What is an alternative to oil resources but it require careful disposal of the radioactive waste that are produced?
Answer
Wiki User
04/04/2012
It is a very wasteful, and environmentally harmful practice to generate electricity using hydrocarbon fuel resources. We have much safer and cleaner alternatives like:
- hydro
- thermal (using steam generated by the heat at the core of the earth)
- wind
- solar (photovoltaic cells), and other methods of harnessing the power of the sun
- the energy of the waves in the ocean (a technology that is currently being developed)
- nuclear fusion (there is another method much safer, and less harmful than the use of uranium or plutonium, the use of thorium (a highly abundant element that can't be used for weaponry) in a molten salt reactor is much cheaper, safer and doesn't produce the radioactive waste that won't degrade for thousands and thousands of years)
- the burning of wood waste
- capturing and burning the methane that is a by-product of decomposition in every landfill site used for garbage disposal
- the heat generated by garbage incinerators can be used to boil water creating steam which turns turbines that generate electricity
- AND MORE.....
All of these methods are preferable to burning hydrocarbons for many reasons other than the limited supply and increasing cost of oil. One only has to consider the environmental impacts and the answer is clear, society needs to weigh the pros and cons of the different alternatives and choose to adopt a cleaner greener method.