CHPATER III

THE ALTERNATIVE FUTURE ENERGY TO REDUCE

THE GREEN HOUSE GASSES

A. The Urgency of Clean and Renewable Alternative Energy

Alternative energy is an interesting concept. In our global society, it simply

means energy that is produced from sources other than our primary energy supply

which are fossil fuels. Coil, oil, and natural gas are the three source of energy that

we most depend on to turn on our electricity at home, for our automobiles, or other

mass transportation.

The problem is, fossil fuels are non- renewable, and as far as the

environtmentalist concern about the global climate change, the fossil fuels is not

consider the clean energy either, since they are the main issue which cause the

uncontrollable emission gas in the atmosphere that led to the global climate change.

They are also limited in supply and will one day be depleted. We have to accept the

fact that fossil fuels formed from plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions

of years ago and became buried away underneath the Earth’s surface where their

remains collectively transformed into the combustible materials we used for fuel,

and at our rate of consumption, these fuels cannot occur fast enough to meet our

current or future energy needs.

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 The problems which occur when we are using the fossil fuel need some

solution, and one of the solutions is alternative energy. That is why we often see a

great deal of enthusiasm today about the development of alternative energy.

B. The Solar Powered Energy

Sun is a wonder alternative energy, it is unlimited, it can be found

everywhere, renewable and of course it is clean. Every hour, solar energy that

reaches the Earth is more than the energy that every single human being used in a

year. The Sun also provides enough energy than can be stored for use long after the

sun sets and even during extended cloudy periods. In developing affordable and

feasible global power source

But making it available is much easier that done. The technology is pretty

much ready for many business and consumer applicant, but it would be way to

expensive to replace the current energy infrastructure used for fossil fuel energy ,

but based on data from NASA, the prominent leader of solar power in the World,

Germany, is not a nation in which has a lot of sun light, but they can afford more to

implement the Solar powered energy in their nation, and the cost of solar powered

energy is showing a decreasing trend, the price of photovoltaic has fallen by an

average of 5% annum over the last 20 years. It is expected that this rate of price can

be maintained in the future. The developing countries in the sub tropic areas start to

enjoy the use of this solar energy.

But there are still quite a few problems about the implementation of Solar

powered energy, one of the problems is that the sun energy is too widely dispersed,

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and the land area required to collect I to vast for solar to become large scale power

source, since the maximum efficiency for the most modern photovoltaic is only up

to 21%, and with now days technology no matter how well we design the system it

will always be inefficient and capture only small amount of solar, and some of the

materials used to make a photovoltaic are toxic materials.

A. The Wind Powered Energy

Wind power has been used effectively for generations and it is also rapidly

growing energy markets. The basic principle is that the force of the wind is passed

through turbines which convert their energy into electricity. Commercial wind

energy is usually collected by wind “farms” essentially consisting of hundreds of

windmills spread over large plots of land

Wind power is currently most economically competitive form of renewable

energy. It provides nearly 15,000 megawatts of power in United States alone,

enough power for more than 3 million household and could provide up to 20% of

United States electricity needs.

In every megawatt hour produced by wind avoids an average of 1,220

pounds of carbon dioxide, and it can reduce global warming emissions equivalent to

taking 71 million cars off the road or planting 104 million acres of trees by 2020,

and by using it instead of fossil fuels will avoid the wildlife and human health

problem

But we still have to address a some issues about the wind power too, we still

have to find a way to produce and transport the windmill more economically, and

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 because of the intermittency problem, windmill is unreliable moment to moment it

is at is worst when it needs to be at its best like in those hot summer days for

example, and people like W.S Jevons said in the 1865 that the wind power is

unsuitable for industrial age.

B. The Hydrogen Powered Energy

Hydrogen is the most basic element in the universe. It is stuff of stars and

when properly used and made from renewable energy sources, it will produce no

harmful CO2 emissions, because when we properly burned the hydrogen into

energy it will only produces heat and pure water.

Hydrogen can be the alternative energy because it is renewable and clean,

when electricity can be only stored in the batteries, which are troublesome to

transport and slow to recharge, the hydrogen can be stored at much lower cost.

The Hydrogen powered energy will fundamentally change the nature of

financial markets just as coal bad steam power did at the beginning of Industrial

Revolution.

The hydrogen economy makes possible a wide spread redistribution of

electricity. In the new era, every human being with access to renewable energy

sources could become a producer of electricity as well. When millions of user

connects their fuels cells powered into local, regional, and national owned hydrogen

energy webs, they can begin to share energy peer to peer creating a new

decentralized form of energy

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 But there are skeptical views about the use of hydrogen power as alternative

energy, some of them believe that the focus on building national hydrogen network

to supply fuel powered cell cars ignore the less expensive and more rewarding

strategies such as hybrid electric vehicle.

Hydrogen’s high cost, poor energetics for near and medium term future must

be taken into account when we are planning to use it against alternative fuels.

Because the electricity network is already in place, aand the other argues

that we have to focus on expanding the portion of the electricity network delivery

system that relies on renewable energy, and make a major effort to move solar

power from the margins of energy production to its center rather than shift our

intellectual and scientific and capital resources toward creating a new delivery

infrastructure for hydrogen economy.

A. The Nuclear Reactor Powered Energy

Nuclear energy may be the energy source that can save our planet, from

global climate change, even though it is non-renewable, but as far as the technology

advance, it is the most efficient yet clean alternative energy for fossil fuel.

There are more than 600 coal- fired electric plants in the United States,

produce 36% of U.S emissions or equal to 10% of global emissions of CO2.

Nuclear energy is the only large scale, cost effective energy that can reduce these

emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power

One kilograms of Uranium can produces 50.000-3.500.000 kWh of energy,

compared to 1 kilogram of coal and 1 kilogram of oil can only produce 3-4 kWh...

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and to produce 1000 MWe, Nuclear reactor only needs 30 tons of Uranium which is

equal to 2.600.000 tons of coal (2000 loaded train with loaded capacity for each of

them 1.300 tons) or 2,000,000 tons of oil (10 supertanker)

On the waste of production of 1000 MWe the Nuclear reactor will produce

no noxious pollutant, but only produces 30 tons of high level radioactive, and 800

tons low and intermediate level of radioactive waste, compare to the coal powered

electric power plant which will produce 44,000 tons of Sulfuric Occident, and

22,000 tons of Nitrogen Occident.

But the anti-nuclear activist said that we can cut CO2 emissions in the U.S

alone by nearly 75% by 2050 without relying on dangerous nuclear power or

expensive new coal technologies. With rapid deployment of energy efficiency and

renewable energy we can stop the global warming.

The Pembina Institute said that nuclear energy still produces greenhouse

gases during mining, transportation and construction . The Nuclear power also

releases hazardous pollutants into ground water and produces toxic waste that will

endure for hundreds of thousands of years. The Nuclear power plant, and the

uranium mines associated with them, also expose the public to radiaton. The report

says, “nothing that even small radiation can be risky. The Nuclear power plant

workers and uranium miners are also exposed to level of radiation the general

public would not find it acceptable.

They believe that we need to phase out coal and nuclear power and we

cannot continue to fuel myriad nuclear threats by pretending nuclear power can in

any way help to combat the climate change.

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 And we also have to evaluate three issues before we can use nuclear as

major alternative energies, they are nuclear safety issue, nuclear non-proliferation

issue and radioactive waste management issue. For the nuclear safety has to

estimate the risk of accident in the nuclear reactor, and have to address the problem

like reactor safety maintenance, safety management, and human resources. Nuclear

non-proliferation issue consist of regulation and limitation of use of nuclear

material that have to be guaranteed not only in amount and technical optimization

but also all the thing that related to International Politic.

F. Bioenergy Fuel

Biomass energy or energy from burning plants and other organic matter is

one of man’s earliest sources of energy. Wood was once the main source of power

for heat, and it still is in many developing countries. Biofuels can also provide a

number of environmental advantages, and most notably one is a reduction in

greenhouse gas emissions. The transportation sector which is mainly used the

conservative fossil fuel accounts for about a third of total emissions of carbon

dioxide in United States alone, with bioenergy fuel; cleaner transportation fuels can

play a significant role in addressing climate change.

The level of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the Bioenergy fuel is far

less than fossil fuel energy. On a full fuel cycle basis, corn ethanol has the potential

to reduce greenhouse gas as much as 52% over petroleum based fuels. Even better

cellulosic ethanol has potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as

86% compared to gasoline.

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 Biofuels also provides us a ‘carbon sink’. As crops grow to produce the

feedstock, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.

While the other arguing that the use of Bioenergy fuel which provided from

feedstock such as corn will raise major nutritional and ethical concerns. Nearly 60%

of the people on earth are currently malnourished, so growing crops for fuel

squanders land, water, and energy vital for human food production.

The use of crops for fuel will also increase the price of beef, chicken, eggs,

breads, cereals, and milk. And as we burn more grain into fuel in the future, the

shortages and cost could cause grain prices to skyrocket, taking food from the

mouth of poor people, so people who are agreed with this statement clearly believe

that the use of biofuel to solve our energy problem is an ethically, economically

unworkable

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