Renewable Energy: Is It the Solution?

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Introduction Renewable energy is considered a revolutionary thing, something that can save us from peak oil and climate change, but is it really what it seems? Renewable energy can help ease our predicament. There are multiple ways to achieve this, including the use of newer, greener technologies such as wind, solar power, and biomass. The purpose of this paper is to educate, theorize, and discuss various aspects of renewable energy, such as its history, development, and the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy. Ultimately, my personal reflection on renewable energy and, energy in general will be discussed. Renewable Energy There are several methods to implement renewable energy. You can harness power from multiple sources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat (Stover, 2011). These methods will be discussed later. The most sought after forms of renewable energy are solar and wind power. Believe it or not, as early as 1873, concern arose about the shortage of coal, which prompted experiments with solar energy (Kovarik, 2011). Solar technology was used for heating and cooling, but solar technology was far too expensive to build solar panel farms until around 1980 (Solar Star Technologies, 2012). Many people still think that solar energy is a fairly recent and new technology. With regards to wind technology, in the 1970’s, due in part to the Nixon administration’s energy policy, the first electricity generating wind turbines appeared. In 1975, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded a project to develop industrial-sized wind turbines (Nixon, 2008). As with most renewable methods of energy production, they are fairly new, or have not yet achieved widespread use. The methods of implementing rene... ... middle of paper ... ...ologies.com: http://www.solarstartechnologies.com/id69.html Stover, D. (2011, November 22). The myth of renewable energy. Retrieved from Thebulletin.org: http://thebulletin.org/myth-renewable-energy Sustainable Energy For All. (2013). Renewable Energy. Retrieved from Sustainableenergyforall.org: http://www.sustainableenergyforall.org/objectives/renewable-energy Union of Concerned Scientists. (2009, December 16). How Geothermal Energy Works. Retrieved from Ucsusa.org: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-geothermal-energy-works.html Worldwatch Institute. (2012, January). Use and Capacity of Global Hydropower Increases. Retrieved from Worldwatch.org: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/9527 Zyga, L. (2009, September 15). Could Exotic Matter Provide an Infinite Source of Energy? Retrieved from Phys.org: http://phys.org/news172225206.html

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