Daily Archives: May 16, 2022

No more Sweltering with Solar Power!

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When it comes to being sustainable, it’s important to use renewable energy in terms of specific situations such as air pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in fossil fuels.  For instance, I want to talk about instead of using electrical heaters, the usage of of solar thermal heating.  With solar thermal heating there is a 60% less energy used to heat water, and 35% less energy is used for spaced heating,  so already there is conservation of energy when it comes to renewable energy vs. fossil fuels.  Economically, there is a Lower purchase price when using solar thermal heating systems, and cost less when it comes to reparations and maintenance.  There are two options when it comes to solar collectors.  There are flat plate collectors and evacuated tube collectors, with the only major difference being flat plate collectors using insulation material such as rock wool or polyurethane.  Flat Panel collectors are quite a common purchase in southern climates, while evacuated tube collectors are more useful for winter temperatures where it drops at 40 degrees fahrenheit or lower, with the tubes retaining a high percentage of heat.  Solar heating in general is reliable and flexible, working well with a heat pump or pellet heating.  Overall, if you’re looking for a heating system option that has no CO2 operations when in use, consider replacing  your electrical heating system with solar thermal heating!

 

references:

https://www.vaillant.com/what-we-do/technologies-to-make-people-feel-good/how-different-technologies-work/solar-thermal-heating/

http://www.solarpanelsplus.com/all-about-solar/evacuated-tubes-or-flat-plates/

 

The Feasibility of Solar Power

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Solar energy is a very popular source of alternative energy. It’s made leaps and bounds in technology in recent years, and it is frequently discussed in the media. When someone brings up green/alternative energy, solar power is most likely one of the first powers to come to mind. Today, I am hoping to examine the details of solar power, and break down whether or not it deserves its status as the face of renewable energy, or should we look elsewhere?

Currently, solar technology is a pretty expensive. To produce the panels and set them up properly costs a large sum of money, and the returns on solar energy can be a little lacking, as seen by the solar energy generated by a  10 x 10 m. solar panel over the course of one day.

This energy cannot compete with the energy necessary to run a car, much less a flight. However, a 10x10m. solar panel is the size of  an average roof, and this would just be the amount of energy generated for one house for one day. When combining this energy with that of a solar panel farm, these are the energy returns.

More than enough energy. I think that it’s important that we use solar in conjunction with other types of renewable energy, as the advantages of solar power isn’t it’s ability to generate a lot of power all at once, but a large amount of stored power over a long time. Using solar farms in conjunction with wind and personal solar panels can generate more than enough energy for just one day, and putting time and effort into storing that energy to use over a long time could be very advantageous, and create more than enough energy to be used in a green and renewable way.

SOURCES:

http://www.withouthotair.com/c6/page_38.shtml

Wind Power

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Wind energy is a form of non fossil-fuel energy that, if utilized more, could help us to get closer to a more sustainable future.  Wind energy uses wind turbines in order to produce electricity out of kinetic energy created by wind.  However, wind energy has a lot of aspects that can be seen as issues, which is why it isn’t used more broadly today.  To start, the cost of installation of wind turbines is always an issue, as the larger they are, the more energy they produce, but they are in turn, more expensive.  Commercial applications are difficult as well, as wind turbines usually need to be in rural areas for them to generate as much energy as possible (and are very large, so difficult to install in less rural areas,) but then have to send their energy off to more populated places.  Finally, wind energy is unreliable because the amount of wind produced in a day cannot be controlled, so the amount of power produced may not be consistent.  Although wind turbines are becoming less expensive as prices drop and they become more available (in 2016, wind energy was 16% of all energy produced by renewable sources), we have a long way to go before wind power replaces fossil fuels.

https://www.irena.org/wind

Tidal Energy

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Tidal energy has the potential to be the future for harvesting energy. Tidal power is made through the natural cycles of the world’s tides which is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and other celestial bodies. Tidal energy could function as a significant replacement for traditional electric production from coal. With tidal energy, it is all about finding the most effective location for capturing the tide. The most productive spots are where the range between high tide and low tide is the largest. There are three ways in which tidal energy can be captured; tidal turbines, tidal lagoons, and tidal barrages. Tidal energy is sustainable, renewable, eco-friendly, and is more effective than wind power systems. Like many other new energy routes and potential solutions to environmental issues, there are a lot of barriers to consider when implementing them that slow down the process.

 

https://www.pnnl.gov/explainer-articles/tidal-energy

Geeking for Geothermal Energy

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Geothermal energy is a great source of renewable energy that has yet to become as mainstream in conversation as other sources like water, wind, solar power. For one, it is renewable and therefore more sustainable and better for the environment than coal and other fossil fuels. The rate of extraction for geothermal heat is so that the demand does not outweigh the supply. Another benefit of geothermal energy is that is can produce energy despite any weather conditions. While a great renewable option, solar power relies on weather conditions, and can’t operate 24/7 like geothermal energy. Additionally, geothermal energy could be harnessed both domestically and imported, making it a valuable asset. Geothermal power plants do not emit greenhouse gases and they consume less water than other plants.

 

https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-basics