The Change to Renewable Energy
No one ever said that the transition from current energy use to renewable energy was going to be an easy one--it is one of the most difficult steps we have to take to protect our environment and preserve the Earth as we know it. But because renewable energy is regenerative, it cannot be depleted and it also produces much less harmful gases than energy resulting from fossil fuel. The more common and well-known methods of renewable energy include: wind power, water power, and solar power. However, there are some more modern methods of renewable energy less well-known and more modern such as biofuel and geothermal energy.
However to begin first we offer some preliminary tips on how to bring renewable energy into your home:
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If you are remodeling or building up, this is the best time to use solar panels to take advantage of the sun
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Buy "green power" produced by your local energy plant
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Conserving energy is the best way to help, so take the first step by making your home more energy efficient
Fortunately due to recent attempts by organizations and governments alike to educate and inform the public of our current environmental threats, going green has become increasingly commercialized and thus more popular in general. The rest of this article is dedicated to going more in depth with renewable energy options.
One of the more well-known and oldest methods of renewable energy is wind power--it is also one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies available to us today. The concept behind wind power is to gather the airflow of wind currents to run wind turbines. The general result is the faster the wind blows, the higher the energy output. You will often see wind turbines on top of hills, near oceans--anywhere where the wind may blow a bit stronger.
According to information provided by Wikipedia: "Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times current production global energy consumption or 40 times current electrical demand." So as you can see wind power has an incredible future and amazing potential to provide us with a very safe, harmless method of gathering power. Wind power does not produce any greenhouse gases which is always an added bonus to our search for perfect renewable energy.
Despite the positives of wind energy, there are also arguments to its contrary. One major disadvantage is the fact that in order to utilize the wind turbines needed to power our cities, our technologies, and our world, massive land areas are needed. This may be perceived negatively considering that land, especially near larger metropolitan areas, is extremely expensive--it makes the working of renewable wind energy more expensive and more difficult to attain. Another major disadvantage is the fact that wind is not always constant and so wind turbines cannot provide us with the continuous source of energy we need.
Another ancient method of harnessing power is through water power. Water power can produce quite a bit of energy and has always provided us with a reliable source in the past. There are different types of water energy including the simplest method of wave power which uses the energy of waves to produce energy to the more complicated way of ocean thermal energy conversion which generates energy through temperature differences in bodies of water.
There is still much to learn about the potential of water energy. Many experiments and research projects are still underway including finding out more about the possibilities blue energy provides--the reverse process of desalination.
The majority of renewable energy and recent energy technologies come from the renewable resource of solar power. You have probably seen the solar panels or cells that have been popping up on buildings left and right--this is one of the more popular and known versions of harnessing the power of the sun. The solar power generated can generate electricity or provide heating.
There are two types of biofuel: liquid and solid. Biofuel is essentially burned to release its innate energy due to chemical reactions. Liquid biofuel includes: ethanol, biodiesel, oils. Solid biofuel includes: wood, manure, vegetables. Unfortunately the creation of fuel in general creates biogas, which is what is harmful to our environment--biogas is the gas produced from everything, the production of paper, sewage, animal waste. Eventually if allowed to sit and ferment, these gases become methane gas which is one of the more harmful gases on our planet today.
This type of energy takes advantage of the Earth's ability to create heat. Although it is quite expensive to establish the plants necessary to produce energy, the actual operating costs are low since it is using an already existing energy resource. The ability to gather more energy from the Earth's heat-producing core depends on the location of the stations--some locations are closer to the core whereas others are much more distant. The Bay Area and Northern California in general is actually a prime area to gather this type of energy.
The main arguments against renewable enery include concerns such as: it is too expensive, it may be dangerous, it is unreliable, it is incapable of producing enough energy to support our demand. All of these arguments are quite valid and hold important points in debates across the world--there is no concrete solution to renewable energy just yet. However, the fact that we have begun to take advantage of the renewable energy we have available to us today is a step in the right direction.
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