Renewable Energy
Renewable energy technologies and alternative fuel sources.
With our current international reliance upon fossil fuels for heating and electricity generation contributing to global warming and depleting valuable non-renewable natural resources such as oil, gas and coal, attention is beginning to turn to alternative clean, renewable fuel sources.
The advantages of renewable energy technologies are many, however they are still considered to be comparatively expensive options when viewed against the costs of mass-produced power from high-output coal, oil, gas and nuclear installations.
Nuclear power (nuclear fusion) is seen by many as the answer to our looming energy crisis, though a number of high profile international disasters such as Chernobyl have ensured that a great many people remain firmly against it. Nuclear energy is produced using naturally occurring Uranium, which is by no means inexhaustible, though ‘breeder reactors’ could in theory ensure a limitless fuel supply.
Nuclear fission is a relatively new technology which holds great promise for safe and limitless power yet this is still in its infancy and despite massive international investment and cooperation, there is no guarantee that this will ever be harnessed in any reliable or usable manner.
With power generation methods based on renewable energy sources the fuel source itself is inexhaustible and in most cases entirely free, however the technologies are still developing and the costs of implementing them on a large scale are generally higher that existing solutions.
Furthermore, in some cases the installations themselves can be contentious. Wind farms for example, are capable of generating electricity using turbines harnessing wind power – they produce no pollutants whatsoever in use and modern designs are quiet, efficient and long-lasting. Despite appearing to be the ‘holy grail’ of energy generation they have often been accused of spoiling the landscape and so their use has been strongly opposed in many cases by residents of proposed (often picturesque and generally coastal) locations.
It would seem that no alternative energy technology is without its drawbacks of varying magnitudes, though given the example above it is difficult to argue convincingly that it isn’t worth exploiting a free fuel source and provide thousands of people with green energy simply to satisfy the small number who oppose such a scheme - in the cold light of day the benefits seem to greatly outweigh any limited visual environmental drawback. Many people now seem to think that wind turbines make an interesting addition to the landscape and that far from being a blight and that they are working in partnership with their surroundings rather than in stark contrast to them.
Realistically our approach to energy usage needs to change every bit as much as the way in which we generate our electricity, and it is with this in mind that we devote so much of this site to conserving energy and reducing our own individual energy usage – whether the motivation is purely financial or from a ‘green’ perspective, all such efforts are worthwhile.
The subsections listed below (and also on the menu above) give more information on some of the more common renewable energy sources, particularly those with potential domestic applications. It is possible to generate your own electricity at home and more information on "microgeneration" can be found in the relevant subsections. Grants may also be available.
Also in this section:
Solar: Harnessing the sun’s energy for heating and electricity generation.
Wind: Utilising an abundant natural resource to create electricity.
Hydroelectric: Generating electrical energy by harnessing the power of moving water.
Biomass: Releasing energy from organic material such as plants and other non-fossil sources.