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Travis Tessier Malcolm Campbell English 1102 April 15, 2014

Is Renewable Energy Worth It?

Society uses energy on an everyday basis. Without energy we would not be able to use any of our technology. Renewable energy by definition is the energy that we will not run out of. The world is slowly depleting its everyday supply of energy sources, which causes a greater and increasingly more severe need for renewable sources. It is being debated whether or not to switch entirely to renewable resources, or to continue using both types of resources until necessary. There are multiple types of renewable sources able to power the world; these sources range from land and water to using the sun to generate energy. The main types of renewable energy sources are solar, wind, hydroelectric, and the ocean. Renewable resources are very expensive and considered a luxury many cannot afford in todays society. However, these energies are vital towards making the world last longer and making energy more attainable. Is switching to renewable resources instead of using both renewable and non-renewable to benefit the world and the citizens in it worth the cost? The most commonly used renewable resource comes from the sun, which in fact is one of the most efficient renewable sources. The sun is the biggest provider of renewable energy today. Solar energy can be used directly for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for generating electricity, hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses ("Solar Energy"). This energy is harnessed by solar panels which can be put up just about anywhere that they fit. The cells in the panels are made of semiconductor materials

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similar to those found in computer chips. When sunlight hits the cells, it knocks electrons loose from their atoms; as the electrons flow through the cell, they generate electricity ("Solar Energy"). In the US solar panels produce 10.09 MWh of energy, however, being built and developed are solar plants to produce a total of about 30,000 MWh for the country. Many people who want to be green buy panels to put on the roofs of their houses. When doing this if you harness more energy than you use, you can actually sell it back to energy companies. "There will be an opportunity to sell that power back to the utility, making money on the deal," Kammen says. "And people will think of their cars and their homes not as devices that simply suck up money in the form of energy, but generate it and put it back in the system and make money". This makes the world use less non renewable energy and make it possible for homeowners to make money off their electricity. The average square feet of solar panels needed to power an average sized home is about 600sqft ,and costs $55,000 to install and pay for the solar panels(Solar Energy Statistics). The cost is high indeed, but the money can be made back quickly. Think about the profit margin of being able to sell back any extra energy on top of no more electric bills. However, when these panels are not placed on houses they are usually placed in immense fields in large groups to harness as much solar energy as possible. Indeed the panels will take up a lot of field space, but being able to shut down coal mines, because the energy needed would be produced from the panels, would open up vast areas of land and make the world a cleaner place. Electrical engineers are rapidly working on trying to perfect the solar panels to become more efficient. With how much space a large quantity of panels take up, this would minimize quantity of panels needed to harness enough energy would be reduced greatly, and create extra land for farms or other houses.

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Many people do not understand how beneficial wind is to the environment. Wind energy is very efficient when it comes to producing energy. To harness the energy from wind, giant turbines are built in open fields. 20 wind turbines take up about 1 sq Kilometer, although in that sq kilometer, it is possible to have roads and small farms. Who wants a big turbine near their home? I wouldn't be able to grow my crops, raise my cattle, because of them. Wrong, turbines do make noise however, they are not overbearingly loud, they do not affect the land and will not threaten the lives of homes or ground animals around it. The U.S. wind industry had over 60,007 MW of wind energy capacity operating by the end of 2012. The fourth quarter of 2012 saw 8,385 megawatts of wind power capacity installed, bringing total 2012 additions to 13,131 MW for the largest installation in U.S. history representing a $25 billion investment. Then by the end of 2012, there were 45,100 operating wind turbines in the U.S. which were able to power the equivalent of over 15 million American homes("AWEA"). Put this in perspective, an average size home consumes about 903 kWh a month, where as each 1.5MW turbine on average produces 270 MWh, this is equivalent to 270,000 kWh. That means each turbine on average produces enough electricity for 300 homes a month. Some places now have 2 or 3MW turbines which cost about 3 or 4 million dollars to buy and install. Although turbines are costly, they have the ability to power urban areas which is clean energy. Overall I believe that the turbines are a great source or renewable energy especially due to the fact that they can have civilization around them which would mean they would not use up to much needed space. Think about a what a vast amount of these turbines could do for the environment. 4 million turbines could provide the world with 7.5 terawatts of energy annually, about half of the estimated power necessary to run earth's power grids in 2030("US news"). If these turbines were perfected and made more efficient it would require less turbines and produce the same amount of energy. Despite the fact

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that it produces clean energy and makes the environment and world a healthier place, many environmentalist believe that they blight the landscape, and is also an endangerment to the birds. Hundreds of thousands of birds are killed every year after they fly into gigantic wind turbine blades. Its unclear how many of them are eagles, but wildlife groups say that birds of prey on the lookout for food often ignore the blades (Steffy). The question being asked is, is the amount of energy being produced by turbines worth killing birds, some of which could be endangered? Water is also a great producer of energy, it could be the ocean or even fresh water, that produces some of our energy every day. The most common water based renewable resource is hydroelectric power these would be the big dams around the world. The dams retain water, making the water travel through it to spin the turbines inside. Working in reverse it is possible for them to store energy by spinning the turbines backwards which pushes the water back into the upper reservoir, and when energy is needed the upper reservoir is again released and the turbines get spun the right direction again. A small or micro-hydroelectric power system can produce enough electricity for a home, farm, or ranch ("Hydropower"). An example of a microhydroelectric system would be a little dam that is in a nearby creek, everyday people can build one if there is a stream nearby to produce electricity for their home. Having your own mini dam can also lower a households energy bill cost and possibly make the homeowner money. With positives always comes negatives. Installing one of these micro-hydroelectric systems can damage the environment. Pipes usually need to be buried underground for this system which comes with a cost and can ruin the land around it. Also, even though there is a catch box, a metal grate that keeps debris and fish from going down the pipes, some small fish may get sucked through or even harmed in some of the process. This can alter the food chain in the creek or

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stream, killing the little fish making it more difficult for the bigger fish to find food. However, fresh water resources are not the only kind of resources to produce energy. Ocean energy however, is a tad bit different. They both deal with water but the energy is obtained in different ways. Ocean energy is obtained through two different ways, tidal power, and wave power. Tidal power is achieved by turbines under water; as the tide comes in or out it spins the turbines which produce energy. If all suitable tidal sites in the world were exploited for tidal power, its estimated that 100 TWh of electricity could be produced each year, says Alstom Energy ("Hydropower"). Wave energy is produced by a floating device that uses waves to make energy. As the waves go by it, it makes energy which powers turbines to create clean electricity. These three renewable resources could change the world. They are costly but they do not take up crucial living space and they can produce a large sum of electricity for the world. Wave technology can produce 300 to 400 Megawatts of energy, tidal power can produce up to 100 Tetra Watts if used in the water column that is off shore, this makes it safer for ships and makes them less visible. Water column is a column of water from the surface to the bottom sediments. Whereas dams only produce Gig Watts of energy. These ocean resources are not 100% environmental friendly yet. Tidal wave technology has made it so the turbines spin slowly to prevent fish from getting caught in them. Since the first wave and tidal energy facilities are currently being deployed, the full environmental impacts of wave and tidal power remain uncertain but are projected to be small. Concerns include impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries ("WTET"). This is a good thing, meaning that this is potentially better for the environment compared to an oil rig and can produce a outstanding amount of energy. Renewable energy has many benefits, although it can be very costly at first, it is cost effective in the long run. As seen in all the different resources, they all vary in cost, and all can

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obtain different amounts of clean energy for the world. This is great news for the environment, and also potentially citizens who will be able capable to sell extra energy for money. With being great for the environment, the global temperatures will get better, and the health of humans will increase with a cleaner environment(Bergero). Not only is it clean energy but the energy is also more efficient. Cars powered by electricity are 80% more efficient then gas cars. 80% of electricity is used to power the car and 20% creates heat, where as in a gas powered vehicle is it much opposite, 20% powers the car and 80% creates heat (Bergeron). The world now uses about 16.9 TeraWatts per hour, but if the energy became more efficient less energy would be needed to power the world. Being more efficient it would lower energy use to about 11.5 TeraWatts per hour. Why waste all that energy when it is not necessary? The world itself benefits in beauty, personally I do not believe coal mines are a good look for the world. So why have them if they can be eliminated by switching to renewable energy? There are about 13,000 coal mines, think of how great it would be if they were all gone. If the whole world was to be converted to Renewable energy, in the long-run, the net savings would more than equal the total cost of the switch.(Bergeron). Even though Renewable energy is an amazing option, many cannot afford it and others do not believe it is even worth the change to make the world a better place. Renewable energy is very beneficial indeed, but it has not gotten to the point where it is cost affordable for citizens, and the country. Catherine Wolfram co-director of the Energy Institute at Cal's business school, stated "That changing to renewable energy is not worth the modest savings seen on the energy bill". However, many believe that there is a break through over the horizon to push the US away from using non-renewable resources (Harris). When there is a break through the prices of renewable resources will go down many people will realize that it is beneficial to transform into using the renewable resources. When this occurs people will

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have a new outlook on energy, instead of a hassle to pay for electric bills people will start being paid for their electricity. It is predicted in the next 50 years if the world does not switch to clean energy, we will have depleted almost all of the available non-renewable resources, and this will destroy the environment and make living a challenge. This process is going to deplete many jobs and cause some companies to go bankrupt. If only clean energy is being used, what are the oil companies going to do, and the coal companies? This would be a major worldwide issue. All the jobs for both companies will be diminished and that means tons of citizens will be jobless. Making the world a cleaner place has many negatives for the few positives it creates. Everyday renewable resources get used for energy more and more. If only it was all perfected, and the whole world was running off of clean energy, prices would be at a all time low, and the environment would be in a lot better shape. Turbines and solar panels would not take up so much space, but then there is the blighted landscape having turbines and solar panels in big groups which environmentalist do not like. These are suitable to live around, and people are capable to raise farms, and cattle around them, however, birds will continue to be effected. Solar panels by then, however, would not be an issue, they are becoming more efficient and smaller. Also, with people putting solar panels on their houses this will create more living space and make the landscape a more beautiful place. Once engineers have hit their break through, average everyday citizens will use them to power their own homes. The use of hydro power can produce a vast amount of energy for citizens, but will be expensive for tax payers. The world as we know it will become a greater place for everyone. There are many benefits to switching 100% to Renewable resources, however, it is not currently suitable for the world. Closing down all the coal mines, oil rigs, and other nonrenewable energy sources that destroy the environment will be gone and the world can become a

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healthier place to live. As breakthroughs occur on renewable energy it will become more available for everyday people to use. However, until these breakthroughs occur I firmly believe that renewable energy is not worth it, and the best decision is to continue using a mixture of both renewable and non-renewable resources. When the time comes, the world will be transformed into 100% clean energy.

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Works Cited
"AWEA Fact Sheets: Quick Guides to Wind Energy." AWEA Fact Sheets: Quick Guides to Wind Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Bergeron, Louis. "Shifting to 100% Renewable Energy Would Save Money." Renewable Energy World. N.p., 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. Harris, Richard. "Tech Leaders, Economists Split Over Clean Energy's Prospects." NPR. NPR, 30 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. "Hydropower." - Hydroelectric Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "Solar Energy." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Solar Energy Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 18 June 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Steffy, Loren. "Environmentalists Gearing Up For A War On Wind." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 9 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. US News. U.S.News & World Report, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "Wave & Tidal Energy Technology | Renewable Northwest." Wave & Tidal Energy Technology | Renewable Northwest. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.