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Are renewables the answer?

Millie HennickSeptember 20, 2018 1440 0

Are renewables the answer?

Reasonable people agree that mankind must adopt alternative sources for powering our activities. Some of these sources are called renewables. There are many reasons for humanity to embrace renewable sources of energy. One of the main purposes of using renewable energy is to provide power with reduced or no emissions of greenhouse gases. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere remained below 280 parts per million (ppm) for 800 thousand years until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The concentration has grown from 280 ppm in 1780 up to 403 ppm in 2016. The lasting effects of this trend on our future environment are unknown, but scientists are debating the impacts of these trends and the increasing likelihood of reaching dangerous tipping points that are difficult to reverse.

A closer look at renewable energy sources

Adopting renewable energy technologies is one suggested way of reducing the environmental impact of our energy production. However, we must always consider carefully the environmental impact of any renewable energy technologies we adopt. There are environmental costs to most of the renewable energy methods so let’s look at each form of energy.

Wind turbines

Wind turbines convert the energy of the wind into electricity. Wind power produces no toxic pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. However, in some areas, there are objections to what some see as the unsightly nature of wind turbines – especially in areas of outstanding natural beauty. The government has tried to counter these objections by offering large subsidies to those who install wind turbines. This is not a solution for some taxpayers who are finally being required to pay for turbines to which they object strongly for environmental reasons. There are also objections from some taxpayers who are required to subsidize turbines that are rarely used at higher than 35% of their potential capacity.

Some animal enthusiasts are upset about the impact on birds, bats, and other creatures. There are also some objections from those who have to endure the noise of the turbine blades.

Photovoltaic arrays

Photovoltaic arrays transform sunlight into energy used to produce electricity. The environmental impacts involved here involve the use of scarce resources in manufacturing and the inefficiencies of operation. This sometimes needs a substantial taxpayer subsidy to encourage the uptake of PVs.

Biomass is not really a great solution

The good news is that burning biomass is considered an alternative to burning fossil fuels. The limitation is that burning biomass delivers 66% more CO2 than burning gas for the equivalent amount of heat generated. Incomplete combustion yields carbon monoxide – a poisonous gas – soot and particulates, the precursors of acid rain. Some industry experts believe that only waste biomass should be counted – because growing biomass, merely to burn it, prevents land being used for food creation.

Hydroelectric power

Hydroelectric stations generate power from utilizing the natural forces of gravity and meteorology. Some ecological concerns have been raised about changing the natural environment and loss of habitat for certain vulnerable species.

Solar thermal power

Solar thermal panels produce hot water from the natural energy in sunlight. The environmental impact is generally small, although again some people object to the visual impression, especially on historic houses.

Asphalt solar collectors

An asphalt solar collector also generates hot water from the natural energy in sunlight. The technology is embedded into roads and is invisible. There is no environmental cost of collecting heat from roads.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system!

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