Alternative and Renewable Energy. Christopher Nicholson section: AD Last 4 # of SIN: 5001

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1 Alternative and Renewable Energy Christopher Nicholson section: AD Last 4 # of SIN: 5001

2 Current Primary Energy Sources

3 Current Primary Energy Sources The pie chart on the left depicts global sources of energy use. Notice how the majority of energy produced is non-renewable, and that the 3 primary sources are the most CO2 productive than any other energy source. This is because most economies have been built upon fuel dependency, and have not taken much consideration into more environmentally friendly, yet less efficient energy sources. The chart on the right depicts the US s economic dependency on fossil fuels, especially foreign petroleum. This chart reflect the global non-use of renewable sources of energy. note: A quadrillion BTU s is about equal to the amount of energy in 45 million tons of coal, or 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or 170 million barrels of crude oil. In 1988, total world energy consumption was about 1 quad every 26 hours.

4 Solar Energy

5 Solar Energy In this chart you can see that the world as a whole has been increasing its use of solar energy. In 2000, we had just began to produce about 300 megawatts annually. But today we have moved vary far in photovoltaic energy production, and with this trend we can only hope to see more development and modification in this infinite source of energy. Some of the applications of solar energy include space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and high temperature processes for heat for industrial purposes.

6 Hydro Energy Pie chart: Energy Information Administration. International Energy Annual 2004.

7 Hydro Energy Hydro electricity is the most abundant renewable source of energy. Hydro electricity produced through the force of gravity falling or flowing through a turbine, which turns and powers a generator. Worldwide, hydroelectricity supplied an estimated 715,000 megawatts of electricity in This was approximately 19% of the world's electricity (up from 16% in 2003), and accounted for over 63% of electricity from renewable sources. This reflect the rough average of the continents shown in the pie chart. The picture is one of the worlds largest hydroelectric damns, the Three Gorges Damn, which spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, China.

8 Biofuels and Biomass Source: Keetsa.org Source: Total.com

9 Biofuels and Biomass Biofuels and biomass are distinguished from fossil fuels because biomass consists of recently dead organic material, whereas fossil fuels consist of long dead organic material accumulated over great periods of time. Biofuels and biomass have much less carbon emission than fossil fuels because bio products consist of carbon in the current earths carbon cycle, whereas Fossil Fuels have much greater carbon emission from long periods of accumulation. To create biofuels and biomass you need a high sugar or starch based material, which is then fermented with yeast to create ethanol. Ethanol is becoming a more and more popular alternative to gasoline.

10 Wind Energy

11 Wind Energy Another one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources. Global wind energy has greatly increased in the last decade, especially having doubled in the three years between 2005 and Historically used to power sailing, the grinding of grains, or pumping of water. But the same basic concept is applied to wind turbine energy. Wind energy collection has the same principal as hydro energy, that is, turning a turbine to power a generator.

12 Current Alternative Energy Usage in the US

13 Current Alternative Energy usage in the US The 3 primary fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal) are still the US s primary sources of energy. Renewable energy sources only account for 6% of the nation s energy production. The economic dependence on fossil fuels is going to be hard to shift towards alternative energy sources. This is because our rapidly growing economy requires the most productive sources of energy, but our nation is only now beginning to take into consideration mitigation of global warming. The business as usual scenario is most stimulating to economies but is the most detrimental to our environment. Serious alteration of energy dependency will require great time and sacrifice, especially to our economy.