The advantage of producing such energy is that the sources are renewable however, much you use, as you can grow some more. In Brazil, alcohol from sugar was mixed with petrol and used as a fuel for specially converted car engines. This source of energy is also known to be cheap, easy and quick to develop.
Another advantage is that in a combined heat and power plant (CHP), as well as turning a turbine in the same way as fossil fuels, the heat created, which is normally leftover as a worthless by-product, could be used to provide steam for industrial processes or hot water and heating for rooms at the power station. This would greatly increase energy efficiency.
The disadvantages are that the burning fuel releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but in small quantities. Large land areas would also be needed to produce more energy, which will mean using artificial fertilisers. Burning large quantities of forest timber wood can have long term effects on the atmosphere and will lead to de-forestation.
The principle behind biomass is releasing the energy stored in living plant materials, which use the Sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars (the process of photosynthesis)
Another alternative in generating electricity is to use the Sun’s energy, which can be used directly using solar cells.
The use of plants, hydroelectric power, geothermal heat and wind power all add to today's renewable energy supplies. But in the future we may be able to get much more from other supplies, especially solar energy. The direct energy from the Sun can be used in many ways; in sunny climates, it can be used to heat water to create steam and generate electricity using banks of mirrors that focus the heat in a certain area. But this is used rarely because they are more expensive than the alternatives.
The other way of converting solar energy is by using solar cells - these are special panels which convert radiation into electricity. This is very promising, but there is one major difficulty; this is that most of these cells of very expensive to make and not very efficient.
The problem with the usage of solar energy is that it only works when the Sun is shining. It also produces small increases in temperature (e.g. warming water). But the advantages of using solar energy is that whenever the sun shines, heat energy is produced. However much energy you use, more will constantly be produced. Energy from collector panels is also cheap to produce.
A third alternative is to use nuclear power. However, there are many problems still to be solved with using this type of energy supply. Uranium is the main nuclear fuel. Mined uranium is first purified, and then often "enriched" by adding more uranium atoms of one special type. This is far more likely to undergo nuclear fission than the other type, which makes up most of the ore. The enriched uranium is made into pellets, which are put together to form rods.
Another alternative in generating electricity is to harness some type of movement to turn the generator ie. The wind, waves, falling water.
Wind Energy
The wind is one of the most promising of the renewable energy sources. It can be used for a number of purposes, like producing electricity, or pumping water. Many countries are developing wind power technology, especially those countries whose geography means they get a lot of wind.
The energy in moving water is one of the most widely used of the renewable energy sources. It supplies over 20% of the world’s electricity by the use of hydroelectric power stations.
Hydro-electric power – These power stations use the energy in moving river water to turn one or more turbines, producing electricity in generators.
Uses of wind energy
The wind has been used for thousands of years to power sailing ships and windmills. Today it is beginning to be used more and more, and for many different purposes. The greatest potential for using the wind is for the production of electricity.
The wind is used on farms to pump water up from under the ground.
Electricity from the wind
The most important use of the wind is to produce electricity. Wind power has great potential for the future, because it is fairly safe and pollution-free. It can also generate electricity, at the same price as fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The advantages of using wind power are that firstly, whenever the wind blows, it produces energy. However, the more energy you use, more energy will be produced.
It is also known that the UK is one of the windiest countries in Europe and so it makes sense to harness the energy. It is also cheap to harness.
The disadvantages of using wind power are that it only works efficiently in windy places. Because the wind does not blow all the time, we would need to use a battery technology to store the energy, which is expensive to do.
For large amounts of energy, many generators covering a large area are needed. Because the wind turbines are large, some people object to the idea of them dotting the landscape.
In hot, equatorial areas there is another potential means of gaining energy from the oceans, by using the temperature difference between the layers of water. This method is called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).
OTEC devices use warm surface water to heat up and vaporise a fluid with a low boiling point, like ammonia. The moving vapour drives a turbine, generating electricity. Cold water is then used to cool the vapour and condense it back to ammonia for recirculating.
By using these alternatives, we could get enough energy and electricity in this way, but we have a long way to go and cutting down the amount of energy we waste will help a lot.
