Energy Resources

Today I am going to talk to you about renewable energy and how practical it is to use. As you may know the main fuels we use today are Gas, Coal and Oil which are fossil fuels. They are predicted to run out very soon, however new research shows there may be enough oil to last another 140 years. What will we do when they run out? When burnt, fossil fuels release pollutants which harm the atmosphere and are linked to causing climate change. So even if there is more oil should we really use it? What do you think?

There are plans to build a 1km Solar Tower but it would only produce as much power as a small nuclear power plant. Renewable resources are extremely expensive; however the technology is getting cheaper. For developing countries who will use the most fuel renewable forms of electricity are largely too expensive and insufficient. Wind turbines kill 1000 birds a year. Is this causing just as much damage to wildlife as climate change?

A lot of money is being pumped into the research of renewable energy but is it really worth it? Technologies are advancing rapidly and there are plans to build numerous renewable energy sites all over the world. Another alternative renewable energy source could be Nuclear Fusion.

However, if fusion reactions were to become a reality in the future just one reactor would generate enough electricity for large cities. On the other hand if the reaction went wrong it could cause as much damage as an Atom bomb. Could and would we be prepared to take this risk?

Instead, we can turn to renewable energy which is derived from resources that are regenerative. They do not produce pollutants. An example of renewable energy is solar power but there are also many others as shown in this Pie Chart. However renewable energy also has problems. It involves natural phenomena and is therefore reliant on the surrounding climate. For this reason it is not always practical to generate renewable energy on a large scale. Renewable resources also take up a great amount of space to produce relatively little energy.

The main benefits of renewable resources are that they don’t give out pollutants and they will never run out. However, with the raising costs of Fossil Fuels and renewable resources getting cheaper their popularity has soared, especially Wind energy (pass round picture) which we can see in this graph. We are each individually responsible for securing the planet for future generations which are under threat because of our selfishness. By using forms of renewable energy we can all help save the Planet.

Nuclear fusion is the same reaction which takes place in the sun where two Hydrogen nuclei are fused together under extreme temperatures of 100,000,000oC to make one heavier Helium atom. Energy is given off which we could exploit and use as the only product is Helium. Presently we can only sustain the reaction for about 25 seconds.

At present I don’t think our forms of renewable energy are very practical on a large scale. However, new technologies are constantly being developed and researched into which will make renewable energy more efficient. One thing for sure is that renewable energy in its various different forms is here to stay. I think that mankind should carry on developing renewable energy sites until another more efficient form becomes a reality.