Sunday, December 16, 2007

Outside of the box and outside of oil

We need to find other sources of energy to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, oil, etc. Not only are these fuels nonrenewable, but they pollute the environment and increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal are just some of the types of energy sources that ARE renewable, and most also do not contribute to global warming. Wind power is one of the cleanest renewable energy sources, but a single windmill does not create much power. Hydroelectric is the most reliable and is the safest investment, but it requires damming up rivers and diverting large amounts of water. Solar is very clean, but is only viable when the sun shines a lot. Biomass is the burning of materials like garbage and plants to produce power, but this contributes to global warming. Geothermal works very well and is highly efficient, but it can only be were there is lots of heat from the ground. These are all great candidates for renewable sources of energy, but they all have their quirks.

David M.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We also need to address the demand side of the equation, insulating homes, make cars that are more efficient, and even turning down the heat a little. If we focus entirely on how to supply more power, then it'll be very hard to get hold of this problem.