Wind power is generated by moving air. As the sun
heats the land, the air above also warms and rises. Cold air then
replaces the rising air. This creates the winds that we feel most days
of the year.
If you visit the seaside or coastal
area you will probably find that the weather is more breezy or windy
than inland. This is because the warm air rises over the land and cold
air over the sea replaces it.
"As the sun heats the land, the air above also warms and rises. Cold air then replaces the rising air. This creates the winds that we feel most days of the year. "
Tidal energy is energy that can be obtained from the changing sea levels. In other words, tidal energy is a direct result of tide shifting from low to high.
Solar panels give off no pollution, the only pollution produced as a result of solar panels is the manufacturing of these devices in factories, transportation of the goods, and installation.
he production of energy from the use of fossil and some renewable fuels (e.g. wind turbines) can be noisy, yet solar energy produces electricity very
At 250 kilowatts, the fuel cell produces 40-50% of the electricity for the Environmental Science Center. Its electricity production alone is 47% effective, and the addition of heat recovery allows for up to 60% efficiency
While designed to run on pure hydrogen, Yale’s fuel cell is actually powered by natural gas, 80% of which is usable hydrogen. The fuel cell takes in natural gas and water and produces water, electricity, and hot air.
Solar power generators offer a no-emission alternative to ones that use fossil fuel. These generators come in small, portable sizes for temporary power or larger arrays for permanent energy production.
availability of sunlight given local weather conditions and the resilience of the photovoltaic cells when purchasing a solar generator.
Most photovoltaic cells rely on silicon crystals to generate power. Demand for silicon has driven its price higher, meaning a solar generator can require a sizable initial investment. In fact, SolarBuzz notes that 45 percent of solar cell cost comes from the silicon wafer. Typical 2 kilowatt solar generators cost from $16,000 to $20,000.
Solar generators powerful enough to supply electricity for a whole home also require a lot of space, with roof-mounted panels needing at least 50 square feet and possibly as much as
Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be converted directly into liquid fuels, called "biofuels," to help meet transportation fuel needs
Today, ethanol is made from starches and sugars, but NREL scientists are developing technology to allow it to be made from cellulose and hemicellulose,
First of all, biofuels come in many varieties, but in general, there
are two main products, those that replace (or blend with) gasoline,
and those that replace (or are blended with) middle distillate
fuels, such as diesel fuel, or home heating oil.
Wind energy is a pollution-free,
infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel; it
doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses and it doesn’t produce toxic or
radioactive waste.
Most folks don’t realize the depth of the economic problem that fuels cells pose for mass adoption. Often there are price quotes running in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s because the catalysts of choice are the noble metals platinum or palladium. These are very rare metals, more so than gold and have considerable market presence already in the automotive field.
Biofuels are basically any fuel that can be burned in air to produce heat that is produced by biological
means, normally by plant growth. Currently the most prominant biofuels are ethanol and bio-deisel because
these can be burned in existing internal combustion engines and are thus a direct replacement for oil. The
most important biofuel historically is wood with oth
Biofuels are currently cheaper than oil although this is only because we are seeing very high oil prices at the
moment. Under what might be termed more 'normal' market conditions, biofuels lack any meaningful price advantage.
Biofuel production is very labor intensive and very land intensive. Production of ethanol from sugar cane was
pioneered by the Brazilians in the 1970's as a solution to an oil import bill they could ill afford. It worked
for them as they have plenty of land they can convert to growing sugar cane and at the time, plenty of cheap labor
with which to harvest it.
he simple truth is the world does not have enough land to produce anywhere near the quantity of biofuels we need
to make any dent in our oil consumption. They are only in fashion now oil prices are high and it is cost effective
to produce them. Sooner or later food prices will rise to such a point that biofuel production will cease to be
economic.
In any case the current price of oil is unlikely to be sustained. Much of today's oil prices can be
attributed to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and the hording of oil both for security of supply and
more recently as a hedge against the falling dollar.
e they cheaper than oil? That depends how you calculate the cost!
"But herein lies the first problem with biofuels. They may be carbon nuetral but they are certainly not as green as they might be. Not if the land to grow sugar is coming from cutting down the Amazon jungle and not if vast quantities o"