As the rising oil prices continue to haunt us all, and the cost of heating an American home is expected to increase up to 50% this winter, we are in dire need to find a more reliable source of energy that is both cost
effective and environmentally friendly. We live in a world where there is an over dependency on fossil based fuels. And to worsen the scenario, we don’t produce enough of those fuels for our own use, and thus depend on foreign imports of oil. This is a disaster as these foreign governments have total control over the oil prices and the policy that allows for the mining of those natural resources. We don’t have control over that. The only way we can free ourselves from this over dependency is to find a reliable source of alternative energy that can fuel our economic activity and doesn’t threat our environment at the same time.
The phenomenal growth in the human population has created an insatiable need for energy and our dependence on fossil based fuel is definitely taking us nowhere. In fact supplies are fast drying up and scientists estimates that it takes less than a few decades before all of those natural fossil based reservoirs will be used up.
Apart from that the burning of those fossil fuels to create energy would only damage the delicate balance of our ecosystem. It creates unprecedented amounts of pollution with its release of harmful toxins into the atmosphere. There is no end to the amount of damage that is caused by the cumulative effect caused by the excessive burning of these fossil based fuel for energy.
So what are the alternatives we have right now at our disposal?
Solar Power
Solar power is a renewable and endless source of energy for all of mankind without creating and undesirable side effects in terms of polluting the environment. It is widely used now for cooking, heating up swimming pools, in water heaters and even in the generation of electricity. It has plenty of photocells which traps the energy from sunlight and convert it to electricity. It makes use of silicones trapped under no reflective glasses where it is turned into electricity. These are called solar panels that turn that energy trapped into electrical energy or DC current.
The biggest problem is these panels will not work if there is no sunlight which can be caused by clouds, bad weather or night time.
Wind Power
Wind power can be gained from the kinetic force that is used to propel the blades of the windmill. The motions of those blades are converted into energy which would be converted into electricity by the help of a motor. Wind wars can be used to generate electricity to power up homes and industries. As these forms of energy are created by wind power, there is zero pollution involved as you get fresh clean energy to use. Also the land where those wind turbines are placed can be sued as grazing lands for farm animals. This is an excellent source of renewable energy.
The negative side to this form of alternative energy lies in the inconsistency of wind to blow. We can never predict when these winds would blow and there is always a sporadic source of energy when wind power is harnessed into electricity.
3. Biomass
This is the best source of energy for fossil based fuels! Biomass refers to the biological elements within the earth that can take the form of seaweed, plants, animal fats, trees or even dung. These types of energy sources are renewable and completely safe to use. If you are considering this form of energy as your alternative fuel, source of algae would be the best choice of all due to its low cot, ease of cultivation and rapid expansion of the algae colony.