Forums → WEPR → Most Suitable Energy Sources
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Right, since I have a geography exam in... about 30 minutes, I thought I might as well kill that time. I want to know what people think is the safest, and efficient, energy source. Without energy, I wouldn't even be able to use this computer!:
The use of the sources of energy available on this planet has allowed us to advance in many ways. Without these sources of energy, the planet would be a lot darker. Imagine having to use candles as a light source every night! Oh, how dull life would be, without electricity to power your computer, without petrol to drive your car! The use of energy has changed through the years, with more appropriate sources being discovered.
Humans have gone from using the earliest, primitive windmills to the use of fossil fuels and other more suitable sources today. There are many sources of energy, which can be classified into 2 groups: Renewable Energy and Non-Renewable Energy. Renewable Energy is energy that can be produced again in a short period of time. Non-Renewable Energy is energy that cannot be produced in a short period of time, and is being depleted.
Energy plays an exceptionally large role in the development of countries. It is always important to have alternative sources of energy for each developing country, especially if the source they are currently using is non-renewable, oil, for instance.
All developing countries need more than one source of energy. Let us take the United Arab Emirates as our example for this thread, shall we? The UAE is a special case as it is advancing at incredible speed. The projects that this country is working on are a great help to advertising the UAE, but they are also very expensive, and that is forcing the UAE to export its primary source of energy for money.
Although the UAE is thinking and working on solving this problem before its too late, they clearly are not paying enough attention to the risks involved here. The UAE does not use any form of renewable energy, and lacks any alternative energy sources that would independently support the country.
Examining some sources of energy:-
Non-Renewable:
*Oil (Petroleum):
A few petroleum products are ethane, diesel fuel, fuel oils, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, liquid petroleum gas and natural gas. Petroleum is obviously an energy source that can be relied on, but it does have its disadvantages. The cost of extracting the oil is large, and can damage the environment. Another feared risk of using petroleum is the oil spills, transporting the petrol is a large risk on its own! Petroleum has also been associated with global warming; burning the oil produces carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming.
*Natural Gas:
Natural gas consists mainly of methane. Natural Gas is used for a lot of the things that petroleum is used for, only it is not as efficient, but healthier to the environment. It can be used for generating electricity and hydrogen. It is also used as a cleaner alternative for gasoline and diesel in some automobiles. Natural gas is also used in homes, for common tasks, some ovens, cloth dryers, cooling and heating systems operate on natural gas. Even aircrafts have began using natural gas! Like all other sources, natural gas also has a disadvantage, although it is colourless and odourless, leaks may result in a fire or explosion, which can sometimes be extremely dangerous.
*Coal:
Coal is a fossil fuel formed in ecosystems. It is mainly used as a fuel to produce electricity and heat. We consume 6.2 billion tons of coal every year, 75% of that coal is used for producing electricity. 40% of the production of electricity uses coal. If we continue to take coal from its deposits, using all our modern technologies, that coal would be enough to support us for 300 years, if the consumption levels do not increase, that is. A few disadvantages include the release of carbon dioxide and methane from coal burning. Coal burning also produces acid rain. Mining of coal interferes with groundwater. Mining coal also makes the land useless for other things.
Renewable:
*Solar:
Solar Energy is the energy collected from sunlight. Solar energy can be used to generate electricity using PV cells or concentrated solar power. It can also be used to heat buildings directly. It is also used for heating, in ovens.
*Wind:
Wind power is the most rapid growing renewable energy source, but provides little energy, less than 0.5 of global energy. The technical potential of wind energy is said to be 5x the total global energy production. A disadvantage is that wind strength varies and therefore this source of energy cannot be relied on for continuous power.
I believe these energy sources would all prove to be suitable ones. However, I have come to the conclusion that countries should use Natural gas as a primary energy source. Although it is not as efficient as other sources (such as petroleum,) it is a reliable energy source which is a safe source for maintaining a clean environment. Despite the risks of explosion, this is still a good energy source. It would greatly aid in getting rid of all the pollution.
I know that governments is aware of this problem and are trying to solve it, but this should be treated as a high priority problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible, before theyâre out of time. Now is not the time to be planning for gigantic projects that would cause more problems, this is the time to solve the problem that has been waiting to happen since oil was first discovered!
I have decided that natural gas would act as the finest energy source. As it is the least damaging to the environment and in fact, a lot cleaner than the energy sources used currently. Risks from transporting petroleum are also more dangerous than the risks from natural gas. The only downside to using this is that it is less efficient than petroleum, and is a non-renewable energy source. When compared to other sources, natural gas would prove to be the right alternative.
Now it's your turn to decide what source would be most suitable! Go on...
*watches thread die*
I'm sorry if this post is incoherant - I don't have enough time to check for mistakes.
Proofread plz kthxbai.
-Skyla <3
- 41 Replies
Right, since everyone is posting great ideas.. I would like to request that people who posts here also point out which energy source, in their opinion, is the most appropriate. Please also include an explaination of why you have chosen that source.
-Skyla <3
There are various and numerous sources of energy. Either way, it all came from mother nature in the first place, and returns as such. I prefer greenhouse techniques, referring to the saving of energy.
I'm afraid that although your idea is a good discussion starter, there is a slight problem with it. Almost no energy source can be used around the world. It might work better if people stated what energy source, where it would be used and why they would use that. Or maybe we could have a discussion of the different energy sources for each area of the planet.
I think that the three most suitable energy sources are Hydro power, Wind power and Soalar power. Those three can be used almost anywhere.
Hmm, that is true, FunkyMonkey.
Okay, lets change the route of this discussion. Let us take the example I posted on the first page. The United Arab Emirates. A country with a hot climate, a former desert.
Which energy source would be most appropriate for a country with a hot climate averaging 30 degrees, occasionally rising to 40 or 45 degrees?
Their main energy source right now is petroleum, although it is being rapidly depleted (exporting and local use), and is expected to expire in about 15 years.
On my quest to finding an answer for this question, I have managed to get hold of the manager of the 'Nakheel' company in the UAE. The manager was quoted saying 'The temperatures in the UAE are too hot to be using photovoltaic cells.' I wanted to know if that was really Nakheel's stance of solar energy, here is his reply:
Hi Skyla,
Where ever we possibly can, Nakheel is adopting the use of renewable energy sources. We actually have solar hot water heaters on our Shoreline Apartments on Palm Jumeirah and we plan on rolling our many more similar appliances across our projects..
The wider use of photo-voltaic cells as a viable alternative power source is still under some evolution within the Gulf. The main constraints are the efficiency drop in the conversion of solar to electrical as the PV cells get hotter than 350C and the accumulation of dust on the panels which then need water for cleaning. As we know, water here is desalinated and that represents energy too.
The efficiency drop in solar energy conversion caused by high ambient temperature is a widely recognized challenge that we are working with suppliers and researchers to overcome. We welcome the development of viable solar energy systems.
Beyond solar, we are considering other methods such as the conversion of waste to energy and the use of wind energy for some of our more remote coastal projects.
Concurrently, we are focusing on reducing our overall energy demand through implementation of green building design across all of our projects. The choice of district cooling and the re-use of all treated sewage effluent both contribute significantly to power and desalination demand.
I hope this gives you a better idea of our position on renewable energy sources.
Kind regards,
Shaun
Wow, that's tough. I have to agree that wind and solar power are the best options. I hesitate to say nuclear power, as it would release large amounts waste. It would be interesting if someone figured out how to recycle nuclear waste and use it for producing more energy.
I just had a crazy idea, and it is extremely crazy. Don't hold anything against me for my crazy ideas. Just look at my name. Does it suggest any brain activity? I didn't think so. Anyways, you know how there are wind mills and water mills? Well, couldn't they use sand mills in a sandstorm? I hear that sand storms are strong enough to knock a person down. So in the desert, during a sandstorm, even though the wind mills would be stopped, there would still be power because of the sand mills.
Well, I do not think there are that many sandstorms in a civilized country like the United Arab Emirates. They're working on building the tallest skyscraper in the world!
I'm not too certain of this though. I'm studying for my History exam at the moment, and don't have enough time to research it. Tell me if I'm wrong, though.
-Skyla <3
You're probably right. I live in the forest, and my history education comes mostly from watching lectures on Medieval Europe.
It looks like the U.A.E. does not have much they can do. It seems to me that the best thing for them would be finding more efficient ways to use Solar Power. -_-
Well there are advanced solar power stuff which uses sand, I think, and this solar power panel that are common, (on top of light post/electric sign/etc) only take in Red Rays from the sun Theres a solar panel thats very expensive but it takes in I think it takes in 5 rays thats like having x5 of the normal ones.
Divine, you forgot that manufacturing PV cells has a negative effect.
Toxic chemicals are used in the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells. Although when the pros and cons of solar energy are weighed, the use of solar energy is far more benificial than harmful.
Well... it would depend where you lived but i know that ethenol gas has to stop being made i mean people are STARVING because they cant afford food we need carbon dioxide powered stuff wouldnt that be great?
Nuclear power is actually a very safe and efficient way to get energy. There is just so much taboo around the word 'nuclear' that we probably will never be able to harness the power without people freaking out.
Personally, I vote for putting it in a rocket and sending it straight at the sun. Seriously. Whether or not this is feasible, I dunno. But that is one darn good way to get rid of it. Think about it, it would not affect the sun in any way because it is such a friggin huge star, and it would incinerate before even hitting it. Plus that would just be awesome.
Yeah, I dealt with that earlier.
I'd like for it to be the solution but right now slinging any kind of material into space is kinda really really expensive. And not that safe.
Ahhh I didn't see that. It would be seriously cool though if we could!
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