Introduction In 21st century almost all devices work with electricity. Electricity makes activity of people easier and more comfortable. Moreover, it plays a great role in development of medicine, science, education, transport and other spheres of human’s life. However, electricity production is becoming more and more problematic because the biggest part of energy for electricity is produced by natural resources, which are neither infinite nor renewable. It means that one day mineral reserves can run out, and, as a result, there will be risk of possible energy crisis. This situation stimulates humanity to transfer to renewable power system. Countries around the world are promoting sustainable energy policies, particularly to reduce greenhouse effect that contributes to severe problems such as Global warming and acid rain (Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2010). The problem of alternative energy source search is also popular in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is extremely abundant in natural resources, especially in fossil fuels, which are mainly used as energy sources to generate electricity (CIA Factbook 2011). To be more precise, almost 60% of 4.6 billion kilowatt energy that was produced in Kazakhstan in 2008 came from coal, nearly 35 % - from natural gas and oil, 3% of electricity was created by hydro and nuclear electric stations and rest energy was imported from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (EIA 2010). It seems that the electricity production in Kazakhstan is mainly based on coal and other minerals. Therefore it is important to find an alternative source of energy in Kazakhstan to reduce its reliance on coal and to avoid power crisis and other negative effects of non-renewable energy usage. Since the territory of Kazakhstan is ... ... middle of paper ... ... and gas because it is a traditional and time-tested solution (ibid). Moreover, no less important factor is the expensive price of devices needed for providing solar energy and the fact that it pays off in 30-40 years. To be more precise, almost 80% of CSP system’s cost is related to its construction, in contrast, this number for fuel plant is 20% of total cost (Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Factsheet 2009). On the other side, unlike oil or coal, solar energy is free, and thus CSP operations cost 30% less than fossil fuel electro stations (ibid). Overall, despite possible problems which can be corrected with the improvement of CSP-supply system, it can be suggested that exploitation of concentrated solar energy will facilitate Kazakhstan to produce more electricity reducing its dependence on coal and to succeed in providing renewable energy.
Despite generating electricity with fossil fuels for years and years there is a much better way that does not harm the environment. Using Solar panels does not produce any carbon dioxide unlike fossil fuels that “produces huge volumes of carbon dioxide, which is a gas that influences the global climate” (“Solar Power Vs. Fossil Fuels”). Having the choice to get power in a new way that saves the environment, home owners should not have to think twice about trying solar. In fact if home owners collect some amount of watts per hour on Monday, that will not reduce the amount of solar energy a home owner can collect on Wednesday or any other day that week. They can always keep collecting the power. No matter what people may argue about how much coal, natural gas and petroleum remains buried in the Earth, those fossil fuels will run out far earlier than the life of the sun ("Solar Power Vs. Fossil Fuels"). Home owners should invest in solar energy because solar systems have very dependable technology with little maintenance, they offer financial savings and they are better for the environment.
Solar power in Canada is gaining attention to many people. You will be informed about what solar energy is and how it works, the environmental impacts of solar energy, why you should care about it and what you and others can do to help promote it. You will have a better understanding of solar energy and why you should take the switch.
The sun has been a major aspect of life since the beginning of time. People used many other forms of energy before electricity was discovered. There has been a debate over energy resources for years. Many people are worried about what current energy resources may be doing to the environment. Oil spills and nuclear power plant mishaps have only been a few accidents that have had a big impact on the environment and the people who inhabit it. There are plenty of energy sources that do not harm the environment and are still able to get the job done. Solar energy is one energy alternative that will insure the betterment of the country and, at the same time, protect the natural environment.
The reason we don’t replace coal energy is because it produces a profitable amount of energy, just like most cars get fairly good mpg. While solar and wind energy are not efficient and take a ton of sun and wind as well as entire farms of panels or mills to produce the same amount of energy, which goes back to solar and wind being more expensive.
Solar energy’s largest substitutes are nuclear power and fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas. Even though these are not renewable energy sources they are considered substitutes for electricity production.
There are several factors influent whether or not a particular type of energy is adopted. These factors include cost, reliability, environmental impact, generating capacity, and efficiency, possibilities of hybrid designs and storability, and technology development risk. While renewables are not being developed fast enough to meet demand, the best available option may come from conventional energy sources. Among them, nuclear power which is well developed and highly penetrative is the largest source of electricity that does not release significant amounts of greenhouse gas and has been contributing mostly to world energy use.
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).
Important considerations include additional CO2 emissions and the financial burden from having to use fossil fuels to make up for lost output, effect on the payback period of the project, decreased future investment and incentives. The additional burden of CO2 is the easiest metric to consider due to a large amount of data available regarding CO2 emissions. Given the current and projected 2015 solar energy capacity, these decreases in output will have only a slight effect on added CO2 emissions and the burden to deal with them. Assuming that lost solar output will be replaced by natural gas or coal generated electricity, Table 2 summarizes the resulting CO2 burden due to 3% output loss in PV and 20% output loss in CSP. Compared to 1722 and 1391 million metric tons of CO2 emitted due to coal and natural gas in 2013, respectively, the amount of additional CO2 burden as a result of decreased solar output does not seem significant. It is important to note, though, that this represents only the additional emissions in the US in one year. If solar power continues to grow internationally, the effect of additional CO2 and its costs can be enormous. A report on CSP market in Chile indicates the possibility of as much as 1 GW CSP capacity over the next three years , with a projected 13,000 GWh production by the year 2024. Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain and others have expressed strong interest in CSP, and are moving forward with plans for 25 GW, 1 GW, and 2 GW CSP capacity in the next decade . With billions of invested dollars at stake and increasing global GW capacity, a 20% output loss and the additional CO2 emitted will no longer be trivial. In fact, proceeding with SSAI could impact future interest and investment in solar energy, particularly CSP
Preview: Today I will discuss the potential that solar power has to become this country’s main supply of energy and the latest research that can make solar power more efficient and cost effective. I will also present the environmental benefits that come with using solar power over other and more harmful forms of energy.
... and monthly water filling. Solar energy is the cleanest and purest form of energy, allowing for cleaner air overall in our environment. There is great hope for a lot more solar panels to be installed worldwide. Solar is a viable alternative energy with solar panels becoming more affordable and more efficiently designed.
The present world with its sustainable resources, environment and way of life became developed. The population growth, consuming almost all the available resources, to meet people’s needs, should be a major concern. The consumption of material and energy around the world which is about to eliminate the available supply, has increased over the last two decades, especially in the built environment. In order to access other reserves of fuel, the more energy will be needed to use.
Today our society is using more energy than ever. With the increase in demand for energy, problems are presented that have to be addressed. One of the biggest and most prevalent problems is the need for clean, renewable, sustainable energy. On the forefront of these problems comes the following solutions: nuclear energy, hydro-electric energy, and photovoltaic energy. With the need of energy in today’s current world, exploring different ways of producing power are necessary. The differences and similarities of nuclear energy and alternative energy are important to look over and examine in depth, so that it is plain to see the positive and negative effects of energy production.
The Earth captures around 342 W/m2 of energy from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which the atmosphere reflects about 77 W/m2 and will absorb around 68 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. Therefore, the Earth’s surface is receiving, on average, about 197 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. This amount of energy received is roughly more than 10,000 times the amount of all energy humans consume per year. This energy can be used to produce electricity or heat. This energy source is not being used to it’s potential considering how much effort would come into effect to store and transport this energy.
Regarding solar power, Mistry claims that although the solar power does not generate pollution, it has a lot of costs. Building solar panels with photovoltaic equipment has high costs. For instance, a photovoltaic system for a home can cost around $35,000 (Kumar, 2012). However, if our goal for the future is to create a healthy environment, switching fossil fuels for solar power might be the best choice to achieve that goal. According to Kumar (2012), Solar power is a clean and renewable energy so, it decreases the dependency on fossil fuel and also reduces the air pollution.
The world that we live into today affords us the expectation that the flip a switch will turn the lights on. As populations increase and developing nations undergo dramatic economic growth, this energy demand will only continue to grow. The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that “the world’s energy needs could be 50% higher in 2030 than they are today” (ElBaradei). Given this projected growth, it is necessary for world leaders must take action to secure the energy supply. Meaning that world leaders need to start seriously considering an alternative to non-renewable energy sources. “In 2012, the United States generated about 4,054 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. About 68% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuel (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), with 37% attributed from coal” (U.S. Energy Information Administration). The fossil fuels that are used to supply over half of our country’s energy are in finite supply and are increasing in price to astronomical heights.