Renewable Energy - Pros and Cons

During the 1960's and 1970's people began to fear that the main source of energy,
the fossil fuels, would run out. Fossil fuels are finite or non-renewable and once they
are used they cannot be replaced. In recent years, people realised that there was
enough fossil fuels to last for several hundred years. A greater problem was the
damage that was being done to our atmosphere. This has led to interest in
renewable energy sources that do very little damage to the environment. These are
some of the main renewable energy sources:
Hydroelectric Power (HEP)
Dams are built to control fast flowing rivers so that the water can be used to turn
turbines to generate electricity. At times when the energy is not needed, the water
can be pumped back up to the storage reservoir.
Adv. of Hydroelectricity
Abundant, clean, and safe

Disadvantages of
Hydroelectricity
Can have a significant
environmental impact

Easily stored in reservoirs

People can lose their homes

Offers recreational benefits

like boating, fishing, etc

Can be used only where

there is a water supply

Tidal
Barrages can be built across estuaries to use tidal flows to generate electricity.
Advantages of Tidal power
Abundant, clean, and safe
Tides are very reliable

Disadvantages of Tidal power

Not commercially viable at present
Shipping could be disrupt

Solar
The sun's warmth can be used to heat water and buildings. Solar cells can convert
sunlight into electricity.
Advantages of Solar power
Unlimited supply
No water or air pollution

Disadvantages of Solar power

Reliability depends on sunlight
Not really cost effective at present
Storage and back-up are necessary

Biomass
Biomass is the oldest of the renewable energy sources and, in Ireland, its main use
is as wood fuel. Another source of Biomass energy comes from the production of
biogas. Municipal solid waste, agricultural waste and sewage sludge break down to
produce Methane. This methane can be collected in tanks and burned to produce
heat.
Advantages of Biomass
Abundant and renewable
Can be used to burn waste
products

Disadvantages of Biomass
Burning biomass can result in air
pollution
May not be cost effective

Geothermal
Water is pumped through hot rocks under the ground. The hot water can be used to
heat buildings and any steam produced can be used to generate electricity. Low
temperature geothermal energy, found in Ireland, can be tapped using heat pump
technology.
Advantages of Geothermal
Energy
An unlimited supply of
energy
Produces no air or water
pollution

Disadvantages of Geothermal energy

Best supplies limited to certain areas
of the world
Start-up costs are expensive
Corrosion of pipes can be a problem

Wind
Wind Tall wind turbines on wind farms can use the power of the wind to generate
electricity. Eleven wind farms are now operational in Ireland. These have a
combined capacity of 68 MW - enough electricity for over 44,000 homes.

Advantages of Wind energy

Produces no water or air pollution
Farmers can receive an income from
any electricity generated and the land
can have other uses

Disadvantages of Wind
energy
Constant wind is needed
The wind farms can have
a significant visual impact

Wind farms are relatively cheap to

build

Wind farms need a lot of

land

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Pros of Renewable Energy

There are a lot of points in favor of renewable energy. The fact that they use
resources that are considered to be infinite is only the most obvious one. Here are 7
other pros of renewable energy.
1. Stable Energy Prices: Increase or decrease in supply of fossil fuels has a direct
result on inflation. Cost of producing energy from renewable energy sources is
dependent on the amount of money that has been spent on the infrastructure and
not on the inflated cost of natural resource, which clearly means we can expect
much more stable prices when bulk of energy is coming from renewable sources.
2. Continual Source of Energy: Many of the plans for renewable energy stations
are focused on their capacity to provide an immediate and continual source of
energy to an area. There is very little conversion that needs to be done to take
electricity from a solar or wind generator and use it. Sun is going to shine for
another billion years. That means solar energy is renewable and sustainable.
Moving water and strong winds will continue to supply constant source of energy.
3. Reliability: If the sun always rises and the wind always blows, the reliability of
renewable energy types can far exceed that of fossil fuels. When a fossil fuel source
runs dry the whole process has to be moved. Once in place, many of the renewable
energy stations have a constant and permanent source of fuel. Unlike fossil
fuels, where supply can be affected by wars, strikes, trade disputes and political
instabilities, renewable energy sources dont come with such cons. Sun shines and
wind blows everywhere and each country can tap that energy to produce clean
energy on large scale.
4. Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Almost all of the renewable energy plans
emphasize that they have a much lower carbon footprint that any of the fossil fuel
options available. Renewable energy sources make the environment healthier as
they do not pollute it with Co2 and other toxic gases that are produced by fossil
fuels. Apart from that, they are not going to reduce our natural resources which can
be conserved for a long time.
5. Large Scale Job Creation: It is estimated that adoption of renewable energy
technologies is going to create large number of jobs worldwide. Renewable energy

technologies are cheaper as they require less maintenance in the long

run. Renewable energy sources hold the future of this world as fossil fuels are not
going to last too long and are going to expire one day for sure. Switching to
renewable energy sources can help various countries to reduce their dependance on
coal, oil and gas. Millions of jobs have already been created in US and other
European countries that have switched to renewable sources to lower their carbon
footprint.
6. Low Cost Operation: Once in place, most of the renewable energy types have a
much lower overall cost of operations than the fossil fuel methods require. This
could balance out their higher cost of development and implementation.
7. Micro-station options possible From solar panels on homes to small wind
farms, there are many different types of renewable energy that can be used in
remote areas or even urban ones with low cost micro station options. This
radically reduces the waste incurred in transporting energy from major stations too.

Cons of Renewable Energy

Paying attention to the criticisms of renewable energy plans is important. Even if
you are arguing the pros of their use knowing their faults can help refine their
implementation.
1. High development cost: It costs a lot to develop renewable energy stations in
both research and manufacturing the components needed for them to be
successful. The known ways of using fossil fuel are less costly because all of the
manufacturing and construction processes are already in place.
2. Vulnerable: Almost all of the suggested renewable energy sources are very
vulnerable to weather and other climate occurrences. Renewable energy sources
depend heavily on sun and wind to produce energy. Abundant rain or slow wind can
reduce the production of energy. As it is not possible to produce energy in such
conditions, we might have to reduce our energy consumption. In fact, even if many
of them are adopted, in some areas the predicted ongoing climate change could
make them inoperable within 50 years.
3. Unable to Produce in Large Quantities: Unlike coal powered electric plants
that produce abundant supply of power, renewable sources cant produce that much
of energy in short span of time. The technology that is used in producing energy is
new and major other factors like weather play spoilsport that hamper the production
of energy on large scale. This simply means that either we have to reduce our

energy consumption or set up new facilities that could produce energy at a faster
rate.
4. Not Available in all Areas: One of the major cons of many of the renewable
energy plans is that the raw material solar intensity, wind or water, is not available
in all locations. That mean you will still have to create an infrastructure for
transporting the energy that may not be better than what is already in place.
5. Large Areas Required: Another cons of renewable energy is that to produce
large amount of energy, large amount of solar panels and wind farms have to be set
up. For this, large areas of land is needed to produce such massive amount of
energy on large scale.

Pros of nonrenewable sources of energy

Some such as natural gas burns without any soot hence less environmental
pollution.
1. Most nonrenewable sources of energy are easy to transport from one area to
another. For example petroleum oils which can be transported via pipes.
2. Cost of producing nonrenewable energy is low since they are naturally
available. Furthermore they are cheap to transform from one form of energy
to another.
3. Most of this energy sources are abundantly available in different areas. Their
availability is not affected by climatic condition.
Cons of nonrenewable sources of energy
1. Produce harmful green house gases which contribute global warming. Coal
once burnt produces carbon dioxide harmful to the environment.
2. Once they are depleted they cannot be replaced making them expensive to
obtain.