Alternative Energy Sources: Environmental Benefits
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
To understand the environmental benefits of alternative energy sources you have to understand what they are an alternative to. So we'll be touching on that in this article, and also what governments are doing to encourager renewable energy and how it is now financially viable to make use of it.
Renewable Energy V Fossil Fuels
What alternative energy sources are an alternative to are fossil fuels. Things like oil, coal and natural gas. The way we get energy from these things is by burning them. One of the most important reasons for doing this is to generate electricity.
The normal way that electricity is produces is by burning fossil fuels in order to heat water. We want to heat the water so that it creates steam, and we need the steam so that it will spin turbines. The reason we need to do that is because a spinning electromagnet creates electricity.
When it comes to alternative energy, some work in pretty much the same way. For example with geothermal power plants, it is the heat from the ground which is used to heat the water to create steam to get the turbines to spin. Other times the renewable resource spins the turbines more directly, as is the case with wind energy.
Then you have electricity which is produced in an entirely different way, with no turbines involved. This is how solar energy works for example. In that case you have light hitting the solar cells, and this creates a flow of electrons (electricity) directly in ways that we do not have space to go in to here.
Advantages To The Environment
The problem with burning fossil fuels for our electricity production is that as a by-product carbon dioxide is released. And the reason that is such a problem is because it is a greenhouse gas, meaning that the more of it there is in the atmosphere, the warmer the planet will become. And beyond a certain point that could become extremely problematic.
When it comes to global warming, nobody really knows precisely what the results are going to be. However, predictions have been made which say that the polar ice caps are going to melt and this is going to result in massive sea level rises. What could be even more dangerous though is if the rise in temperatures means that ecosystems do not function anymore, meaning that we cannot grow enough food.
With alternative energy sources though, no carbon is released in to the atmosphere, so it doesn't cause a problem with global warming. Indeed, no pollution is created at all, aside from that created with the manufacturing of the equipment needed for it. And eventually that should all be able to be made with renewable energy as well.
Financial Advantages
Unfortunately there is very little that we can do about making the switch to sources like solar energy until it is financially viable to do so. If we tried to do so too quickly then this would only lead to an economic collapse, which could have consequences in terms of human suffering just as bad as that caused by global warming.
Having said that though, it is in the news pretty frequently about the rising energy prices. At the same time, the cost for solar energy and other renewable energy sources, is coming down. This is being helped by government schemes, such as the feed in tariff, which reward people for using renewable energy.
With the feed in tariff, for all of the energy you produce with an alternative energy source, such as solar energy, you get paid a certain amount. You still get to use the energy of course, it's just a form of financial compensation for doing so. This has seen the number of solar installations rise dramatically as it is now a much better investment.
About the Author:
To discover extra information on solar energy, author Luke Davies has written a lot more on this issue at Alternative energy sources. Learn more about the way all of it functions, for example the average amount of money it's possible to save, and get a free quotation for an installation.
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To understand the environmental benefits of alternative energy sources you have to understand what they are an alternative to. So we'll be touching on that in this article, and also what governments are doing to encourager renewable energy and how it is now financially viable to make use of it.
Renewable Energy V Fossil Fuels
What alternative energy sources are an alternative to are fossil fuels. Things like oil, coal and natural gas. The way we get energy from these things is by burning them. One of the most important reasons for doing this is to generate electricity.
The normal way that electricity is produces is by burning fossil fuels in order to heat water. We want to heat the water so that it creates steam, and we need the steam so that it will spin turbines. The reason we need to do that is because a spinning electromagnet creates electricity.
When it comes to alternative energy, some work in pretty much the same way. For example with geothermal power plants, it is the heat from the ground which is used to heat the water to create steam to get the turbines to spin. Other times the renewable resource spins the turbines more directly, as is the case with wind energy.
Then you have electricity which is produced in an entirely different way, with no turbines involved. This is how solar energy works for example. In that case you have light hitting the solar cells, and this creates a flow of electrons (electricity) directly in ways that we do not have space to go in to here.
Advantages To The Environment
The problem with burning fossil fuels for our electricity production is that as a by-product carbon dioxide is released. And the reason that is such a problem is because it is a greenhouse gas, meaning that the more of it there is in the atmosphere, the warmer the planet will become. And beyond a certain point that could become extremely problematic.
When it comes to global warming, nobody really knows precisely what the results are going to be. However, predictions have been made which say that the polar ice caps are going to melt and this is going to result in massive sea level rises. What could be even more dangerous though is if the rise in temperatures means that ecosystems do not function anymore, meaning that we cannot grow enough food.
With alternative energy sources though, no carbon is released in to the atmosphere, so it doesn't cause a problem with global warming. Indeed, no pollution is created at all, aside from that created with the manufacturing of the equipment needed for it. And eventually that should all be able to be made with renewable energy as well.
Financial Advantages
Unfortunately there is very little that we can do about making the switch to sources like solar energy until it is financially viable to do so. If we tried to do so too quickly then this would only lead to an economic collapse, which could have consequences in terms of human suffering just as bad as that caused by global warming.
Having said that though, it is in the news pretty frequently about the rising energy prices. At the same time, the cost for solar energy and other renewable energy sources, is coming down. This is being helped by government schemes, such as the feed in tariff, which reward people for using renewable energy.
With the feed in tariff, for all of the energy you produce with an alternative energy source, such as solar energy, you get paid a certain amount. You still get to use the energy of course, it's just a form of financial compensation for doing so. This has seen the number of solar installations rise dramatically as it is now a much better investment.
Renewable Energy V Fossil Fuels
What alternative energy sources are an alternative to are fossil fuels. Things like oil, coal and natural gas. The way we get energy from these things is by burning them. One of the most important reasons for doing this is to generate electricity.
The normal way that electricity is produces is by burning fossil fuels in order to heat water. We want to heat the water so that it creates steam, and we need the steam so that it will spin turbines. The reason we need to do that is because a spinning electromagnet creates electricity.
When it comes to alternative energy, some work in pretty much the same way. For example with geothermal power plants, it is the heat from the ground which is used to heat the water to create steam to get the turbines to spin. Other times the renewable resource spins the turbines more directly, as is the case with wind energy.
Then you have electricity which is produced in an entirely different way, with no turbines involved. This is how solar energy works for example. In that case you have light hitting the solar cells, and this creates a flow of electrons (electricity) directly in ways that we do not have space to go in to here.
Advantages To The Environment
The problem with burning fossil fuels for our electricity production is that as a by-product carbon dioxide is released. And the reason that is such a problem is because it is a greenhouse gas, meaning that the more of it there is in the atmosphere, the warmer the planet will become. And beyond a certain point that could become extremely problematic.
When it comes to global warming, nobody really knows precisely what the results are going to be. However, predictions have been made which say that the polar ice caps are going to melt and this is going to result in massive sea level rises. What could be even more dangerous though is if the rise in temperatures means that ecosystems do not function anymore, meaning that we cannot grow enough food.
With alternative energy sources though, no carbon is released in to the atmosphere, so it doesn't cause a problem with global warming. Indeed, no pollution is created at all, aside from that created with the manufacturing of the equipment needed for it. And eventually that should all be able to be made with renewable energy as well.
Financial Advantages
Unfortunately there is very little that we can do about making the switch to sources like solar energy until it is financially viable to do so. If we tried to do so too quickly then this would only lead to an economic collapse, which could have consequences in terms of human suffering just as bad as that caused by global warming.
Having said that though, it is in the news pretty frequently about the rising energy prices. At the same time, the cost for solar energy and other renewable energy sources, is coming down. This is being helped by government schemes, such as the feed in tariff, which reward people for using renewable energy.
With the feed in tariff, for all of the energy you produce with an alternative energy source, such as solar energy, you get paid a certain amount. You still get to use the energy of course, it's just a form of financial compensation for doing so. This has seen the number of solar installations rise dramatically as it is now a much better investment.
About the Author:
To discover extra information on solar energy, author Luke Davies has written a lot more on this issue at Alternative energy sources. Learn more about the way all of it functions, for example the average amount of money it's possible to save, and get a free quotation for an installation.
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