Breif Overveiw of Dyson Sphere

A Dyson sphere would completely cover the Sun and capture all the energy it releases.

Early stage in construction

Late stage in construction

This video briefly explains the definition of a Dyson sphere and the possibilities it will bring for us.

The Pros and Cons of Geothermal Power

The Pros and Cons of Geothermal Power 

http://www.energy-green.net/blog/articles/geothermal-power/pros-and-cons-of-geothermal-technology.html

Electricity generated from geothermal energy (geothermal power) offers a number of advantages:
1. Reliability
2. Renewability
3. Combustion-free
4. Very low emissions
5. Reduction in global warming
6. Domestic economic boon
7. Minimal land impact
8. Water conservation
9. Flexible plant growth

However, there are some disadvantages to the production of electricity from geothermal energy sources:
1. Limited geographic site locations
2. High start-up cost
3. Land subsidence may occur
4. Poor management can exhaust sites
Tax incentives, subsidies and government policy will play a large role in the speed to develop and implement geothermal energy technology.

 The Pros and Cons of Wind Energy

 

http://energyinformative.org/wind-energy-pros-and-cons/

Wind energy, also known as wind power,  is considered the second largest renewable resource after solar. The total worldwide wind energy potential is calculated to be about 3600 TW, in other words, more than enough to supply humanity’s energy needs 200 times.
What is wind energy? By wind energy, we mean the kinetic energy (motion) in the wind. There are several methods we can use to harness this energy.
This article is mainly about the advantages and disadvantages of generating electricity with wind turbines. However, many of the same principles apply for the other methods to harness wind energy. More information on these methods can be found in An Overview of How Wind Energy Works.

How does wind power produce electricity? The basic gist is that turbines convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy, which again is converted into electricity by a generator. Read the article mentioned in the above paragraph to get an in depth look on how wind turbines work.

Advantages of Wind Energy

• Wind energy is a green energy source. Harnessing wind energy does not pollute the environment such as fossil fuels, coal and nuclear energy. However, there are some environmental impacts of wind energy that we will discuss later.

• Wind energy is a renewable. This means that the supply is practically unlimited. Wind energy does ultimately come from nuclear fusion on the sun. In other words, as long as the sun shines, we can harness wind energy on Earth. This is not the case for fossil fuels, which we heavily rely on today (e.g. oil and gas). Read An Overview of Non-Renewable Energy Sources if you want to learn more.

• Good availability. Although some places are better suited for harnessing energy from the wind, it can be done most places. However, it all comes down if we can generate cost-competitive electricity with current technology in the particular area.

• Prices have decreased significantly (some sources say as much as 60% since the 1980’s). Better technology and higher demand is expected to continue to push the prices even further.

• The possibility for people to produce own electricity using wind power is now a reality. Some companies specialize in these types of installations. There are also several DIY wind energy kits on the market.

• The fact that residential buildings can produce their own electricity opens up for several possibilities. The first is the ability to save money on the electricity bill. Some people take this to the next level and sell energy back to the grid.

• People can become energy self-sufficient, providing themselves with all of their power needs.  Read Energy Self-Sufficient With Wind and Solar Energy if you are interested to learn more on this subject.

• Becoming energy self-sufficient if only just for a limited amount of time can be a lifesaver in emergency situations where you are cut off the grid.

• Works in harmony with other methods of harnessing energy such as solar panels and geothermal heating.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

• Wind is unpredictable. The availability of wind energy is fluctuating. Therefore, wind energy is in most cases not suitable for providing a base load of energy. This is why wind turbines should be used together with other renewables or even non-renewables to meet the power demand.

• Are wind turbines cost effective? This is highly debatable. The wind turbines technology is relatively new. In most cases these projects heavily rely on incentives to lower costs.

• Wind turbine noise levels can be annoying. Living too close to big wind turbines could be a problem. However, this is most likely not the case for smaller residential wind turbines.

• Some complain about the aesthetics of wind turbines. This is debatable. I personally like the way wind turbines blend in the environment. One way to deal with aesthetic and sound problems is to make wind turbine parks, concentrating them outside housing areas. Offshore wind turbine parks are another solution.

• Wind turbines kill birds. Birds stand no chance when flying into rotating wind turbine blades.

• Wind turbines can be damaged in heavy weather and repair costs are usually expensive.

The future of wind energy is very promising. Big offshore wind farms are being built right now, allowing more stable and stronger wind resources, eradicating some of the disadvantages talked about in this article. Wind turbines for home use allow everyone to contribute positively to the climate crisis. It will be interesting to see how the situation will be only ten years from now.

 

The Pros and Cons of Hydropower

The Pros and Cons of Hydropower

www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0401.htm 

Arguments in Favor

There are economic and environmental arguments for hydropower. Generally, hydropower facilities have high capital costs but very low operating costs. Over their lifetime, the total cost of producing power at a hydroelectric facility is typically less than that for a fossil fuel or nuclear plant. Hydropower facilities are dispatchable, i.e., their owners can, within limits, increase or decrease power production to reflect changes in electric demand.

Hydropower is a renewable resource, relying on the natural cycle in which water falls as precipitation, flows in rivers to lakes and oceans, and evaporates from these water bodies back into the atmosphere. Hydropower facilities produce no air pollution. They emit no carbon dioxide, and their “cradle to grave” greenhouse gas emissions are less than most other types of generation (this approach measures emissions associated with facility construction and operation, as well as direct emissions).

Impoundment facilities typically offer a variety of recreational opportunities, notably fishing, swimming, and boating. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates hydropower, generally requires these facilities to provide public access to the reservoir to allow the public to take advantage of these opportunities. 

Argument Against

The primary arguments against hydropower are environmental. Impoundment and pumped storage facilities can cause serious environmental harm to surrounding areas. They can alter the amount and quality (e.g., oxygen level) of water flowing downstream, which affects plant life as well as both aquatic and land-based animal species. Turbines kill fish in the river, although this impact can be mitigated through the use of fish ladders and similar structures. Dams block migratory routes, particularly for anadromous fish such as salmon that live in the ocean but come up rivers to spawn. The creation of new dams can destroy the habitat of species, including forests. The destruction of forests produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Dams also reduce sediment and nutriment flow downstream and reduce the temperature of the water.

In addition to these environmental impacts, impoundment facilities can reduce the aesthetic value of streams, particularly wild rivers. As a result of environmental and aesthetic concerns, a number of dams in New England have been removed in recent years, including dams on the Kennebec River in Maine and the Pawcatuck River in Rhode Island. In contrast, run of river facilities have a smaller environmental impact, and produce relatively little change in the stream channel and flow.

The Pros and Cons of Solar Energy 

http://www.solarrooftilesx.com/solar-energy-pros-and-cons/

Solar Energy Pros

One of the solar energy pros produces no pollution; the only real pollution created consequently of solar power panels may be the manufacturing of those products in industrial facilities, transportation from the goods, and installation. Second solar energy pros, producing energy from using fossil plus some renewable fuels (e.g. wind generators) could be noisy, yet solar power produces electricity very silently. Among the great solar energy pros is a chance to harness electricity in remote locations that aren’t associated with a national power grid. Solar energy pros, an excellent illustration of this really is in space, where satellites are operated by high quality solar panels. A solar energy pros which installing solar power panels in remote locations is generally much less expensive than lounging the needed high current wires. Solar energy pros can be quite efficient inside a large part of the globe, and technology permit a far more efficient wind turbine on overcast/dull days. Solar energy pros could be installed on the top of numerous roofs, which remove the issue of locating the needed space for cell positioning; there solar energy pros which an excellent professional of solar power may be the cost. Including the solar energy pros are to produce energy of solar panels might be high, once installed, they offer a totally free electrical source, which will repay over in the future. Solar energy pros are using the solar power to create electricity enables the consumer being less determined by the mobile phone industry’s fossil fuel supplies.

Solar Energy Cons

The solar energy cons is the solar power may be the initial price of solar panels. Presently, solar energy cons is the prices of highly efficient solar panels could be above $1000, plus solar energy cons some homes may require several. Solar energy cons will make the first installing of solar power panels very pricey. Solar energy cons could only generate electricity throughout daylight hrs. The solar energy cons which means is for approximately 1 / 2 of every day, solar power panels aren’t creating energy for your house. The elements of solar energy cons can impact the efficiency of solar panels. Pollution could be a  solar energy cons, as pollution levels can impact a solar panels efficiency, this is a significant solar energy cons for companies or industry wanting to set up solar power panels in heavily polluted areas, for example metropolitan areas.
Above is a listing of numerous solar power benefits and drawbacks, and while not definitive, you can observe how the amount of pros relevant to solar power, greatly exceeds the solar energy cons.

 

The Pros and Cons of Bio-fuels

http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/a/biofuels.htm


There are many eco-benefits to replacing oil with biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. For one, since such fuels are derived from agricultural crops, they are inherently renewable--and our own farmers typically produce them domestically, reducing our dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil. Additionally, ethanol and biodiesel emit less particulate pollution than traditional petroleum-based gasoline and diesel fuels. They also do not contribute to global warming, since they only emit back to the environment the carbon dioxide (CO2) that their source plants absorbed out of the atmosphere in the first place.
Biofuels are Easy to Use, but Not Always Easy to Find
And unlike other forms of renewable energy (like hydrogen, solar or wind), biofuels are easy for people and businesses to transition to without special apparatus or a change in vehicle or home heating infrastructure—you can just fill your existing car, truck or home oil tank with it. Those looking to replace gasoline with ethanol in their car, however, must have a “flex-fuel” model that can run on either fuel. Otherwise, most regular diesel engines can handle biodiesel as readily as regular diesel.
Despite the upsides, however, experts point out that biofuels are far from a cure for our addiction to petroleum. A wholesale societal shift from gasoline to biofuels, given the number of gas-only cars already on the road and the lack of ethanol or biodiesel pumps at existing filling stations, would take some time.
Are There Enough Farms and Crops to Support a Switch to Biofuels?
Another major hurdle for widespread adoption of biofuels is the challenge of growing enough crops to meet demand, something skeptics say might well require converting just about all of the world’s remaining forests and open spaces over to agricultural land.
“Replacing only five percent of the nation’s diesel consumption with biodiesel would require diverting approximately 60 percent of today’s soy crops to biodiesel production,” says Matthew Brown, an energy consultant and former energy program director at the National Conference of State Legislatures. “That’s bad news for tofu lovers.”
Does Producing Biofuels Use More Energy than They Can Generate?
Another dark cloud looming over biofuels is whether producing them actually requires more energy than they can generate. After factoring in the energy needed to grow crops and then convert them into biofuels, Cornell University researcher David Pimental concludes that the numbers just don’t add up. His 2005 study found that producing ethanol from corn required 29 percent more energy than the end product itself is capable of generating. He found similarly troubling numbers in making biodiesel from soybeans.
“There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel,” Pimentel says.
Conservation is a Key Strategy for Reducing Dependence on Fossil Fuels
There is no one quick-fix for weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels and the future will likely see a combination of sources--from wind and ocean currents to hydrogen, solar and, yes, some use of biofuels--powering our energy needs. The “elephant in the living room” that is often ignored when considering energy options, however, is the hard reality that we must reduce our consumption, not just replace it with something else. Indeed, conservation is probably the largest single “alternative fuel” available to us.
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