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The biggest problem with alternative energy such as solar power, wind power and perpetual motion generators is that they are not more widely used to provide cleaner more efficient forms of generation

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10y ago
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Although high gasoline and diesel fuel prices have certainly slowed the US's economic growth and are partly responsible for higher prices across a broad range of goods, particularly food, there is no current energy crisis, at least not in the USA. However, there will be another petroleum-based fuel crisis and our first ever electricity crisis if our lawmakers and our president go too far in continuing the forced closing of coal-fired electric stations and regulating carbon dioxide before they allow prominent scientists and engineers, respected and honest lawmakers, and the most persuasive policy makers to: 1) Educate the populace that nuclear electric power stations are safe and reliable sources of electricity that are free of carbon dioxide emissions, and that they produce thousands of times less waste volume compared to coal-fired plants. 2) Educate US residents about the monumental fraud that is ethanol and other biofuels. 3) Teach the public that energy is always conserved, i.e. you can't get something from nothing. 4) Ensure that as many residents as possible learn what constitutes economically viable and environmentally friendly alternative energy sources. 5) Work with the People, Congress and the President to eliminate all subsidies for wind and solar power generation and for the production of ethanol and all other biofuels. And 6) Use a small fraction of the dollars wasted on subsidies to perform items 1) through 5).

There are two fundamental problems with every large-scale, alternative energy source operation. First, they are not economically viable, otherwise private companies would have been using them for decades, and no private or incorporated enterprise would be building or performing large-scale, alternative energy operations such as wind farms, large centralized solar electric power stations, or converting food into vehicle fuels today if it were not for huge government subsidization of them. Second, they are not environmentally friendly. Or both problems listed are in play. To be clear, nuclear and hydroelectric power production are primary sources of energy, not alternative energy sources, and it is conceded that operating them, and especially coal-fired electric stations, have their share of environmental unfriendliness.

For at least a decade there have been discussions about generating electricity from tidal power. A number of devices have been produced and are producing small amounts of electricity today. Wind farms are springing up continually around the world, but mostly in certain areas of the US and Europe. In Spain, specifically from Sevilla to near Cádiz, I saw thousands of windmills. In certain parts of Germany, one can stand off the highway and see windmills all the way to the horizon. I live roughly 50 miles from the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, and every time I travel on I-84W or Washington 14W toward Portland, which occurs about every four to six months, there are more and more windmills in the way of otherwise beautiful scenery. Hydrogen seems to always come up whenever there is a discussion of alternative energy, however where do the people who want it think it's going to come from? Many hydrogen proponents believe that it comes out of the ground in certain places like natural gas does. Of course they are incorrect. Being able to substitute gasoline and diesel with electricity or biofuels, including methanol, is another major "green" topic among the ignorant. I think most people would agree that solar power is the number one alternative energy source.

It is true that more and more of our energy needs must increasingly come from sources other than petroleum and coal. We are capable of beginning this process today, not like we have been doing, but using sources of alternative energy that are economically viable and environmentally friendly. The good news is that there are easily retrievable sources of alternative energy today that are either inexhaustible or practically so, and these sources of energy are economically viable and environmentally friendly.

I remember the 1973 and 1979 oil crises very well, and it is a fact that eventually petroleum will become extremely scarce. The day that happens keeps getting pushed out further into the future as new oil fields are discovered and improved and new methods are devised to extract more oil and natural gas from a particular field. These methods work well enough that large numbers of previously capped oil wells are now back in production. Oil prices are high enough that extracting crude oil from oil sands and oil shale are economically viable. And not only is more oil being produced, the domestic production of natural gas has grown dramatically thanks to more effective fracturing of shale, where much of the natural gas resides. The point is that we should not put off implementing and using the right alternative energy sources now because we are not facing an impending crisis.

So far, the current, large-scale alternative energy sources have only been lambasted, but I'm not one who just complains about something. What are the specific, primary problems with the alternative energy frauds being propagated today and what can be done now to largely wean the US off of petroleum and coal?

I. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

A. Current Alternative Solutions

1) Wind power; 2) Solar power; 3) "Clean Coal"

B. Problems with Alternative Solutions

1) Wind power

a. not economically viable - will always require huge government subsidies; b. only works within a narrow range of wind speeds; c. limited power output - power produced is independent of wind speed; d. not environmentally friendly - lethal to countless birds including endangered Birds of Prey and others; e. complicates operation of traditional, "always on" power stations; f. eyesore on the landscape; g. very high maintenance costs per kW·hrs produced; h. noise pollution

2) Solar power - Centralized solar power stations

a. not economically viable - will always require huge government subsidies; b. no power production at night and significantly decreased power production when cloudy; d. poor efficiency - <40% conversion of light to electricity not including the additional loss of energy when the DC output must be inverted to AC; e. additional environmental unfriendliness - just one, 1 GWeavg station requires covering 60 mi2 of land in solar panels, killing almost all wildlife thereunder.

3) "Clean Coal"

a. Simply not believable in my opinion. A typical 1 GW coal-fired station burns 300 tons of coal per hour = 0.65x300x44/12 = 715 tons carbon dioxide/hr using bituminous coal averaging 65% carbon (a generous percentage by the way). For how many hours does anyone truly believe that much carbon dioxide can be pumped into the ground such that it will remain there forever? b. must deal with coal slag loaded with toxic metals, including Mercury, cadmium and arsenic, and radioactive thorium, uranium, and polonium, but which is explicitly exempted under RCRA, meaning the utility can do whatever they want with it.

C. Rational Solutions

1) Immediately begin building 100+ Westinghouse "Advanced Pressurized Water Reactors;" 2) Many thorium breeder test reactors have been built and tested. Complete development of full-scale thorium molten-salt reactors; 3) Greatly increase home- and business-sized solar power production, including 100-$300 total installation costs available in some parts of the country; 4) Greatly increase the number of solar-enriched hot water heaters; or 5) Replace hot water tanks with on-demand gas-fired units.

II. Gasoline and Diesel Replacement

A. Current Alternative Solutions

1) Ethanol from corn and other foods; 2) Biodiesel from edible plant oils

B. Problems with Alternative Solutions

1) Ethanol from corn and other foods

a. the entire idea and process is a monumental fraud on the American People. i) it is not economically viable - huge government subsidies always required; ii) not environmentally friendly due to gross inefficiency - ethanol requires approximately 40% more energy to produce than is released when it is burned meaning that the more ethanol the US produces, the more petroleum the US must be import; iii) significantly increases food prices; iv) vehicles lose approximately three MPG for every 10% ethanol by volume in gasoline.

2) Biodiesel

a. another colossal fraud on the American People. i) not economically viable - huge government subsidies will always be required; ii) the total volume of edible plant oils produced to blend with petroleum-based diesel to produce biodiesel is so minuscule that it is a joke: If every arable acre that exists in the US (not just what is in production) were used to produce combustible oils for one year, it would only produce a two-week supply! iii) as with ethanol, there is a net energy loss, not a gain for every gallon of biodiesel produced; iv) increased food prices; v) plant oils require refining.

C. Rational Solutions

1) Immediately begin the switch to hydrogen vehicle fuel and to high-performance, long-distance electric vehicles and away from petroleum-based vehicle fuel.

a. immediately begin disconnecting current windmills from the electrical grid; b. either replace the AC inductive generators with DC homopolar generators, or install rectifiers to convert AC to DC; c. use windmill power only to electrolyze water into hydrogen; d. pipe hydrogen (no pumps required) to central locations for drying then compression for fueling stations; e. continue to improve battery technology; f. the US is capable of coal-free power generation in less than 15 years with fast-tracked nuclear power station licensing and [natural] gas turbine plant construction beginning NOW. Only for political reasons, was the license granted to Southern Co. to build a third PWR nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle in GA put on hold for over two years. Release the license yesterday! g. many of the 104 operating nuclear power stations are over 40 years old. Construction of new plants will improve safety because the old plants could be shut down and decommissioned; h. with this plan, the US will have excess electrical production in less than 15 years. Currently, the US electrical production capacity can only support a limited number of electric vehicles. Nuclear plants generate no carbon dioxide, and gas turbine plants produce approximately 60% fewer emissions for the same amount of electrical energy produced.

I certainly don't have all the answers, but most of the current alternative energy solutions are just that: alternative, not more efficient and not better for the environment. If we are serious about limiting carbon dioxide emissions and not bankrupting the US Treasury, then we need to begin addressing the problems with real solutions that private enterprises will build as efficiently as possible.

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Q: What are the problems associated in using alternative resources for the energy crisis?
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What are the main causes of the energy crisis?

the main causes for the energy crisis are that we are consuming a lot of energy.we have a very limited reserves of the energy sources like coal ,wood ,oil and natural gas .we are using mainly these resources for our energy requirements.if we go on using them at the same rate , we may have to run short of these resources resulting energy crisis.


If energy is indestructible then why is there an energy crisis?

The energy Crisis isn't a lack of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed, it only changes its form. the energy crisis comes from not having renewable fuel/power sources, the amount of people is increasing, and fossil fuel (gasoline) is not unlimited, if you research how fossil fuel is "made" this will make more sense. The energy crisis is due to poor policies that listen to people outside of the industry for direction. When you listen to environmentalists for policy regarding drilling offshore, you get problems. Problems occur when you ban nuclear power then demand more energy from fossil fuel plants. We could have virtually unlimited power for all of our needs if we had better planning and use of our existing resources, We have hundreds of years of oil left and thousands of years of nuclear energy left. The alternative sources of power may someday become a real power source, until then we must continue to use what actually works and allow their use. The use of hydrogen fuel cells seems promising, but there needs to be further development. People are spending too much time on trying to improve pure electric power and hybrid systems. Hybrids don't work because they still run on fossil fuels. Running on pure electric doesn't work because that has proven to produce numerous problems that conflict too much with daily life.


What is the crisis in the pit and the pendulum?

The third and final crisis for the narrator is the discovery of the heated walls after escaping the swing of the pendulum. The walls are forcing him slowly and steadily toward the pit and his death.


What is the third crisis in the pit and the pendulum?

The third and final crisis for the narrator is the discovery of the heated walls after escaping the swing of the pendulum. The walls are forcing him slowly and steadily toward the pit and his death.


How did the National Energy Act help ease America's energy crisis?

Out of the battle came the National Energy Act. The act placed a tax on gas-guzzling cars, removed price controls on oil and natural gas produced in the United States, and extended tax credits for the development of alternative energy. With the help of the act, as well as voluntary conservation measures, U.S. dependence on foreign oil had eased slightly by 1979.

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