Alternative energies

On a daily basis, we are bombarded with news on climate change, whether through reports of broken temperature records, extreme weather events such as hurricane Katrina or the disappearing of polar bears. It is now accepted that we are experiencing global warming and that human activity is a contributing factor.

The single human activity that is having a large impact on the climate is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.


Why alternative energy?

There is not enough oil in this world to continue at our current consumption rate. Eventually, our oil supply will stop and the world's economy stopping with it.

Also, with the support for ‘green’ movement, government and regulators of different countries are reacting by introducing legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions thus reducing the damaging impacts on our environment

This has prompted people to start looking at alternative energy such as solar, nuclear, ethanol, and biodiesel energies.

Some alternative energies are shown below:


Other possible alternatives are:
Geothermal
Tides
Hydroelectric

Let me elaborate on two of the alternative energies below:

Wind energy

Wind mill


Wind power is an alternative energy source that could be used without producing by-products that are harmful to nature. Harnessing the wind is highly dependent upon weather and location. The average wind velocity of Earth is around 9 m/sec. And the power that could be produced when a wind mill is facing the wind of 10 mi/hr. is around 50 watts.

How does a basic windmill works?
The fins of a windmill rotate in a vertical plane which is kept perpendicular to the wind by means of a tail fin. As wind flow crosses the blades of the windmill, it is forced to rotate and can be used to generate electricity.


Ethanol

What is ethanol?
Among the most touted alternatives is ethanol, an alternative fuel. Ethanol is not something completely new. Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel made by fermenting and distilling crops that have been broken down into simple sugars. In the United States, ethanol is generally made from starch crops such as corn or sorghum. In Brazil, ethanol is made from sugar cane.

Facing high oil and gasoline prices, there is a call for new technologies to reduce oil consumption. General Motors, a leading maker of cars came up with flex-fuel vehicles that can run on gasoline or ethanol.

For now, ethanol is mostly a blending source to help lower the amount of oil consumed while providing for cleaner-burning fuel. But over time, it could grow in importance as an alternative fuel called E85. That's a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, the mix preferred for flex-fuel vehicles.

How does it help the environment?
It burns cleaner than gasoline as it emits fewer greenhouse gases.