ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Alternative Energy

Alternative Energy

Alternative energy is derived from sources that are renewable, does not consume natural resources or harming the environment, or can replace fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil. Alternative energy generates electricity and heat from sources such as moving water, sun, wind, geothermal heat from the earth, biomass from plant material or waste, and biogas digestion anaerobic. Given the energy crisis facing much of the world, alternative energy is destined to become even more important area for science communicators (Berinstein 2001).

Renewable sources of energy can be recovered in short periods of time, not decrease. Green energy, a subset of renewable energy is a clean technology that provides the greatest environmental benefit. green energy sources produce electricity with less environmental impact than conventional energy technologies produce no emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Brown sources of energy, renewable energy sources or pollutants, usually drink water, or require the mining, drilling or mining, or emission of greenhouse gases and air pollution during combustion. Categorization of nuclear energy is controversial, as it emits no greenhouse gases still requires mining, extraction and storage of long-lived radioactive waste.

Concern about oil prices soared, global energy security and the impacts of greenhouse gases have driven growth in various sectors of renewable energy. In mid 2007, investments in more than 140 companies publicly traded renewable energy topped $ 100 billion. Among the major corporate initiatives including green tags that represent proof that one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy resource, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for green buildings (Aldo, 2009).

The commercialization of renewable energy in the last century has involved three generations of technology. First-generation technologies, and economically competitive, including biomass, hydropower, and geothermal heat and power (Kemp, 2006). The second-generation technologies, market ready and deployed today, have solar heating, photovoltaics (PV), and new forms of bioenergy. third-generation technologies that require continued research efforts and development to contribute significantly, are advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, solar thermal power plants, energy hot dry rock geothermal energy ocean (Wengenmayr, 2008).

Net energy analysis, which indicates the efficiency of energy technology, compares the energy of a technology offers society the total energy needed to find, extract, process, deliver and otherwise upgrade that energy a useful way. A measure of net energy return on energy investment, is the proportion of energy supplied to energy costs. Another measure, the life cycle cost analysis, comparing the electricity generated to the amount of energy required to manufacture, transport, construction, operation, and other stages of the life cycle of a technology (Quaschning, 2005).

Biofuels

Biofuels are produced from biomass, organic matter stored sunlight as chemical energy. The production of biofuels provides a mechanism for elimination of organic waste, agricultural and industrial. Biofuels are produced from manure, other biodegradable wastes, and biological material living or recently dead. Common materials include plant corn, soybeans, wood waste, switchgrass, crop residues, straw, hemp, rattan, cane and palm oil. Although biofuels emit more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as fossil fuels are considered carbon ...