Common Alternative Energy Sources

There are many different alternative energy solutions, some more common than others, some are very exotic, and some are even unherd of. In this section I will be focusing on the common alternative energy sources such as wind power, solar power, geothermal power, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, tidal power, and biodiesel.

Wind Power:

Wind Power makes a great solution because the technology is available, it is cost competitive, and in a system they can create a decent amount of power. The negative side of wind power is that some people find them to be very big, noisy, and unattractive. This is funny because a lot of other people think they look cool and are beautiful, not to mention the wonderful fact that they are a renewable energy source that will never run out of fuel. As long as there is a place with wind, there is a potential to have wind energy. 

Solar Power:

Solar Power is a great solution because it captures energy from the sun. Unlike wind power where the wind may not be as heavy on certain days and could be unreliable, solar energy is. Every day the sun comes up from the sky and provides the earth with light in the form of energy. This energy can be captured through solar panels. Solar panels are very reliable and if in a system they can produce a decent amount of electricity. The negative sides to solar power is the fact that they do not produce to much electricity and the solar panel technology is still pretty expensive when compared to the much cheaper, but more harmful sources of energy such as coal and oil.

Geothermal Power:

Geothermal Power would make an excellent alternative energy solution because it is very reliable, it is renewable, and it is very cost competitive. Wait what? That sounds like the perfect alternative energy solution right? Well if there was enough hotspots then it would be. The only problem is there are not that many hotspots where geothermal power can be tapped into. There are a few places such as in yellow stone national park, but in terms of being able to make a geothermal power plant anywhere would be impossible. However, in the future as digging technology becomes better the reality of having geothermal become more popular is very probable. As a matter of fact, as more and more geothermal hotspots are discovered, the demand for the industry will only increase and when the industry increases so will the technology behind the digging process. Soon enough there will be machines that will be able to digg so deep into the earths crust that it would be possible to create a geothermal power plant that was as a big as a city and would be so big that with just the one plant alone, it could supply an entire country's worth of power demands.  

Nuclear Power:

Nuclear Power makes a great solution although it is not a renewable energy source because there is still a calculated around 2 mellniums plus of nuclear material which is used to make nuclear power. So although it does need a fuel, the fuel is very plentyful. Another reason that nuclear power makes a great solution is due to the fact that it is very very cheap and produces massive amounts of power with only using a tiny bit of fuel. There is a lot of fear being nuclear melt downs as well as the debate as to what happens to the nuclear waste, but as society progresses technology will only increase and soon enough radioactive waste will not be a hassle. As a matter of fact there is a lot of research going into the possibility of reusing the radioactive waste as fuel. Therefore the waste material would be recycled and used as fuel again and again until the waste was not harmful at all. So although nuclear is not a renewable energy source, through more research, it could become a clean and very cost competitive source of energy which could provide very convinient and massive amounts of energy.

Hydroelectric Power:

Hydroelectric Power like geothermal Power, is a very good alternative energy source. If the power plants could be put anywhere then they would be seen everywhere. The only problem is these plants can not be installed anywhere. Hydroelectric plants can only be installed in rivers with a fast moving current in order to make the plant worth while. Besides the limitations as to where the plants can be in they are an excellent source of energy. Hydroelectric is very cost competitive, it is renewable, and it produces a good amount of electricity with respect to the motion of the water current. So if there is a place where hydroelectric can be utilized then utilize it, but like geothermal plants hydroelectric plants can only be installed in places where the instalation would be worth while and would result in a profit over time resulting in a good investment rather than costing to much and not producing enough to make money back.

Tidal Power:

Tidal Power would not make the best solution, although it is an interesting idea. If used in a system they could produce a decent amount of electricity, but they  are not  that common and are not cost competitive when compared to the more common types of alternative energy sources. However, if they are installed in an area were the current is pretty much constant and very strong they could substitute as a smaller version of the hydroelectric concept of using water motion to create electricity. If enough of these turbines were put into the water in the right places they could help contribute to the energy industry by providing a unique and renewable source of energy.

Biodiesel:

Biodiesel is not the best solution to the energy crisis, although it does offer a temporary solution to using fossil fuels as well as the fact that the fuel can be created from all sorts of things and does not have to rely on fossil fuels. Biodiesel would not be used to create electricity although it could, but biodiesel is a fuel that can be a substitute to fossil fuels. As of right now biodiesel is very expensive due to the lack of interest in the industry, but as more and more people start to realize that fossil fuels pollute, people will slowly start to switch to different fuel sources. Really the best solution would be to just have a car run off of pure electricity. As technology improves the cost of electricity will reduce to practically nothing and with clean and renewable energy plants around there will be no need to have a fuel such as gasoline or biodiesel. Cars could easily be made to just run off of pure energy from the grid and as battery technology increases along with charging time, electric cars could become the one and only solution. Think about it. In the future there will hopefully be mostly renewable energy power plants and so therefore the electricity that is being used will be clean. Now take that clean energy and plug it into your car. Now your car has a cheap fuel source which came from a clean source. The only problems with pure electric cars is the fact that they would not last that long off of one charge and charging time would take to long, but I am very confident that as battery technology increases this problem will be non exsistant. People will drive electric cars for a long period of time and as the power becomes low that person will be able to stop at a stop and charge store where they park their car and charge up while having a quick cup of tea or going to the bathroom. The reality behind electric cars is one that should be looked into further rather than this temporary bogus with corn ethanol and biodiesel. I use the word bogus because it was recently discovered that the energy that has to go into making corn ethanol exceeds that of the energy that one can get out of the corn ethanol which means that instead of getting a net gain of energy, there is a loss in energy, which makes it the worst solution.