Other sites include the Annapolis Royal plant, in Nova Scotia, Canada, as well as plants in Russia, China, India, and Wales.

Passive Heating and Cooling

One unique way to renewably heat or cool your house is through passive heating and cooling techniques. This approach combines energy from the sun with design and construction techniques to warm a building in the winter and cool it in the summer.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Many people believe that the future is in hydrogen fuel cellslarge ones for power plants, small ones for engines and other applications. The advantages of hydrogen are numerous. The hydrogen reaction produces heat, electricity, and water, but no pollution. Hydrogen is readily available and can be produced from fossil fuels or, more important, from renewable fuels. Hydrogen is cheap and more efficient than any technology involving turbines and significantly more efficient than internal combustion. However, right now hydrogen technology costs more than existing power sources. The actual setup of the systemsto control temperatures and to make fuel cells at usable sizesis not yet known. These issues must be resolved before hydrogen fuel cells begin to replace other power sources. Fusion

Passive Energy

Nuclear fusion is an energy source still in the experimental stages. But what exactly is fusion? Fusion powers the sun and stars. Four hydrogen nuclei (protons) join together to produce a helium nucleus (two protons and two neutrons), along with some extra particles. A fusion reaction releases tremendous amounts of energy. The lethal hydrogen bomb uses fusion in an uncontrolled setting. Scientists have been working to control and harness the fusion reaction for energy production. In a controlled fusion reaction, the radioactive materials exist only for a relatively short time. The waste decays rapidly, with nothing that will stick around for a Click for animation. long time. In addition, the wastes cannot be used to make weapons. Fusions advantages are that it is clean and that the hydrogen needed to fuel the reactions is easy to get. The big problem with fusion is that to work, the reaction must be hotter than the interior of the sun. This heat needs to be confined to make fusion a useful energy provider. The Distant Future

In the hot summer, a number of building techniques can help cool a house. A large overhang prevents the high rays of the sun from reaching the many south-facing windows. Leafy deciduous trees shade those windows as well. Open windows on the naturally shady north side help bring in cooler air. A ceiling fan draws air up towards the ceiling. The upper row of clerestory windows are opened, to let the hot air escape. In the cold winter, building techniques take advantage of the heat from the Sun and the ground. The deciduous trees have lost their leaves. Thermal windows in the south-facing front of the house permit the lower angled rays of the Sun to warm the interior of the house. These rays also pass under the overhang. The floor of the interior includes a thermal absorber, to retain heat. The ceiling fan pushes the rising warm air back down toward the floor.

Researchers have long speculated on other types of renewable energy. One proposed method gets solar energy from special satellites in space, above the weather and the Earths rotation. Solar-powered satellites would collect the suns energy, convert it to electricity,

and beam it back to Earth. This concept has been discussed for over 30 years, but costs and availability of other renewable energy sources have held back development. Another theory proposes getting large amounts of energy from the rotation of black holes. http://www.planetseed.com/relatedarticle/alternative-energy-sources-currently-use

Non-Renewable Resources
Nonrenewable resources are used worldwide to create electricity, heat homes, power vehicles and manufacture goods. Resources are considered nonrenewable if their quantities are limited or if they cannot be replaced as fast as they are used up. Some nonrenewable resources have been formed over millions of years and will eventually be depleted altogether. (See References 1)
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Petroleum
Oil, or petroleum, comes from the liquified, fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago; once oil sources are depleted, they cannot be replaced. Oil is an energy source that the U.S. is very much dependent upon. It is used to create fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. It is also used in the manufacturing of plastics and industrial chemicals. Much of our oil is imported, creating a dependency on sources that are unpredictable and costly. The environmental impacts of mining oil include threats to waterways, plants and wildlife due to oil spills and increased infrastructure in natural areas. The impacts of oil combustion include air pollution, smog and increased greenhouse gas emissions. (See References 1)

Coal
Coal is the most plentiful nonrenewable resource in the world and is used to create more than half of the electricity used in the U.S. Coal is made when plant material has been compressed in bogs for millions of years. (See References 1) The extraction of coal from surface and sub-surface mines creates numerous problems for humans and the environment. Subsurface mines are dangerous for miners as tunnels can collapse and built-up gas can explode. They also create subsidence, meaning that the ground level lowers when the coal is removed. Surface mining, or strip-mining, causes erosion and water pollution and decreases biodiversity by reducing plant and animal habitats. Additionally, the combustion of coal contributes to air pollution and global climate change and creates a toxic ash as a byproduct. (See References 1)
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Natural Gas
Natural gas is the result of decomposing plants and animals that were trapped beneath rock millions of years ago. This gas is drilled from the ground or extracted using dynamite and then processed and piped through thousands of miles of pipelines for cooking, heating homes and fueling vehicles. (See References 2) Though natural gas is considered to be a relatively "clean" fossil fuel, the environmental impacts of extracting it and installing pipelines include severe disruption of wildlife habitat and groundwater contamination. (See References 3)

Nuclear Energy
Although nuclear energy is often held up as a viable alternative to coal and oil, it is not a renewable energy source. Nuclear power requires uranium, a radioactive metallic element that must be mined from the earth and is not quickly replenished. Nuclear energy does not create air pollution though combustion like fossil fuels. It does, however, produce radioactive waste, which must be disposed of and which can cause problems for humans and ecosystems for thousands of years. Additionally, accidents and leaks from nuclear power plants can have catastrophic effects on the entire planet . http://homeguides.sfgate.com/examples-nonrenewable-resources-79605.html

Types of Energy
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another. This is the law of conservation of energy, stated in the simplest form. It established two things - the sum total of energy in the universe is constant, and energy manifests itself in various forms, that transform into each other. Every single event that occurs in this universe is an energy transformation of a particular kind. Through this Buzzle article, you will be introduced to the various types of energy. Defining Energy Almost every physical quantity can be precisely defined, except 'Energy'. Energy as a quantity, can only be indirectly observed and measured; the reason being the various forms in which it indirectly manifests itself. The enigmatic physical quantity called energy, can be roughly defined as the ability of any physical entity to do work, against exerted forces in the background. Therefore work and energy are very closely related. In fact, they have the same unit. We can further characterize energy through its observed properties which are - the fact that total energy of the universe always remains constant and it gets converted into various forms. Here is how the great physicist Richard Feynman explained the idea of energy "There is a fact, or if you wish, a law, governing all natural phenomena that are known to date. There is no known exception to this law-it is exact so far as we know. The law is called the conservation of energy. It states that there is a certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in manifold changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea, because it is a mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity which does not change when something happens. It is not a description of a mechanism, or anything concrete; it is just a strange fact that we can calculate some number and when we finish watching nature go through her tricks and calculate the number again, it is the same." That 'number' which Feynman describes is Energy. Every natural phenomenon obeys the law of conservation of energy stated at the very beginning of this article. Energy is a scalar physical quantity, in the sense that it can be completely described by specifying its magnitude. In the International System of Units (SI), energy is measured in Joules. When it manifests itself in the form of heat, it is measured using the unit of 'calorie' or 'Kilocalorie'. Everything that moves, jiggles, vibrates, rotates, causes motion to occur or has the potentiality to make things move, has energy. Let me introduce you to the various forms of energy in the rest of this write-up. Different Forms of Energy All the different types of energy can be broadly divided into two types - Potential and Kinetic Energy. The sum total of potential, as well as kinetic energy of a particle always remains constant, when there are no frictional forces operating. Let me define both of them, right away. Potential Energy The inherent, dormant energy stored in any physical system, due to its position and structure in an environment with applied forces is called potential energy. Picture an archer with a bow and arrow, ready to launch it. When the arrow is made ready for launch and the taut bowstring is pulled back, at that position, the string has elastic potential energy stored in it. In that position, the string has the 'potential' to perform the work to launch the arrow. There are various forms of potential energy, depending on the kind of forces involved. Examples are gravitational potential energy, chemical potential energy, electrical potential energy, magnetic potential energy and nuclear potential energy. Kinetic Energy Kinetic energy is the form of energy possessed by a particle due to its motion. In the above example, when the archer releases the bowstring, the arrow gets launched when the stored elastic potential energy gets converted into kinetic energy. The bowstring in motion possesses kinetic energy. Thus any particle in motion has kinetic energy. Examples are rotational kinetic energy and vibrational kinetic energy. The sum of potential and kinetic energies is known as mechanical energy. Chemical Energy

The motive force that powers the human body, is provided by the chemical energy derived through the process of respiration. Chemical energy is derived from the making and breaking of inter-atomic bonds in molecules. Through molecular rearrangements, the biological world derives energy. The energy derived from gasoline is an example of chemical energy utilization. Thermal Energy Thermal or heat energy is the sum total of kinetic and potential energy of atoms and molecules that form a substance. Thermal energy can be measured by the temperature of the system under consideration. It is the energy of a substance, due to the vibrational, rotational and translational motion and potential energy of atoms and molecules. Electric Energy This is the energy derived from the electrical potential energy that exists between charges, which is delivered in the form of an electric current. When you connect the terminals of a battery with a bulb, electrical energy flows between the two terminals, in the form of the electric current, which are actually electrons traveling through the wire. Elastic Energy When you stretch a rubber band and then release it, the interatomic forces make it snap back to its original condition. The stored elastic potential energy is converted into kinetic energy to create the reversible motion which brings the elastic band to its original position. Nuclear Energy The energy derived from the conversion of a fractional nuclear mass into energy is nuclear energy. Defined by the celebrated Einsteinian equation - 'E=mc2' (where E is energy, m is lost mass and c is the speed of light), this energy is derived by inducing nuclear fission in certain radioactive isotopes like Uranium. Sound Energy Every sound that you hear, is the result of compression and rarefaction waves produced in air as a medium. Thus sound energy is derived from the oscillatory motion of air molecules. Radiant Energy The energy transported by electromagnetic waves is radiant energy. The light received from the Sun is an example of radiant energy. The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation is vast, from millimeter length waves to the high frequency gamma ray wavelengths. The energy transported through any such electromagnetic wave, be it from the radio, visible or X-ray bands, is directly proportional to its frequency. Every single change that you see happening around you, is some kind of an energy transformation. To study physics, is to understand the various mechanisms behind these transformations. The different forms of energy listed above are only some of the most important ones

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-energy.html