What can I do to save energy?

NON-RENEWABLE VS RENEWABLE SOURCES

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

It was estimated by the Energy Information Administration that in 2007 primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0%, coal 27.4%, natural gas 23.0%, amounting to an 86.4% share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world. Non-fossil sources in 2006 included hydroelectric 6.3%,nuclear8.5%, and others (geothermal, solar, tidal, wind, wood, waste) amounting to 0.9%.World energy consumption was growing about 2.3% per year.

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form, and reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being made. The production and use of fossil fuels raise environmental concerns. A global movement toward the generation of renewable energy is therefore under way to help meet increased energy needs.

Fossil fuels are burnt to release energy in the form of heat. This energy can be used to power cars, produce electricity, heat homes, cook food to name but a few.

The burning of fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but it is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount, so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year (one tonne of atmospheric carbon is equivalent to 44/12 or 3.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide). Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that enhances radiative forcing and contributes to global warming, causing the average surface temperature of the Earth to rise in response, which the vast majority of climate scientists agree will cause major adverse effects.

What are the advantages of fossil fuels?

Straightforward combustion process

Relatively inexpensive

Easily transported

What are the disadvantages of fossil fuels?

Thought to be a major cause of global warming

Cause of acid rain

Not sustainable in the long-term

Politics and Economics can cause major price increases

Extraction can be very damaging to the landscape

Fossil fuels are essentially a non-renewable energy source. The geological processes which create them take millions of years, so they cannot be replaced within human timescales once they have gone. It is impossible to estimate when fossil fuels will disappear, but within the next 100 years it is widely believed that the cost of finding andextracting new deposits will render them too expensive for everyday use.

Renewable energy sources can provide comparable energy production and heating. At present some technologies are cost inhibitive, but the rate of technological development is making them more affordable with time. Other examples of renewable energy sources include: water powered turbines, tidal generators, nuclear, compost and rape seed oil.

There's no shortage of renewable energy from the sun, wind and water and even stuff usually thought of as garbage — dead trees, tree branches, yard clippings, left-over crops, sawdust, even livestock manure, can produce electricity and fuels — resources collectively called "biomass."

The sunlight falling on the United States in one day contains more than twice the energy we consume in an entire year. California has enough wind gusts to produce 11 percent of the world's wind electricity. Clean energy sources can be harnessed to produce electricity, process heat, fuel and valuable chemicals with less impact on the environment.

Renewable energy resource development will result in new jobs for people and less oil a country has to buy from foreign countries.

Continued research has made renewable energy more affordable today than 25 years ago. The cost of wind energy has declined from 40 cents per kilowatt-hour to less than 5 cents. The cost of electricity from the sun, through photovoltaics (literally meaning "light-electricity") has dropped from more than $1/kilowatt-hour in 1980 to nearly 20cents/kilowatt-hour today. And ethanol fuel costs have plummeted from $4 per gallon in the early 1980s to $1.20 today.

But there are also drawbacksto renewable energy development.

For example, solar thermal energy involving the collection of solar rays through collectors (often times huge mirrors) need large tracts of land as a collection site. This impacts the natural habitat, meaning the plants and animals that live there. The environment is also impacted when the buildings, roads, transmission lines and transformers are built. The fluid most often used with solar thermal electric generation is very toxic and spills can happen.

Solar or PV cells use the same technologies as the production of silicon chips for computers. The manufacturing process uses toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are also used in making batteries to store solar electricity through the night and on cloudy days.. Manufacturing this equipment has environmental impacts.

Also, even if we wantedto switch to solar energyright away, we still have a big problem. All the solar production facilities in the entire world only make enough solar cells to produce about 350 megawatts, about enough for a city of 300,000 people. That's a drop in the bucket compared to people's needs. California alone needs about 55,000 megawatts of electricity on a sunny, hot summer day. And the cost of producing that much electricity would be about four times more expensive than a regular natural gas-fired power plant.

So, even though the renewable power plant doesn't release air pollution or use precious fossil fuels, it still has an impact on the environment.

Wind power development too, has its downside, mostly involving land use. The average wind farm requires 17 acres of land to produce one megawatt of electricity, about enough electricity for 750 to 1,000 homes. However, farms and cattle grazing can use the same land under the wind turbines.

Wind farms could cause erosionin desert areas. Most often, winds farms affect the natural view because they tend to be located on or just below ridgelines. Bird deaths also occur due to collisions with wind turbines and associated wires. This issue is the subject of on-going research.

Producing geothermal electricity from the earth's crust tends to be localized. That means facilities have to be built where geothermal energy is abundant. There are several geothermal resource locations in California. The Geysers area north of San Francisco is an example. In the course of geothermal production, steam coming from the ground becomes very caustic at times, causing pipes to corrode and fall apart. Geothermal power plants sometimes cost a little bit more than a gas-fired power plant because they have to include the cost to drill.

Environmental concerns are associated with dams to produce hydroelectric power. People are displaced and prime farmland and forests are lost in the flooded areas above dams. Downstream, dams change the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the river and land.

CONCLUSION: Unlike fossil fuels, which dirties the atmosphere, renewable energy has less impact on the environment. Renewable energy production has some drawbacks, mainly associated with the use of large of tracts of land that affects animal habitats and outdoor scenery. Renewable energy development will result in jobs and less oil imported from foreign countries.

What can I do to save energy?

· Change your travel behaviour, think more in terms of public transportation, if possible, walk or ride your bicycle instead of taking the car

· Reduce your house heat by 1C, keep the windows closed while heating, dress warmly

· Choose products that come with lightweight packaging

· Turn off lights and appliances when you are not using them, use energy-saving light bulbs

· Reuse plastic bags for shopping and storage

· Use a microwave instead of a stove to reheat food

· Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries

· By putting insulation in walls and attics, we can reduce the amount of energy it takes to heat or cool our homes. Insulating a home is like putting on a sweater or jacket when we're cold... instead of turning up the heat. The outer layers trap the heat inside, keeping it nice and warm. New space-age materials are being developed that insulate even better.

What effect do materials have on the environment? In our daily life, we rely on many materials. Wood, metal, glass and plastics all have environmental consequences. Think about the impact of every product you use. For example, the lighter an object, the less fuel is required to transport it. A heavy suitcase in the boot of a car will require the car to consume more fuel during its journey. The same goes for all product packaging. Therefore, buying food wrapped in lightweight materials thus helps the environment.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1197