Hannah's+Energy+Content+Essay

In my essay I disscussed the various different types clean energy which are solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and biofuels. I focused most of my attention on solar energy and how it is in my opinion the best type of energy for multiple reasons. In the essay my objective was to teach others about clean energy, let them know what is in store for future energy, and presuafe them that solar is the best type of clean energy.

Solar Energy Essay Hannah Lones F Period

In my opinion solar energy is the most efficient and effective type of renewable energy. Solar energy has already been researched and several different ways of capturing sunlight and transferring it into energy have been developed. Solar energies are almost completely pollution free and in recent years the cost to produce photovoltaic cells has dropped significantly. Progress does still needs to be made because currently most panels are only ten percent efficient and cost about four dollars per watt but the progress is being made quickly with the efficiency rate rising nine to ten percent per year. Many major scientists are predicting that “by 2050 photovoltaic technology would provide about 30,000 gig watts, or billions of watts, of power” (A Solar Grand Plan, 66). Compressive air energy storage is a new idea that is aiming to conquer one of the flaws of solar panels which is that it will provide energy when it is dark outside by compressing air into underground caverns and then the pressurized air can be released to turn a turbine and create electricity. Another idea is that long mirrors focus light onto a pipe that heats the fluid inside of it and runs through a heat exchanger that produces a stream that then flows through a turbine. These are just a couple of ideas that are helping solar energy to progress, with a bit more research it should be very useful and efficient. Another type of energy is wind energy, it is considered to be both clean and efficient. Wind energy production is growing very fast and has been increasing production about twenty five percent a year. Although wind power currently only produces about 0.5 percent of the US electricity the potential for expansion keeps increasing especially in the Great Plains states where there is a lot of open space available for the turbines to be installed. Many scientist are predicting that “ If the U.S. constructed enough wind farms to fully tap these resources, the turbines could generate as much as 11 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, or nearly three times the total amount produced from all energy sources in the nation last year” (Renewable Energy, 89). Although the problems with the growth of wind farms seem to be that the tax credit is overwhelming and the people who say that the turbines disrupt nature and landscape views. Nuclear power plants are another idea that is being presented because it is also a possible source of clean energy. Most of the nuclear power plants in the world are simply pressurized water reactors. The way that they work is water is placed under high pressure. In the United States “Today 438 nuclear power plants generate about 16 percent of the world’s electricity. In the U.S., 103 nuclear power plants provide about 20 percent of the country’s electrical production” (Next Generation of Nuclear Power, 76). The problem with this is that no new nuclear plants have been made in the past two decades. Nuclear energy is said to directly impact the environment in a positive way which is referring to the improvement of the air quality. The plants are very helpful to the quality of the air because they reduce the carbon emissions that are put out by normal factories by huge numbers. With nuclear plants not producing carbon dioxide, sulfur, or nitrogen oxides the power production in the United States usually reduces the carbon emissions by about 75 million tons. There are also many disadvantages to nuclear energy: radioactive waste from nuclear energy is dangerous and stays in the atmosphere for thousands of years, nuclear weapons can be made from the nuclear power plants radioactive waste, uranium is a very important source in the production of the nuclear plant process but it is a very scarce source, and the process of planning then building a plant usually takes around twenty to thirty years.

Hydropower is becoming a very popular form of renewable energy. One scientist says that "hydroelectric power is a reliable, domestic, emission-free resource that is renewable through the hydrologic cycle and harnesses the natural energy of flowing water to provide clean, fast, flexible electricity generation” (Hydropower: setting the course for energy in our future, 3). The hydropower damn’s can store rain or water that comes directly from the river and then use it when there is a drought. The damns produce power and can control flooding as well as provide recreational activities for people. They hold up fairly well and therefore have low maintenance cost, and also produce inexpensive and clean power. This is a renewable source because the water is not destroyed when it passes through the damn. But at the same time there are also many disadvantages to hydroelectric power such as the fact that is requires flooding of valleys and vast areas. The flooding will then disrupt the natural seasonal change in the river which in turn destroys the ecosystem. Damns are expensive to build and when there is a drought may become useless while at the same time may break in a massive flood. Biofuels are one final source of clean energy that can be made from anything that was ever a plant. There are two different types of biofuels. First generation biofuels come from biomass which is mainly corn, soy beans and sugar cane. The problem with this generation of biofuels though is that there is no way they will be a long term solution when it comes to providing towns with energy because it isn’t possible to make that much biomass of each crop. The other classification of biofuels is second generation biofuels which are made from cellulosic materials also known as “grassoline”. This grassoline can be made from many different types of materials from agricultural residue to corn. The US Department of Energy has claimed that “the U.S. can pro­duce at least 1.3 billion dry tons of cellulosic bio­mass every year without decreasing the amount of biomass available for our food, animal feed or exports. This much biomass could produce more than 100 billion gallons of grassoline a year — about half the current annual consumption of gasoline and diesel in the US” (Grassoline at the Pump, 54). With the production of this much biomass the grassoline should be able to produce about 34 billion to 160 billion barrels of oil. The problem with the cellulose is that it is naturally designed to give structure to a plant so scientists have to deconstruct the biomass into smaller biofuels and then once this is done they have to refine thee products into fuels. The question that is left when it comes down to the efficiency of biofuels that still have scientists thinking is do biofuels use more energy than they make? This question is the major setback with biofuel advancement.   After examining all of these different types of renewable energy I still believe that solar is going to be the best type in the future. Solar panels give off no pollution and make no noise. They also can harness electricity in remote places where there is limited access to the national grid. With technology advancing there are now ways to capture and store energy for when the sun is dull and when it is dark. Solar panels can also be installed on rooftops where there will be no effect on the landscape or views because they are completely out of the way. They cost a lot to get installed but once installed you will never have to pay another power bill again. There are still many improvements that need to be made to solar energy and solar panels as a whole. But in my opinion I believe that solar energy is the best type and will be one of the main sources of energy in years to come.  

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