Renewable energy is energy that can be used over and over again. It never runs out. It is also better for the environment. I think that renewable energy is definitely an option for South Africa in the near future. There are many different forms of renewable energy and I’ll talk about the forms of renewable energy which would be most suited in South Africa. Solar Power would probably be the most successful form of renewable energy in South Africa. The reason why I say this is because South Africa is a country that has a reputation for sunny weather. This fact is true as South Africa is the 5th sunniest country in the world1. There are various different ways in harvesting the sun rays to convert it into electricity. The most successful way of harvesting the energy for only your household would probably be the Solar Water Heating method. The way it works is it uses the heat from the sun to heat a liquid inside the cylinders. The liquid then turns into a gas which supplies power to the generator which creates electricity. The Solar Water Heating method is more successful than the photovoltaic method because the photovoltaic method converts the light directly into electricity. This means that the photovoltaic method cannot store the electricity and is only able to function when there is sunlight2. So for the Solar Water Heating method if it was an overcast, rainy day, you would probably still have enough electricity to power all the essential requirements as the electricity would’ve been stored. A solar water heating system costs about R20000 so the cost is initially high but in the long term it is very efficient as your electricity supply is free. The government could also consider investing in a solar furnace. It is a massive collect... ... middle of paper ... ...vest the lightning strikes into electricity in the near future. In conclusion, I believe that we should still continue to use the remainder of fossil fuels available but the governments all across the globe should start considering the use of renewable energy only. We could possibly store the fossil fuels and use it as back up because not all forms of renewable energy are completely reliable. But having said that, we should also learn how to conserve our energy and do small things such as turning off your light when you walk out of your room. Even if the government doesn’t start considering renewable energy soon, nothing’s stopping you from investing in your own solar geyser or trying to get involved by promoting this recent form of energy. It is good for you as you save money and good for the Earth’s future as it reduces the emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Fossil fuel has in a sense fueled our economy and way of life for decades, and in many ways we have taken these resources for granted. Eventually they will run out or the price per barrel will be so astronomical that the average American will not be able to afford to buy gas. Renewable energies have the power to save our environment and change the world as we know it. The most important thing that we, as Americans need to do is to be open about other options that become available to us.
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.
Renewable resources are an important aspect of sustainability. Some examples of renewable resources that are most frequently used are biomass, water, geothermal, wind and solar. Unlike fossil fuels, which are finite, we can regenerate or replenish renewable energy resources. With the rising cost and decreasing availability of non-renewable fossil fuels, renewable resources are receiving increasing attention. The question however is, would renewable energy be an economically viable option for South Africa as a whole and its people.
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.
Non renewable energy, such as fossil fuel, is used all over the world. Big part of the population assumes that fossil fuel is a reliable source of energy, easy to obtain, and is relatively cheap. On the other hand, fossil fuel is a non renewable energy, which means that we can use it only once. Also, this burning fossils are not good for the environment and are the main reason of the global warming. In this era a lot of new technologies have been invented. Although not every created invention has been for good, renewable sources such as, solar, wind, and human power are a good alternative of energy. Despite some people thinking that solar energy isn’t helpful and it’s only a bad investment; solar energy is the best way to reduce the greenhouse gases and decelerate the global warming, also, is a good investment and it will help you save money in a short term, and unlike the burning fossil fuel, is not harmful for human’s health.
Unique features of renewable energy have caused increasing demands for such these resources. Given that the expected lifetime of offshore wind farm is at least 20 years, the best location and configuration of wind farms in a large region is important information for policy makers. Different factors may effect on the selection of a suitable location for wind plants. Cost analysis, environmental features and geographical indicators must studied to use offshore wind energy as a natural resource. However, visual disamenity is considered. This article presents an integrated approach for location of offshore wind plants with Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). DEA model is treated on a fuzzy basis Due to ambiguousness associated with location allocation guidelines; and a recent possibilistic programming approach is used to convert the fuzzy DEA model to an equivalent crisp one. Moreover, comparative experiments are applied for discussion about the equivalence of output result. This is the first study that presents an integrated socio-economical approach for identification of optimum location especially distance from shore of offshore wind farm. This would help policy makers to identify the preferred strategy for location optimization problems. As a case study in this article, the Kish Island in Iran is considered.
Solar energy is our future. There is no denying it. Many people already live in environmentally affected areas and they need an alternative, and with solar energy they will get it. In fact, “Every hour the sun beams onto Earth more than enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year” (“Solar Energy,” n.d.). This energy is also getting increasingly cheaper, is producing massive amounts of power while being efficient and having great quality, and is very clean and good for the environment.
Our country is currently suffering energy-wise, we have been powering with inefficient sources for years now and the harm that it is doing to the country has started to become apparent. Renewable energy is the only way to stop, or at the very least set back the inevitable downfall of our ecosystem. I think that the next big breakthrough for renewable energy is implementing off-grid communities that use renewable sources as their main sources of power, so that we can potentially escape the energy rut that we got ourselves stuck in.
There are many different types of green technology and the most common ones are solar, wind, and hydro-power. There are many reasons why this renewable source of energy is better than these other sources. Wind energy is produced by turbines that have rotating blades they can harness the kinetic energy. These turbines have generators that whole onto the kinetic energy from the movement of the blades and currently has enough electricity through these turbines to power about 24 million homes. There is a problem with turbines and for a typical turbine for residential use would have to be about twenty stories tall. There are three separate blades that are about two-hundred feet long from one end to the other that span out from the inside portion of the turbine. The average wind speed needs to be about twelve miles per hour in these zones to produce enough energy to harness for a typical resident (Aggarwal). If you live in an area with a lot of wind and open space with a few obstructions that could block the path of the wind, then installing wind turbines would be a great renewable energy source. But, many people that love the environment with enough money to install turbines live in suburban areas around a city. Compared to solar panels, wind turbines have a lot of moving parts that can result in more wear and tear and there will be a lot of maintenance visits to these turbines. Solar panels
Solar energy is very important now and will be in the future. It is useful alone but may need some help to stay reliable and affordable. Using solar energy to generate power is in a growing phase. It is becoming more and more popular every day. Solar energy systems are ready for more use across the world. Solar energy will help the environment and help people save money. Solar energy helps in many different ways but, there is more out there to catch the flaws that solar has. Solar energy has been used for a while and people need to realize that there are better options than just purely solar; one of these options is better because it has more reliability, a lower cost and a higher rate of energy production.
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.
Solar power for instance is one of the most popular and easiest of all of the renewable energy sources to harness, especially for home and business uses. (Galbraith) For around the same ...
I am certain that all have heard of the terms green house gases, fossil fuels, and global warming. Have you ever questioned what will happen if nothing is done about the environmental problems facing the world today? What if I answer you that, we can merely use the power from the sun to power up our entire planet without the use of harmful energy sources, which affect our atmosphere? The power from the sun is what we call solar power. Solar power is the energy that comes from the sun as light and heat energy, and then it is later converted into electrical energy through solar panels (Nelson, 2008). 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 all together, 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.
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.
Wind and solar power are small contributing factors to South Africa’s energy supply, but over the next few years they may become big major energy contributors because we have vast open areas of solar panels and the coastal areas can get really w...