Sustainability: Renewable Energy
Sustainability is known as the capacity to endure. To our environment however, it is used to describe how ecosystems remain productive. Humans are a main cause of sustainability and the complete opposite. I rising issue in today’s news is renewable energy. Renewable energy is the process of harvesting energy from the earth that can be naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, water geothermal etc. It also is conserving, reducing and recycling energy and harvesting that energy in new, more efficient ways. Humans now-a-days are known for using precious, non-renewable energy such as gasoline. With the rising awareness, humans have resorted to resources such as those above, to live more sustainably.
Using gasoline now seems to be out of date for cars today. Car manufacturers have designed new hybrid (gas and battery powered) and strictly battery powered cars that can reduce the use of gasoline. But then that leads to the question of, how does one charge a battery? Solar panels, wind turbines and water turbines are the most commonly used renewable energy sources today. Switching to solar panels, wind turbines, and other forms of renewable energy has been a growing trend, but not as quickly as many people had liked. One the other hand, wind power has risen almost exponentially from 1986 to 2008 from 6,100 to 120,791 megawatts. Also in California, there is a solar panel farm that has 9.5 square miles of panels that is the largest of its kind. The economy today has slowed the production and consumption of pricy solar panels, and wind turbines can only be powered in certain regions of the world that have prevailing winds. Also a rising concern is how aesthetically pleasing there panels and turbines are…
Other was to live more sustainably from renewable resources is a fairly new and rarely used solution known as liquid biofuel, solid biomass, and biogas. Liquid biofuel is considered a renewable energy source because it is harnessed from plants. Ethanol, bio diesel and other fuels can be made from waste of animal and vegetable fats. These fuels put off 20-40% less harmful emissions into the air. Solid biomass is a technique I haven’t heard of until I researched it. Solid biomass, for example, can be the residue of sugar cane plants that can be used as fuel. Recent forms of energy are made from wave farms, which are basically energy plants were waves are used to turn turbines. Many other plants harness geothermal energy from geysers.
One fallback to renewable energy production is that the construction of the renewable energy sources calls for the use of non-renewable energy to build it. With the use and raised production of these sources, however, it is not out of the question for humans to switch to 100% renewable energy sources which would only do wonders for our health, economy, and environment.
CURTIS HANSON
www.wikipedia.org
www.worldwatch.org
www.eia.doe.gov
Is it bad that i didn't do the hyperlinks the right way?
ReplyDeleteCurtis,
ReplyDeleteYou've raised some interesting points and we'll discuss both renewable and non-renewable energy later this winter. I like the specific facts you gave to support your ideas. Be careful with statistics, however. You quote how much wind power is being generated and how many miles of solar panels, but failed to put it in context of how much energy it is actually producing--unfortunately, these numbers are still only a tiny part of total energy production.
Work on the hyperlinks. After typing in the name you want, click on the "chain" icon in the tool bar of the posting. It will prompt you to insert the URL (be careful not to type the http part twice) See if you can correct them. You can always edit your posts.