Consequences of Carbon-Free Energy Production

There are some identifiable sources of carbon-free energy creation, including wind, nuclear, hydropower, as well as “carbon neutral” sources of energy which include biomass and bio-fuels. All of these sources are considered renewable energy (the exception being nuclear) since they are all constantly being replenished. Their positive impact is that they lower greenhouse gas emissions, but despite this advantage they each, nevertheless, have negative impacts on the environment in other ways.

Statistically these sources of energy only provide approximately 14% of the energy needs used across the globe. They break out as follows: nuclear power provides the world with 6.2% of the world’s energy needs; hydroelectric power 2.2%; wind power is just over 1%. Bio-fuels and biomass make up another 4% of the world’s energy needs.

The environmental drawbacks of these resources vary. Hydroelectric power is a clean source for energy particularly where carbon emissions are concerned; however, regarding fish it has been a great environmental hazard. Those who depend on fishing as an occupation have been negatively impacted by the production of this “clean energy.”

Nuclear power results in essentially no greenhouse emissions, but there are other environmental consequences. There are risks and environmental damage from uranium mining and processing. The nuclear waste itself is extremely hazardous and accidents that occur in any aspect of nuclear processing and disposal can result in very serious consequences to both people and the environment.

Where wind power is concerned there are negative consequences that affect wild life habitats and that also negatively affect specific species.

As for bio-fuels they adversely affects crop production. To meet our goals for gasoline, 80% of the country’s cropland would have to be converted over for energy production. As cropland sizes increase to accommodate both human consumption and energy creation there will be a push to increase the exploitation of forest land and other soil resources.

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Current Alternative Energy Producers

Most countries would like to be able to switch all their energy use requirements from fossil based sources to renewable ones. They have set lofty goals and are attempting to meet them.  Many of the present day energy needs are being met by renewable energy sources. Most of this advancement is being accomplished by the developed nations of the world like the U.S., Brazil, China, Spain and Germany. Currently, the most utilized form of renewable energy is hydroelectric power. Wind and solar energy, however, are also on the move.

Hydroelectric power throughout the world is developed primarily where dams have been built to control and focus the use of moving water. China has capitalized on this form of renewable energy, particularly with its Three Gorges Dam. China is the world’s leader in the production of hydroelectric power, creating 171 gig watts (GW). The next contender is Canada with 90GW, followed by the U.S. with 79 GW, then Brazil, Russia, India, Norway and then Japan at 27 GW.  These numbers can be a bit confusing when you take into account total electricity usage. For example, Norway is 9th on the list of hydroelectric GW creation, but the amount it does produce in this manner covers 98% of its electricity needs. China, by comparison, who is number one in hydroelectric GW production only meets 18% of its electrical needs using this method.

Wind energy producers starts with the U.S. which produces an installed capacity of 25,369 megawatts (MW), followed by Germany with 23,902 MW,  Spain with 16,740 MW, China with 12,200 MW, Indea, Italy, France , the United Kingdom and so on.

As for Nuclear energy (essentially carbon free) the countries that have the highest installed capacity are first the U.S. with 106 GW followed by France with 63GW, Japan with 49 GW,  Russia with 22 GW then Germany, South Korea, down to Sweden with 9 GW.

Finally solar energy producers are ordered as follows: Germany first with 5,400 MW, Spain with 3,300 MW, Japan at 1,970 MW, the United States at 830 MW and finally South Korea at 350 MW. In the world at large the number of grid-connected solar PVs is 13,000 MW.

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Alternative Fuel Options

There are many types of alternative energy available to us today; however when considering alternative energy sources for automobiles, the options are considerably narrowed. Currently we consider bio-fuels (made from bio-energy), electricity and to a much smaller degree hydrogen.

As far as the bio-fuel options are concerned we are generally looking at either ethanol or biodiesel. Ethanol is the product of certain crops, like soya beans and corn available in temperate climates like North America. Tropical climates generally create ethanol from sugar cane. Ethanol has been effective in automobiles as long as the gasoline introduced in the vehicle is made up of no more than 10% ethanol. There are some Flexi Fuel Vehicles (FFV) which can handle blends with 20% to 80% ethanol.

For vehicles that run on diesel, a vegetable oil based biodiesel fuel can be used without modifying the vehicle in any way. IT has been published that greenhouse emissions by 12% when a car runs off a 10% ethanol blend fuel, and by 41% when running on biodiesel. At present the U.S. creates just over half of the world’s production of ethanol, some 34 billion liters. Europe produces some 75% of the world’s biodiesel fuel, approximately 8 billion liters.

As far as electric vehicles are concerned other than smaller automobile companies like Tesla Motors, no one is currently producing mass market electric cars, although we have now seen the emergence of Chevy Volt and the Ford Focus. However these major auto producers, Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota have mainly concentrated their efforts in the more marketable Hybrid electric cars which combine electricity and gasoline energy sources.

There are some hydrogen fuel cell cars available, but the mass production and marketing of such vehicles and particularly cars that run just on hydrogen are still some time in the future. Before hydrogen will become economically competitive with our current fossil fuel economy the cost of hydrogen fuel cells will have to be lowered by a factor of ten or more and the production of hydrogen will need to also be reduced by a factor of 4 or more.

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Renewable Energy Production

Renewable energy refers to those forms of energy production which are obtained through renewable resources such as sunlight, moving water, wind, geothermal heat, rain and tides, etc. These forms of energy production are considered renewable since they replenish themselves naturally all the time. In a general sense these forms of energy production are considered alternatives to fossil fuels (petroleum products) and nuclear power which during the ‘70’s and ‘80’s were referred to as “alternative energy.”

By 2008 the world’s consumption of energy had shifted 19% over to renewable sources. Traditional forms of biomass, used primarily for heating made up 13% of this number while hydroelectricity made up 3.2% of it. The remaining 2.7% came from wind, bio-fuels, geothermal and solar sources. Approximately 18% of electricity generation now comes from renewable sources – 15% from hydroelectricity and the remaining 3% from newer forms of renewable energy.

The installed capacity of wind power throughout the world in 2009 was 158 gig-watts (GW). It is growing at a rate of 30% each year and is most widely used throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Photovoltaic (PV) (electricity generated by solar energy) generated in excess of 21 GW by the end of 2009. Spain and Germany have PV power stations throughout their countries. The U.S. and Spain also have solar thermal power stations in operation, the largest of which is located in the Mojave Desert, called the SEGS power plant.  It is a 354 megawatt (MW) facility. Geothermal power is generated in the largest amounts at “The Geysers” in California. It is rated with a capacity of 750 MW. Ethanol fuel is another renewable source of energy. Brazil has a world class renewable energy program that includes a production of sugar-cane created ethanol that makes up 18% of the nation’s automotive fuels. The U.S. is another country that produces and utilizes large amounts of ethanol fuel.

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Natural Gas: An Oil Alternative?

Let’s face it: refined oil is on its way out as an energy source. It is difficult and expensive to produce, damages the environment when it is collected, when it is refined, and when it is used, and on top of all of that, it is located in politically charged areas of the world and is a non-renewable resource. But how can we replace refined oil? Electric cars are one idea, but how will we produce the electricity to run these cars?

Natural gas is highly touted by politicians and business leaders as a potential replacement for much of our current oil consumption. But is it all it is cracked up to be? First of all, natural gas is not a new fuel source. It has been used since the 19th century, and is currently in use all over the world. Natural gas is more dangerous than oil in some ways– it can build up in the air and ignite, for example. Additionally, some methods for extracting natural gas have come under close media scrutiny, like “fracking,” a technique which may have potential to damage underground supplies of water. Still, techniques for “mining” natural gas have improved over time, and it is a much cleaner, safer source of energy today than it once was.

But what about the cost? Natural gas is generally considered to be cheaper, depending on the application. Additionally, there are reservoirs of natural gas in the United States, as well as massive reservoirs throughout Russia, which is a leading producer.

The relatively low cost and plentiful supply make natural gas a tempting replacement for some of our current oil consumption. More and more, individuals, companies and nations (especially throughout Europe and Asia) are using more and more of this popular fuel source. How will this switch affect our environment? We’ll have to wait and see.

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