Renewable Resources; A Maintainable Energy
Maria Rakochy
Goshen College
Thesis: Today, in the United States, energy requirements are at an all time high. The energy that is used for powering the nation is largely non-renewable, meaning it is consumed faster than it can regenerate itself. Renewable energy resources will not run out; these resources benefit the world as a whole and should be utilized more in society.
I. Introduction and Background
A. Definition of Renewable Resources
B. History
1. Development of reliance on fossil fuels
2. Problems resulting from dependence on oil
3. Issues that led to where we are today
4. Graphical comparison of fuel mix
II. Examples of Renewable Resources
A. Wind Energy
B. Biogas
C. Biomass
D. Hydropower
E. Solar Energy
F. Geothermal
III. Technological advances
A. Hydrogen cells
B. Combined technology of non-renewable with renewable resources
C. Energy efficiency
1. Steps individuals can take to change lifestyle
2. Energy Star products
I. Introduction and Background
Today, in the United States, energy requirements are at an all time high. The energy that is used for powering the nation is largely non-renewable, meaning it is consumed faster than it can regenerate itself. Imagine another source of energy that is not affected by wars, by politics, by rich sheiks or powerful lobbyists; an energy source that is clean and abundant. There are other forms of energy besides fossil fuels that should be considered, renewable energy resources. Renewable energy resources will not run out; these resources benefit the world as a whole and should be utilized more in society.
Renewable resources do good for the general public in a number of ways. They have lower emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants into the environment. People living in cities with the high levels of pollution tend to have a higher risk of mortality and certain diseases than those living elsewhere (Dupler, 1999). Renewable resources are more ecologically friendly.
If we go back to a time before the Industrial Revolution and consider the type of energy sources available to people, we will find that they used renewable resources. Their homes were heated by wood, their transportation done with animals, and water wheels were used to grind grain. After the Industrial Revolution, the nation turned to coal and by the mid 1900s the United States had become the world’s largest producer and consumer of fossil fuels (Dupler, 1999).
The use of fossil fuels, or non-renewable energy resources, has forced the United States into many tough political situations. In the 1970s, the US had to confront its reliance on oil. People were forced to recognize that the supply of fossil fuels is not unlimited. Oil has proved to be a politically taut issue. Israel is at odds with many of the major oil producing countries and this situation has produced tension in the past because Israel is an ally. In 1973, when the United States moved to support Israel in a war with its bordering Arab neighbors, many of these nations cut exports of oil off to the United States. This led to an oil crisis and the price of oil jumped from $2 a barrel to $19 per barrel. Energy became a major issue. There were blackouts across the country. Schools were closed, factories shut-down, and service stations were running out of gasoline everywhere as people waited in lines for hours (Dupler, 1999). The United States has a vested interest in what occurs in the Middle East and has shown its willingness to step in when its needs are in question. The Persian Gulf War and the current war with Iraq has shown this to be true (Vaitheeswaran, 2003).
The energy crisis of the 1970s and 1980s led to a growing interest in renewable resources. Tax credits were issued for solar, wind, and energy conservation approaches. In 1978, the US Congress passed a bill, the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) which was designed to encourage the alternate energy sources industries. This act was arguably the most important factor in the development of renewable energy resources (Dupler, 1999). It exempted small alternative producers from state and federal utility regulations and forced local utilities to purchase power from them. The alternative industry responded by expanding rapidly, improving technology, and lowering costs, a turning point in the renewable energy sphere (Brower, 1990). This was a positive advance for the renewable energy source.
Energy consumption, before the oil crisis, had increased in direct proportion to economic growth, but because of the energy problem, more efficient technology has been demanded. There is a direct correlation to consumption and the price of oil. When the oil prices are low, consumption increases, and when oil price jump, innovative techniques for greater efficiency are developed (Brower, 1990).
Perceptions of fossil fuels and their limitlessness changed in the 80s, but after the crisis, the United States went right back to their reliance on oil. The Reagan administration cut the federal expenditures and implemented a policy that allowed the marketplace to decide the nation’s energy policy. Oil prices were low and once again oil seemed abundant (Dupler, 1999).
In more recent years, anxiety about the environment, global warming, and health concerns have led to an effort to utilize some of the Earth’s supply of renewable resources. The Clinton administration directed monies once again into research (Dupler, 1999), but the current administration does not have the same incentive to put money into the renewable energy industry. Global warming is a real concern and relates directly to emissions and pollutants from fossil fuels. The graph below compares the fuel mix used to generate electricity in Goshen, IN versus the fuel mix used in the rest of the nation.
The above graph illustrates the reliance that the nation has on fossil fuels. Less than 10% of the nation’s energy is in the form of renewable resources, while the majority is in the form of coal, a very dirty, polluting resource. When coal is burned, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, and mercury compounds are released into the atmosphere (Clean Energy, 2006). This region's, Elkhart County, mixture of resources used to generate electricity is composed of 91% coal. This is a high percentage in comparison to the rest of the nation.
Top of Page
II. Examples of Renewable Resources
There are different types of renewable energy sources that technology has improved in recent years. Some of these resources include biogas, biomass, hydrogen power, geothermal energy, solar power, and wind energy. Each of these sources can regenerate themselves faster than they are consumed. There are also future development possibilities that can be considered.
As technology develops, so does the abundance of the renewable energy resource in the form of wind turbines. Wind energy has great potential. It is never used up and the power produced from it can be harnessed and converted to electricity. The cost of wind turbines, since the 1980s, has steadily declined while the output capacity has increased. Where it once cost 30 cents per kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s, today they are often less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour In the United States, the production of wind turbines has doubled since 2000 (Clean Energy, 2006). This exciting resource has been implemented in a number of places. The average large scale wind turbine produces 1.5 megawatts of energy, enough to power 450 homes.
Biogas is a renewable energy resource that is produced when organic material decays. It is found in abundance in landfills and wastewater treatment plants. The byproduct of the decaying material is methane and this natural gas can be burned to generate electricity (Clean Energy, 2006). This process cuts down on the odor from landfills/waste treatment plants and makes use of a potentially dangerous gas that if allowed to build up can cause an explosion. Wastewater treatment plants use bacteria to convert high-moisture material into methane through anaerobic digestion to generate this methane gas (Dupler, 1999).
Biomass refers to material that can be burned and the energy this releases in the form of heat. Examples of biomass are wood, wood waste, straw manure, and agricultural crops. Most biomass power plants burn the material which generates steam. The steam is then captured in a turbine and a generator which converts it to electricity (Clean Energy, 2006).
Hydro power is another important energy resource to consider. This energy is derived from the natural flow of water. The power of water has historically been used to grind grain or turn saws, and today it is used to turn modern turbine, generating electricity that can be used in numerous ways. To be considered a renewable resource, hydropower needs to be low-impact. This means that they must have minimum impact on river flows, water quality, passage of fish, and watershed protection (Clean Energy, 2006).
Under the hydropower heading falls the power from the ocean as a potential renewable resource of the future. Two-thirds of the earth is covered by water, a majority of which is in the form of an ocean. The power of the ocean is very difficult to capture let alone measure. There are several ideas circulating as technologies are developed to try to tap into this potentially massive source of energy. There are three main ideas pertaining to the impossible to control ocean, tidal power, wave energy and ocean thermal energy conversion. These are still technologies of the future and few have been really attempted (Dupler, 1999).
Solar energy is an ancient renewable resource. The Greeks used mirrors and glass to direct the suns rays to start fires. There is passive solar energy and active solar energy collection. Passive collection refers to greenhouses or windows with a southern exposure that use heat flow, evaporation or other natural methods to collect and transfer heat. Active solar collection refers to mechanical methods to control energy processes. They use collectors and storage devices along with motors, pumps, and valves. Active solar collection is a much more complicated matter (Clean Energy, 2006).
Geothermal is another type of renewable resource. It is derived from the heat found at the earth’s core. It is the heat trapped in the rock formation of which only a fraction can be extracted. In order for this to be usable, the heat must be concentrated in one area, a thermal reservoir. There are four basic categories of thermal reservoirs, hydrothermal, dry rock, geopressurized reservoirs, and magma resources (Dupler, 1999). Most of the geothermal extractable sites are located in the west (Clean Energy, 2006). Hydrothermal reservoirs are heat sources that are covered by water. The water circulates and steam escapes to the surface when the hot water boils. It is then captured by piping and goes directly into a electrical generating station. Dry rock formations are the most common form of geothermal source. These are heated rock that water is injected into to create steam for collection. Geopressurized reservoirs are sedimentary formations that contain both water and methane. These can be drilled for the gas, but this method is expensive and still fairly unreliable. The final geothermal source, magma, is found deep beneath the surface, 10,000 to 33,000 feet. It is fairly expensive to drill this deep, but the molten rock can be extremely hot and therefore a good resource (Dupler, 1999).
A major development in the renewable resources field today relates to the innovation of fuel cells. They implement the most common element found on the earth today, hydrogen, with another common element, oxygen. There are different types of fuel cells, some of them working with gasoline some of them purely hydrogen. The chemistry of these designs is what makes them so exciting. The electrons of the hydrogen through a chemical reaction produce an electric charge whose current can be used to power a home, a computer, or even a car. The byproduct of this reaction is hydrogen which combines with the oxygen in the air to form water molecules. This is clean energy without any harmful bi-products (Vaitheeswaran, 2003).
A way to cut down on non-renewable energy resources is implementing green power, which can either be completely from renewable resources or more often combines renewable resources with non-renewable fossil fuels. Green power in a broad sense refers to energy that has less of a negative effect on the environment. This option is better than that of completely relying on fossil fuels for power. In order to be green certified, the source of energy must be at least fifty-percent renewable. (Green Energy Partnership, 2006)
Green Power is a relatively new development in terms of becoming available to the public for use. It can be purchased from different utility operations at a higher cost. There is usually a premium that is paid by a customer because the technology is fairly new and is not as readily available as other forms of energy. (Green Energy Partnership, 2006)
As discussed earlier in the paper, renewable energy resource research is largely a political issue. The 80s saw major innovative breakthroughs that were pushed aside until the 90s. This was due to political policy and funding. When federal money was made available for the development and research into renewable research, people were interested in further development of renewable energy technologies (Dupler, 1999). It is important to push for grants and monies to be made available to researchers because this issue affects everyone.
Efficiency is a core issue of consumption of the world’s resources. There are ways that people can be responsible for the amount of energy they consume. Energy star is a program that is backed by the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (Energy Star, 2006). In order to receive the energy star label, products must meet certain requirements. Some examples of energy star certified products are refrigerators that are at least 15% more efficient than the minimum federal efficiency standard, TVs that consume three watts or less when switched off which compares with the average TV that consumes six watts, office appliances that enter “sleep mode’ after a period of inactivity, and light bulbs that use two-thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulb and must meet additional operating and reliability guidelines (Clean Energy, 2006).
So what does this all mean? The world has all these options for using environmentally friendly means of powering itself. This know-how should change the way that we as individuals live our own lives. We should be implementing this technology in our own lives, but we should also be aware that we have an impact on the world around us. Renewable energy resources just make sense. We all have a voice, and we need to push for more legislation in this direction. We also need to take responsibility in our own lives and conserve where we can.
At the core of the issue of utilizing resources is using energy efficiently. When non-renewable resources are being consumed, it is important to consider how conservation of these resources should be at the forefront of thinking. It is important to implement small changes in one’s lifestyle to be a more energy conscious individual. Some of the ways of doing this include walking instead of driving whenever possible, turning off lights as you leave a room, taking public transportation, or using energy star appliances
Bibliography:
Brower, M. (1990). Cool Energy. The Renewable Solution to Global Warming.
Report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Clean Energy” (September 2006). EPA website. Retrieved on October 4, 2006
From http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/glossary.htm#chp
Dupler, D. (1999). Energy Shortage, Glut, or Enough?.Wylie, Texas.
Information Plus
“Energy Star” (September 2006) Energy Star Website. Retrieved on October 4,
2006 from http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.ab_index
"Green Energy Partnership" (November 2006). EPA website. Retrieved on October 4, 2006
From http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/
Vaitheeswaran, V. V. (2003). Power to the People. New York. Farrar,
Straus, and Giroux