Renewable Sources of Energy

Question: Discuss about the Renewable Sources of Energy. Answer: Introduction: Renewable sources like sun, rain, wind, waves, tides and geothermal heat that are naturally replenished and provides energy for water and air cooling, electricity generation, transportation and energy services (Twidell Weir, 2015). They are generated through natural processes capable of replenishing itself. This type of energy is constantly renewed and is inexhaustible. The biomass including solid waste, wood, biogas and biodiesel are also the renewable forms of energy (Lee, Speight Loyalka, 2014). The use of renewable sources of energy has both benefits and disadvantages. There are several benefits of using renewable sources of energy. The sources of the renewable energy could be easily replaced. The renewable sources like sun, wind, water, land and geothermal heat do not pollute the environment. As a result, it does not contribute to the green house gas effect. The sources are carbon neutral that does not produce carbon compounds. The biomass, land, air and water are naturally available and are not formed. The great benefit of using renewable energy sources is that they can be trapped and are non-exhaustible. These sources are safe for the environment and are not so expensive compared to non-renewable sources of energy. The solar energy is obtained from the sun directly or indirectly and is used for lightning houses, buildings and heating hot water and in a variety of commercial and industrial purposes (Ellabban, Abu-Rub Blaabjerg, 2014). The hydroelectric power is generated through wind energy heated by sun turning into vapors. These vapors turn into rains flowing through rivers and streams generating hydroelectric power. The plants grow with the help of sunlight and that makes up the biomass consisting of organic matter used for producing electricity, chemicals and transportation fuels. The earths internal energy is trapped to generate electricity, cooling and heating of buildings (Dickson Fanelli, 2013). The hydrogen is found in many organic compounds being the most abundant element acting as an energy carrier. The technologies produced using renewable sources are the cheapest form of energy production. It provides benefits on a large scale in terms of market production and mass production. The levelised cost of energy is declining for the renewable energy sources and the cost is also less for the energy production. The renewable sources are the most economical solution for energy production with good capacity. Th e energy produced by using renewable sources does not emit greenhouse gases contributing to the global warming. Renewable sources of energy reduce the dependency on the fuels and energy obtained from the foreign governments. They are sources of constant energy and provide a vast supply of energy. They are clean sources of energy and are considered safe for the environment. They have no carbon emissions and as a result, do not contribute to the global warming. The sources are sustainable and will not run out. The renewable sources do not deplete the natural sources and have minimal impacts on the environment. It enables to reduce pollution and keep people healthy. They are the reliable sources of energy as the wind; sun and water are available on a large scale over geographical areas. The use of renewable energy sources require less cost maintenance and reduce the costs. It also stabilizes the energy prices as the invested money would be less and there is no need of heavy pricing (Bahadori, Zendehboudi Zahedi, 2013). Along with the benefits, there are disadvantages of using renewable sources of energy. The biggest disadvantage of using renewable energy sources is that it is entirely dependent on the weather. The sun, wind or rain is the sources of natural climatic conditions and due to unprecedented patterns of weather; the energy use is minimized in those cases. If the weather fails to produce these climatic conditions, then the sources of renewable energy would not be able to make energy (Tyagi Lo, 2013). The energy production by renewable sources cannot be generated in large quantity when compared to energy production by non-renewable sources. This problem could be mitigated either by furnishing the increasing demands or by reducing energy consumption. The construction and building costs of the plants for the renewable energy production are initially high. Moreover, the plants require upfront investments, high maintenance costs, careful planning and attentive implementation. The high energy g eneration is not possible by using renewable energy sources and is highly inconsistent and unpredictable (Scheer, 2013). As they are dependent on climatic conditions, unavailability of the sources would lead to failure of energy production. To set up plants for the energy production through renewable sources, large land tracts are required. There is requirement of large wind farms and solar panels to produce enormous energy and for that large patches of land are required when compared to energy production by non-renewable sources. The construction wind farms also spoil the country side. The implementation of the big solar panels is costly. In the case of tidal energy generation, the barrage construction is very expensive. Moreover, the construction would cause the destruction of wildlife and requirement of suitable estuaries (Sanchez et al., 2014). There is flow of sewage into the sea and reduction of tidal flow due to the implementation of tidal barrage. The energy generation through wave power is also expensive and may be opposed by environmental groups as the seawater is moved in and outside the cavity on a shore trapping air to drive a turbine. The geothermal energy generation is also costly and most importantly it could only be set up in areas of volcanic eruptions. Therefore, the volcanic and geothermal activities might settle down but the power stations would become redundant. This would increase the cost of renovating and maintaining the large geothermal power plants after being destroyed by volcanic eruptions. As a result, the dangerous and toxic elements that are found underground would be exposed to the surface (Bagher, Vahid Mohsen, 2014). The cost is high for the implementation of hydroelectric power plants and could lead to flooding of the nearby surrounding areas. The local hydrology is immensely affected by the construction of dams and posing ecological damage. The energy production through the burning of biomass emits carbon that contributes to the greenhouse effect. The biomass energy production is useful only when there is replanting of crops. The wood is also considered as a cheap method to generate light a nd heat. However, burning of wood pollutes the environment giving off atmospheric pollutants that include the greenhouse gases (Vassilev, Vassileva Vassilev, 2015). This process also requires replanting of trees otherwise wood would become a non-renewable source of energy. Therefore, the use of renewable sources of energy has both benefits and disadvantages. References Bagher, A. M., Vahid, M., Mohsen, M. (2014). Geothermal Energy.Journal of Engineering and Technology Research,6(8), 146-150. Bahadori, A., Zendehboudi, S., Zahedi, G. (2013). A review of geothermal energy resources in Australia: Current status and prospects.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,21(0), 29-34. Dickson, M. H., Fanelli, M. 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