Is Renewable Energy a Economically Viable Option
First the first thing that I am going to do is define renewable energy “renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind,rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat¹ .So by this definition of renewable energy i would classify solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, bioenergy,green power, ocean energy, hydrogen and fuel cell, hydro power all of these energy types are all renewable but are relatively expensive compared to our main source of electricity, fossil fuels that make up more than 77% of South Africa’s needed energy.
Why renewable energy is so expensive is the capital needed to start producing energy as well as the length of time for eg. a hydropower station takes to build.Due to these facts South africa has not taken the necessary steps towards fully implementing renewable energy into our society we have only pocketed by using the cheap fossil fuel to maximize our profit. .For these reasons i will say the renewable energy is not an economically viable option at this moment. I say this because of two reasons first, the cost of the capital necessary to start up a renewable energy power plant and the provider will only seek the profit in the future which is not what big businesses want to do they are impatient and will want immediate profit to cover their capital also our fossil fuel the means to over 77% of our electrical output, this transition of 77% will be extremely costly and is highly unrealistic.What would be a viable option is to integrate renewable energy into our output of electricity and slowly but surely bring down the percentage of our fossil fuel.The second re...
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...wable energy and that is why energy providerrs cost more than avrage suppliers and this is why people go for the much cheaper vertion wich is coal or fossel fuel and not the much cleaner vertion, renewable energy although there is one type of energy that does not cost much witch is wind energy at 1.25 ZAR/kWh compaired to soalr energy at 2.10 ZAR/kWh it is realitive ly cheap to manufacture and this is why South Africa is currently heading in this direction but it is still nowhere near the R0.31 per kWh that eskom offer off of coal and nuclear power.Despite all of this South africa is one of the perfict places in tearms of its climate that can provide the right conditions for renewable energy like wind solar and hydro and this is why we should be taking advantage of this but unfortunatley we are not and less than ten persent of our energy comes form renuable energy₃.
Why don’t we use more renewable energy sources? What role do they currently play? According to Energy Kids, in 2008 renewable resources only produced seven percent of the energy that we used. One reason we don’t use a lot of renewable energy
South Africa has a long way to go before externalities associated with energy generation are internalized into the cost or eliminated completely. The entire electricity supply sector needs to be restructured towards the renewable energy sector. However, economic instruments need to be implemented before the sector can move away from coal-intensive electricity production.
The year is 2200. The world is going through a fossil fuel shortage. Oil reserves are almost completely consumed and it is becoming impossible to find new fossil fuel sources. Not prepared for this event to occur, The United States, has no alternative options. As a result of the oil shortage, the standard of living deteriorates. Heat in homes, supermarkets full of food, and transportation, all basic necessities taken for granted, will be depleted because fossil fuels are used to power almost everything. The key to the prevention of this future is renewable energy. Unfortunately the support for the use of renewable energy is weak and ineffective. Unless the US puts forth effort to research and promote the use of renewable energy to consumers, conversion from fossil fuels to renewable energy will no longer be an option.
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Alternative energy sources are renewable, and is most commonly referred to as free energy sources. There are many alternative energy sources such as hydro power, solar power, wind, biomass, and geothermal. Using alternative sources is more expensive in the long run, but it is the much safer option for our environment compared to fossil fuels. Although everything used is completely free, such as water and wind, the equipment used to generate these things are expensive. There are several pros and cons that come with the utilization of alternative energy sources.
The cheapest way to generate electricity, today, is hydropower. The reason for that is, once a dam has been constructed and equipment installed, the source of the energy is free. It is a fuel source that is renewable because of things like snow and rainfall. Engineers may control the water flow on demand.
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is used as the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, so...
This kind of power is completely free, right? Why should we put a lot of expense on other sources of energy, when there is a complete free and healthy power? It is evident that solar energy is a healthy source of energy, which will help stop global warming altogether, but it is economically efficient to switch everything to solar energy. Solar energy is capable of becoming the world's future power supply because, it is renewable, eco-friendly, and extremely efficient when strategically placed. Solar energy is clean energy that does not affect our environment.
South Africa wastes lots of money on non renewable energy sources in order to create electricity for example coal. The building of Wind Turbines, Hydroelectric power plants etc. Are costly, but once built are free as they use renewable energy sources. They do not contribute to global warming unlike nuclear power plant which is extremely bad for the air. There is also a risk of an accident such as the Chernobyl accident.
“Is Renewable energy an economically viable option for South Africa?” “Renewable Energy is a source of energy that is not exhausted when used.” “Economical means giving good value in relation to the resources used or money spent.” “Viable means capable of working successfully; feasible.” (Soanes, Hawker & Elliot et al., 2005)
There are different kinds of resources that we can use in order to produce renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power are just some of the kinds of renewable energy that might be the best options to obtain energy because they come from natural resources. Although renewable energy can be expensive to build, it has less environmental damage in comparison to non-renewable energy. Besides the natural resources such as sun, wind, water and hydrogen, we also have geothermal power, and biofuels as renewable sources.
Our country has the greatest potential in the world for alternative energy – we have excellent sunshine for solar power and areas of the country that would work well for wind farms. Build new power plants, Minimize electricity theft, Stop corruption and Use renewable energy sources.
With the depletion of fossil fuel resources comes speculations and debates about alternative energy sources. The world, including the Philippines, is practically dependent on a dwindling non-renewable source of energy. Today, experts are debating about and considering three options: Nuclear, Solar, or Wind Energy. Everyone has been accustomed to the bad image of nuclear energy as a result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents above all others. The popular belief is that radiation from a nuclear meltdown is very harmful to humans and other living things—which is true—and that nuclear power plants are very dangerous and not ideal—which is not. According to Smith, et. al (n.d), all the nuclear disasters that ever occurred were caused by human error and natural disasters like tsunamis, not one because of system failure. Putting the false beliefs aside, with proper engineering and adequate maintenance by experts, a nuclear power plant is a very ideal and viable source of energy for the following reasons:
Using fossil fuels such as coal and oil is inefficient, dangerous, and otherwise a process that is known to eventually fail as a long lasting energy source. Yet, there is hope for the future of energy, this new hope has many shapes and forms, but requires a chance to be fully implemented in our everyday life. Such energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and hydro power are the key to our future. These energy sources are proven to be long lasting, safe, more reliable, and the next innovation. In short, all Americans should switch to renewable energy, resulting in a safer and more efficient world.
According to Franchi (2005:72) “renewable energy is energy obtained from sources at a rate that is less than or equal to the rate at which the source is...