Photo Credit: thirdyearabroad.com

The world we live in today is driven by how much energy we have.  For example when oil prices are high, we drive less and complain about all the things wrong with oil supply.  When oil prices are low, we drive more and tend to forget about the core problem.  The problem is not that there isn’t enough oil in the world or where it comes from, it’s how we go about energy production.  There is no doubt that energy produced from coal and oil is “dirty” but it does have it’s perks.  Traditional means of energy production (petroleum and coal) have been in use for a while now so the infrastructure is already there and its technology is well known.  Petroleum and coal resources are abundantly found and the power produced from these plants is highly reliable.  The same can’t be said for most forms of renewable energy.  Renewable energy resources like solar and wind power, although very clean for the environment, have a few major hurdles to overcome if they are ever to be mainstream.  A VERY long post can be made about how energy production, both on a national scale and a global scale, can be changed to better the environment and strengthen global ties but that’s not my plan.  I simply want to share the pros and cons of each renewable resource and share why they aren’t currently taking the place of traditional energy production methods.

Renewable energy is diffuse, meaning low energy content per unit area and time.  This is mainly due to the resources being in variable supply.  You may be thinking: How is renewable energy variable?  Well, take sunlight for example.  The sun rises and sets in a full day.  Energy from the sun can only be used when it’s out and most efficiently, when the suns rays are collected perpendicular to the surface of the solar panel.  When the sun light fades out for the day, that’s it!  Makes sense since solar collectors only work when there’s sun light to collect.  At night, the solar plant no longer has its resource available unlike the coal or oil plant across town which can continue to generate power long after the sun sets.  Now, a solar plant can store thermal energy from the sun’s rays but it can be unpractical or too costly to do so.  Let’s take a closer look at individual renewable resources and the pros and cons associated with each one.

Solar Energy

Simple Solar Grid. Photo Credit: solarpowernotes.com

Pros:
– Large resource (any incident light that passes through the Earths atmosphere can be used for energy production!)
– Minimal pollution (sunlight can be used directly for electricity or as a thermal resource)
-Free! (Power plants don’t have to “BUY” sunlight)

Cons:
– Diffuse
– Cyclical (Can cause fluctuating thermal stresses in components)
– Not dependable (Sun goes down = no more resource)
– Design for high temperatures (Sun collectors need to handle the high temps of the solar irradiance)
– Storage (Electricity can be stored in batteries or heat can be stored in salt thermal pools)
– Concentrated Thermal Pollution (Higher temperature levels concentrated in a single area)
– Land use (collectors and receiver efficiencies range from 40-70% so many are needed to make the plant worth it)

Hydroelectric Power

Typical Hydro Plant Layout. Photo Credit: amailahydropower.com

Pros:
– Long Lasting (As long as there’s rain and moving water the plant can generate power)
– Low temperatures (No thermal cycles needed as it uses the energy of falling water to spin a turbine/generator)
– High efficiency (Converts work (falling water) to work (rotating turbine) which is the most efficient conversion possible)
– Cheap! (All it takes is a dam, a powerhouse (with a turbine and generator), and pipes!)
– Reliable (Water can be stored behind a dam for long running times even through droughts)

Cons:
– Habitat loss (Animals can be forced out of their homes to build a site)
– Nutrient loss (Nutrients needed downstream for plants and animals can be blocked upstream by the dam)

Wind Power

Wind Power Plant Layout. Photo Credit: yokogawa.com

Pros:
– Free! (No resource cost)
– Low operating cost (No thermal cycles; similar work to work conversion found in Hydropower)
– Huge resource (Wind is generated by a number of mechanisms making it abundant everywhere)

Cons:
– High capital cost (Huge Turbines = Huge Cost; machinery is large and over designed pushing cost high)
– Visual pollution (Usually located by mountains and deserts, wind power plants can take away from nature’s beauty)
– Noise pollution (Each passing blade produces a buffeting noise that make living near one hard)
– Bird Kills (Birds often times don’t see the blades of wind turbines)
– Land usage (Like solar energy, a lot of land is needed to make the plant worth it)

Biomass

Biomass Resources. Photo Credit: energy.ca.gov

Pros:
– Large Supply (literally anything can be used: plants, animals, wood, sugar cane, kelp, menure, sewage, waste, etc)
– Efficient use of byproducts (Nutrient rich byproducts are left over from this process which can be re-fed to starting point)
– Low pollution (low levels of carbon dioxide gas)
– Cheap supply cost (example: the old grease from the fast food place down the street can be used)

Cons:
– Soil depletion and erosion (Compostables once used for fertilizing are now used for energy production)
– Competes with food/feed growing (Land and resources are split between food and products used in energy production)
– Bulky (Transportation of waste and resources must be considered)

There is certainly enough renewable resources out there with many of them being able to provide for the worlds energy needs on their own.  The problem, as I hope I showed here, is that many design issues must be tackled before moving away from traditional fuels.  There is no overnight solution and there won’t be one for little while.  Some of the cleaner processes pollute less than oil but physically harm the earth they sit on.  Others are just too theoretically perfect to be implemented in real life.  If you want my full view on how we can tackle this energy production problem let me know…I wrote a paper!

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Until next time…