Which renewable energy sources dont cause pollution?

Answer 1

Energy sources generally all cause some impact on the environment, Some associated with their ongoing operation and some with their construction or site preparation.

Sources with low operating pollution are nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind. Hydrogen could be included but may release nitrogen oxides if a combustion process is used. Nuclear has waste handling problems with spent fuel, water reservoirs for hydroelectric can emit methane. Wind turbines are reported to disrupt bird flight and solar cells contain heavy metals which may cause a disposal problem.

Answer 2

Nuclear Energy causes nuclear waste. the waste is stored underground but can also be reprocessed and isotopic-ally separated to be used as fuel in certain reactor designs. the amount of waste produced from nuclear energy is very minuscule because a fission reaction (nuclear reaction) releases 1,000,000 times more energy than the average chemical reaction so not as much fuel is required. In France they reprocess spent fuel and reduce the waste to the point where the amount of nuclear waste from the average power consumption of a four person family, over a 20 year period would fit in your hand. If these processes were to be done around the world we could cut down on discarded waste and actually use some of the stored waste to generate electricity.

All sources of energy, even renewable sources, create pollution. mainly because you have smelt the metals to create them and fabricate the parts. One of the worst for this is photo voltaic because most are made in china and the waste from the chemical fabrication of some of the materials is often just dumped and has major effects on the people and the environment.

Answer 3

All sources of energy (renewable as well as nonrenewable) cause pollution. Either in the energy production itself or in the manufacture of the equipment to produce it. At the very least they all cause local thermal pollution around the facility producing the energy.

Remember, renewable energy sources do not automatically reduce pollution in any way and were never intended to. They are just energy sources that will not run out in any foreseeable future.

Renewable energy does not emit carbon dioxide pollution, which is causing global warming. This is why it is important to move from fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) energy to renewable.

The manufacture of renewable energy products does have a carbon footprint, though this is usually compensated for by the first few months of use. There are other kinds of pollution from renewables. Here are some of the "concerns".

One of the complaints about Wind Power is that some people feel that it is unsightly (a form of pollution). And some wind generators can be very noisy (another form of pollution). Another is that it often kills large birds like eagles.

Hydroelectric Energy (Dams in Water) is also a form of renewable energy. It doesn't necessarily pollute as much as covering land, preventing nutrient silt from replenishing farmland (obviously controversial), and disrupting fish runs. Perhaps the most majestic waterfall west of Buffalo would be the Columbia Falls or Celilo Falls that was covered by water in 1957 with the damming of the Columbia river, in the process also destroying an important Native American fishing location. The water falls (and Native American Cultural Site) hasn't been seen in a half a century.

Solar Panels are considered "non polluting", but their manufacture may require significant amounts of energy and could potentially be polluting. There is also a risk of radio interference and other interference caused by inverters connected to solar systems. There may also be conflicts between solar applications and TREES. So for maximum light exposure, some trees need to be cut down.

Ethanol, E85, and Biodiesel will put out essentially the same pollutants as the corresponding fuel products they replace. Ethanol probably does burn cleaner than gasoline with fewer "hydrocarbons" released, but it may still suffer from problems with NOX for example. The Carbon (Carbon Dioxide) is part of a renewable cycle in that in theory it is regenerated into "fuel" by plants, and does not contribute to an increase in global CO2 emissions, or depletion of the earth's fossil fuel reserves which is the primary advantage of using Ethanol, E85, and Biodiesel. One should note, however, that there are concerns about significant amounts of energy required to produce these fuels.

One of the complaints about Biodiesel and Vegetable Oil usage in vehicles is that many of the users of "alternative" fuels have gravitated towards using 30 year old cars for several reasons including lack of manufacturer's support for use of the fuels in newer vehicles. Unfortunately some of the emission optimizations in the newer cars aren't available in the older ones.

Much of the current supply of Methane is actually from fossil fuel sources. However, there is some that is being generated from landfills, farm waste, and bioreactors. It is very clean burning. And if it is part of biowaste, it is essentially a form of recycling. Unfortunately CNG and LNG (compressed and liquid Natural Gas) are somewhat dangerous to handle and problematic as automobile fuels.

There have been some concerns about energy and resources in making automobile batteries for powering cars. But, batteries are generally recycled and the concerns are probably relatively unfounded.

Answer 4

Answer:

No energy source is pollution free. The materials to collect, transfer, and provide services for power generation all cause some environmental impact. Going from best to worst:

* Geothermal, solar, wave farms, and wind have no emissions once the infrastructure and equipment is in place. Hydroelectric from natural water falls is in this same group * Hydroelectric from diked or dammed water supplies can create methane and impact ecosystems. * Nuclear has no emission but does have a small potential for problematic losses. * Recovered biofuels and wood emits carbon dioxide, particulates. and some NOx * Liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels emit greenhouse gases * Coal can emit numerous contaminants from SOx and NOx to radiation * Manufactured liquid fuels (ethanol) are the worst as they require more energy to produce than they generate and emit the same pollutants as hydrocarbons plus aldehydes and ketones

Answer 5

None of them. because to produce the equipment that produces the energy always requires the production of pollutant's.

Answer 6

Nuclear power