Coolbroth+Energy+Content+Essay

This essay is provided to give the reader a sense of why biofuels are a useful renewable energy. Different forms of renewable energy will be compared and contrasted such as Solar, Wind, Hydropower, and Nuclear to show why biofuels can be affordable and efficinet for everyday use in the modern day world.

 = = Sloan Coolbroth December 7, 2009 Energy Content Essay   **Biofuels ** Biofuels, although they may not be very common, are a very efficient and clean form of alternative energy. Currently Biofuels supply about 1% of energy consumption globally. Right now, the most common source of biofuels comes from corn, but many other possibilities are being explored to produce more energy. One of these types is Cellulosic Biofuels. This type of energy uses Forest products, Energy crops, and the most common, Agricultural Residues such as, “leftover stalks, leaves, and cobs from corn” (Huber and Dale pp. 57). By using these residues, what would normally be going to waste, is now being recycled to produce more clean and renewable energy.   Solar Power is a great idea at first, but when you look deeper, you will find many unexpected problems that you wouldn’t find in Biofuels. Unfortunately for Solar energy, you have to buy the extremely expensive panels while biomass, “can be delivered to the plant for around $50 a ton” (Huber and Dale pp. 59). Also, by the year 2050, a solar grand plan is demanding, “30,000 square miles to develop large public land areas” (Zweibel, Fthenakis, and Mason pp. 67) while a biofuel plant wouldn’t take nearly as much room. The cost of solar energy is a big problem and on top of the photovoltaics and land area, solar energy would require the construction of 100,000-500,000 miles of DC lines while biofuels wouldn’t have to wait for all of that to be built and instead of high transportation costs, the facilities would be located near major cities to supply them with the energy.   **Nuclear ** Nuclear energy is a good source of energy, but it has it many downsides also. In Nuclear energy, time is an issue. Biofuels can be produced right now, while, “no new nuclear facilities have been ordered in the U.S. for more than two decades” (Lake, Bennett, and Kotek pp. 76). This downside plays along with time, the factor of safety. Biofuels would not be nearly as dangerous as Nuclear. Although cellulosic biofuels have to burn the plants, nuclear plants, if something goes wrong, could end with a meltdown and serious radioactive problems. Terrorism is a scary thought also. If a Biofuel plant was attacked the damage and the repair costs would not be nearly as much as those of a nuclear plant. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> Hydropower is a very common source of energy and makes up close to 15% or global energy consumption. The biggest problem with it thought, is the cost. Hydropower dams are extremely expensive to make (the very big ones) unlike the not nearly as expensive. Also, the affects on nature is much more severe in Hydropower. The dams can severely hurt fish who are trying to migrate up and down stream while the biofuel facility would not have any of the major animal-involved issues. Where you can put dams is a huge issue also. Dams have to be put in remote areas to not affect views and nature (as much) in places such as Alaska. This creates a huge transportation cost of the energy when biofuels can be produced locally and at affordable prices. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Wind is a great idea to harness the natural wind to produce energy. Unfortunately, it is extremely costly to produce the giant wind turbines that are required to capture the large amounts of air while once again the biofuels are much cheaper. The location of these wind turbines are usually in places with lots of wind and in some cases they may be near residential areas where the phrase, “Not in my Backyard” (Kammen pp.89) comes from, while Biofuel plants can be located in factories within the city. Also, migratory birds could be in real danger if they happened to fly through a turbine where their normal path is and get hurt. Biofuel plants do not have this problem and can be safer to animal species. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Bibliography ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Huber, George W., and Bruce E. Dale. "Grassoline at the Pump." //Scientific American// July 2009: 52-59. Print. <span style="color: #262a2c; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Zweibel, Ken, Vasilis Fthenakis, and James Mason. "A Solar Grand Plan." //Scientific American// Jan. 2008: 64-73. Print. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lake, James A., Ralph G. Bennett, and John F. Kotek. "Next Genertion Nuclear Power." //Scientific American// Jan. 2002: 72-81. Print. <span style="color: #262a2c; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Kammen, Daniel M. "The Rise of Renewable Energy." //Scientific American// 2006: 84-93. Print. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Department of Renewable Energy. "Hydropower: Setting a Course for our Energy Future." //Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy// July 2004: 1-24. Print
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Solar Power **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hydropower **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Wind **