Is Nuclear Energy The Answer To Fossil Fuels?

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Nuclear energy is held up as the obvious successor to fossil fuels as a solution for producing base load mainstream electricity. But is nuclear a viable long term solution or just another quick fix?

There is no doubt that fossil fuels have significant problems associated with their use. Peak Oil production will be the first to hit home. With an ever growing demand for oil production will eventually be unable to keep up and may have already passed into decline. More serious than this is the issue of pollution and the possibility of serious and practically irreversible climate change resulting from pumping endless amounts of Carbon Dioxide and other products into the atmosphere.

So how does Nuclear energy stand up as an alternative to fossil fuels in terms of a sustainable source of electricity production? There are several concerns about Nuclear energy that have given it a bad name. Reactor problems such as those that caused the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents, along with several others, are far fewer in number relative to the scale of electricity production than compared to casualties in the mining sector associated with oil and coal.

Storage of Nuclear waste is also largely an issue of the past with technology now available to store Nuclear waste in solid form, reducing virtually to zero the possibility of leakage, ground water contamination and so forth.

Weapons grade Plutonium-239 is another unpleasant byproduct of Nuclear energy. Enrichment of the fuel source is necessary to make it economically viable and this is where the Plutonium is produced. The use of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War has forever given nuclear weapons a bad name. It is worth considering though that production of these weapons is a political issue and just because they can be made does not mean we should ignore the possible benefits of Nuclear energy technology.

But perhaps the most significant issue is that Nuclear energy is itself based on a non-renewable resource of Uranium. This fact alone should be enough reason for us not to place too much stock in it as a long term energy source. Given that worldwide energy use is increasing continuously and will do so far into the future, it is easy to see that Nuclear energy will one day face its own peak of production.

Surely it is not responsible to replace fossil fuels with another energy source that is just as doomed to fail in the future. Supporters of Nuclear power say it is the solution we need to reduce emissions immediately, and while it would do this we need to be looking further into the future.

To make correct, responsible decisions that take into account not only our own welfare but also that of our children and their children, we need to adopt wide scale renewable energy in the form of Solar and Wind power. These proven technologies have the capacity to meet our energy demands TODAY with no adverse future effects, assuming they are implemented in an intelligent way.

Governments around the world need to start making intelligent decisions that benefit both us and the generations to come. A secure, clean energy source is obviously the way forward so large scale renewable energy production must be implemented immediately.

Get more information about Nuclear energy, coal and oil by visiting the Fossil Fuels section of Roger Vanderlely’s website. You will also find information on possible energy developments such as the Bakken Oil Field.

Green Energy In Home: Does It Worthwhile?

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Are you sick of paying high power bills each month? Do you still suffer from power cuts because of the high loads? Then, you have come to the right place. The best solution is to opt for residential solar panel installation.

What is the best starting point?

Self-motivation is the best starting point behind solar panels installation. If you wait for others to work for you, then you may wait forever. It should be your motivation to reduce your monthly expenses by paying less for the power companies. Besides, keeping your environment clean for the next generations is a decent goal.

What is the plan of the US government?

Sadly, some governments did not react till now to the problem of running out of natural sources of energy. On the other side, the US government did an excellent job to work on solar energy panel installation many years ago. The results reported are outstanding as the government gets now more than 4% of its needs from renewable sources. This percentage is going to be increased to 7.5% by the year 2013. You may help the government to reach the goal by powering your house using do it yourself DIY solar electric panels.

Is it expensive to go for green energy?

Some people do the mistake of thinking that DIY PV solar panels cost you a fortune to install and get it working. This is far away from the truth. If you have few hundred dollars, then you can get your windmill working in few days.

Have you ever been informed about the solar panel price? If not, do it today and you will be surprised how cheap it is. If you have a well-written blueprint, you will get a concrete list about the construction procedures and what you should buy. Once the installment is done, you will start enjoying less power bills. So, your investment will pay for itself in the first few months of using solar panel kits.

Can you make money by opting for this concept?

There have been successful cases of people producing so much green energy at home that the state decided to buy from them, and they get paid each month for the energy they sell. That is a nice idea, is not it? So, start today to look teach yourself more about solar panels installation and you will make money from the comfort of your home.

Are you sick of investing high amounts of money in traditional electricity generators? Does it sound interesting for you to eliminate your power bills? Installing DIY solar panels is simply what you need. To do it easily and quickly, here is your killer guide at: how to make a solar panel

UK renewable energy production falls for second time in 2010

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Department of Energy and Climate Change says lower wind speeds and rainfall led to 12% drop between April and June

The UK has suffered a second fall in renewable energy production this year, raising concern about the more than £1bn support the industry receives each year from taxpayers.

The drop in electricity generated from wind, hydro and other clean sources in the first half of 2010 could also be a setback to the coalition government’s promise that the UK could help lead a “third industrial revolution” and create a low-carbon economy.

The DECC today said lower than expected wind speeds and rainfall led to a 12% fall in renewable electricity generated between April and June, compared to the same period in 2009. This setback follows a smaller but still notable decline between January and March, again compared to last year.

With a sharp drop in output from nuclear power stations as well, greenhouse gas emissions from each unit of electricity generated will inevitably have risen, at a time when the UK has pledged to cut such pollution, and is pressing other countries to do the same.

The renewable energy figures are likely to prompt criticism of the government’s energy policies from all sides. Supporters want ministers to increase funding for green industry so more wind farms are built, reducing the risk of seasonal set backs; critics will say the government should instead increase support for energy efficiency, nuclear power or cleaner forms of burning fossil fuels.

With speculation mounting that the government is considering cutting the feed-in tariff subsidy for small-scale renewable equipment, 69 industry figures and other experts will tomorrow publish an open letter to the government warning such a move would “shatter” confidence and put future investment “in mortal peril”.

However, Robert Gross, director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology at Imperial College London, said it was too soon to react to the drops in renewables, pointing out that other electricity sources were also vulnerable to short-term problems, such as fluctuations in supply and prices of fossil fuels and technology shutdowns at nuclear reactors. Risks were not likely to arise until renewable sources made up more than 25-35% of electricity supply, when the UK would need back up from one or more of the several options: new gas plants, better connections to mainland Europe, better demand management so more electricity was used at off-peak times, and better technology to store surplus energy for peak times, said Gross.

The DECC also suggested the government was not yet planning to change its policies, which included direct support of £265m from 2000-2009, and about £1bn indirect subsidies for large installations through ‘renewable obligation certificates’ in 2008-9.

“Wind energy is home-grown, low-carbon and adds diversity to our energy mix,” said a department statement. “The intermittent nature of wind means that we do need alternative back-up generation, for when wind speeds drop. But for most of the time it will be possible to generate significant amounts of electricity from wind, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels we need to consume.”

The latest energy statistics for the second quarter of 2010 show total energy production in the UK was 9.2% lower than the same period last year, while final energy consumption was 1.8% higher. Among the different fuels, output from oil and coal fell, while only gas increased its output, by 7.1%. It was a similar picture for electricity alone: coal power stayed steady at about 23% of electricity supplied, nuclear output fell by 23% to 15.8%, and gas production rose by more than 10% to over half of all electricity.

Chris Huhne, the climate secretary, repeatedly chastised the previous government for putting the UK in 25th place among the 27 European Union countries for renewable energy, a ranking based on 2008 figures.

However, last week RenewableUK, the industry lobby group, said the UK was “on course” to meet its commitment to reach 15% of all energy – including at least 30% of electricity – from renewable sources by 2020.

Responding to today’s figures, a spokesman for the group said: “Clearly we need to deploy more renewable devices if we expect to get more in the energy mix. Hydro and wind power will vary from year to year, as do other technologies, but we know that they can and do contribute significant amounts of electricity.

“Hydro is one the world’s oldest and most widespread energy technologies, and wind power has shown its mettle across Europe. If we don’t write off nuclear energy on the basis of [its latest] fall, why would we write off hydro, or even wind, which is now the UK’s largest source of renewable energy?”

Louise Hutchins, climate campaigner for Greenpeace, said: “At the moment it [renewable energy] is a very small share in electricity and small fluctuations in weather can have an impact on the percentage of supply. When we have a lot more renewable energy there will be a lot more stability.”

Environment: Energy | guardian.co.uk

The Positive Statistics Of Renewable Energy

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As our global carbon dioxide emissions grow, they highlight the need for increased reliance on renewable energy sources. Its wealth of energy resources has made Canada the fifth-biggest energy producer in the world. Over 60 percent of oil produced is exported with most going to the United States since 1995. The positive statistics of renewable energy reveal Canada is using more in recent years.

The renewable energy technologies have some variance in economic and technical capacities. They offer the benefits of far less greenhouse gases emissions and a much more sustainable source of energy. We need more of this power source to protect our environment and make our lives more sustainable.

So far less than 20 percent of Canadian needs are supplied by renewable energy. Of these, water is the leading source supplying over ten percent of the total supply. On the rivers that flow from the mountains, there were by 2006, just under 500 hydroelectric power stations. Five provinces are the most active producers.

Wood constitutes the prime source in the biomass sector that is the 2d most dominant sector after the hydroelectric sector. More than half of paper and pulp industry usage uses this resource. By the end of 2006, sixty bioenergy plants were operating. Wheat, barley and corn constituted the main agriculture sources for ethanol production. In 2006, the biofuel capacity for ethanol was near six hundred million litres and for biodiesel it was a hundred million litres.

The emerging sectors of wind and solar energy are showing high growth rates. Installed wind power capacity has expanded quickly in recent years with increased interest from utilities and government initiatives. By December 31, 2007, there were 1,400 wind turbines on 85 wind farms with a total installed capacity of 1,846 megawatts. This was up from 60 wind turbines on 8 wind farms and 23 megawatts 10 years before. The provincial leaders in wind are Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Use of solar energy has increased, although it remains small relatively in terms of market penetration. Installed capacity for solar thermal power has been with average annual growth of 17 percent since 1998. It reached 290 megawatts of thermal power by 2005. The installed capacity for solar photovoltaic power has risen by 27 percent per year since 1993, reaching 25.8 megawatts by 2007. Of these, 89 percent are off the grid applications. Known geothermal steam resource is limited, but approximately 3,150 heat pump units were installed in buildings by 2006.

Eurostat has revealed a report that in 2009 Europe has generally advanced renewable energy uses while simultaneously reducing reliance on fossil fuels. According to its report, energy usage went up by 8.3 percent. However, the use of coal was reduced by 9.2 percent and natural gas by 10.1 percent. Generally energy usage declined by 5.5 percent. This reveals the negative effects of the global financial crisis on European economies. Meanwhile, for the six consecutive year, the amount of energy used to produce energy has declined as a result of reliance on more nonfossil based energy sources. The amount of such energy was 18.4 percent in the past year. This amount is just below the 19.3 percent of energy use from natural gas in the region.

Europe sets the standard with Germany the largest wind power user in the world. Its growth is highlighted by the fact that 16 years ago it hardly used any wind power. The second place wind user, Spain, is also on this continent. Germany is also the second largest solar power market in the world, despite its cloudy weather. QCells a world leader as a solar cell producer is based in Germany. The German goal of reducing carbon emissions by 2020 up to 36 percent makes the German goal the most ambitious. With Germany setting the high bar, Europe keeps on making ambitious exemplary strides forward. Yet the numbers for individual countries varies greatly. Thus, Portugal gets almost 45 percent of its energy needs satisfied through renewable energy usage with the average being regionally 18.4 percent. Portugal, has made dramatic strides as in 2004 the amount was below the average at 17 percent. Portugal demonstrates the dimensions of European expansion over the last decade.

Next door neighbor, the United Sates has seen 3 of the last 4 years with reduced emissions according to the Department of Energy. 2009 saw the most reduction in energy emissions since record keeping began in 1949 with a seven percent decline. The cause is attributable to the economic recession and to the increase in the renewable energy, in which wind has been a leader. The switch from coal to natural gas also reduced the amount energy used to produce power. This switch also influenced decline in carbon emissions as gas produces almost half as much as coal. Renewable energy installations outpaced fossil fuel installations in 2009 in both Europe and the United States. The rate was 60 percent of new energy installations in Europe and 50 percent in the United States. However, only 18 percent of global electricity needs were met by renewable sources in 2009. But, the number of countries with renewable policies like the Feed in Tariff program has risen to 100 from 55 in 2005. Investment in the United Nation environmental program declined slightly to USD 162 billion in 2009 from the USD 173 billion in 2008. The statistics of renewable energy demonstrate that the interest in renewable energy remains robust.

Solar Power devices, green energy and alternative energy sources like the field of science is around every day. The children learn with fun optical equipment, telescopes and science lab equipment.

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