Whats better/easier to make wind/water/light energy?

Question

Which produces the most, It obviously dependent on what country you live in but in terms of buildabilty and amount produced, will we ever be able to produce enough to stop polluting the earth?

I believe greatly we can create these necessary energy resourse but the big oil/gas/petrol firms are heavily against it and are stopping/making it an extremely slow process getting these things off the ground!

What do u think?

Answer 1

The easiest, cheapest, and most efficient to use is hydroelectric. For that reason, it's already extensively used. Environmentalists who want to use it more for the reasons you suggest, find themselves in battle with other environmentalists who want to preserve 'natural' landscapes, ecosystems, streams, and so on. The latter even want to dismantle existing dams, to restore Hetch Hetchy to its pristine state, and to facilitate salmon migration.



Harnessing wind mars the visual landscape and kills birds.



Photovoltaic is expensive but is making excellent progress, and can generate power where it is needed, requiring less transmission infrastructure, and can be deployed on roofs, where it's not consuming additional land area. It belongs in any serious long-term plan. New construction could easily incorporate solar water heat, and I think it's shameful that this isn't the norm.



It is still not clear that we will ever be able to control fusion for power generation.



Fission is a very appropriate technology, which is now very safe. As it becomes more widely deployed, it will make breeder reactors a more practical and cost-effective means of managing and reducing nuclear 'waste'. There's work happening at the US NIF (National Ignition Facility) in Livermore, California, that looks promising. It uses laser-induced fusion as a neutron source for a more traditional fission reaction. This should allow use of much lower grade fuels, and provide another way of using and managing the 'waste' from traditional fission reactors. It gives the added benefit that the fuels need not be weapons-grade.



But the biggest benefit, especially for the near term, will come from reversing our trend toward the lavish use of energy and its waste. Humans really don't need such a precisely regulated temperature to live and work. Power supply technology is already available that, if standardized and deployed, would let us charge our phones and keep our televisions on standby with only 1% of our electric usage, instead of its present 10%.



You can't blame it all on big oil. We make a big difference with out own personal choices. Rising energy prices will help wean us from our excessive heating and cooling, let us wear more sweaters, and let our bodies relearn how to adjust to varying temperatures. Our thyroids will be healthier for it.

Answer 2

This is probably not what you are looking for, but wind and water (whether hydroelectric or thermal) energy are both basically derived from solar (light) energy. Water reaches a higher level by being evaporated from oceans and lakes by solar energy and falling on the land where it can run downhill back to the sea. Non-geothermal water power can be produced by taking advantage of the temperature differences between deep water and the surface which is heated by the sun.



Wind, of course, is also produced due to temperature differences between different land areas and water, which are created from solar radiation.



Direct solar power requires capital investments in technology, and so far that isn't as cost efficient as just using wind or water to turn mechanical motion into electricity.



All three are available as long as the sun shines, whereas there is only so much fossil fuel in the earth, and regardless of pollution and other considerations, it will eventually run out, or at least become very expensive to produce.

Answer 3

198 watts/m2 reaches the earth's surface. Converting this into electricity is still not very efficient yet. Hydroelectric power is a good way of getting energy from the environment, provided that there is sufficient rainfall. Hydroelectric energy is readily available whenever required. Wind and wave power can be irregular but can be used to pump water for a hydro scheme, converting this energy into a more reliable form.Geothermal power is a good source, and reliable but it will be gradually depleted over time. Waste products can be recycled into oil using a biological process. This is working in the USA now, and is a renewable energy source. This also removes waste from the garbage sream. Hydrogen to run an engine can be generated by adding aluminium to a caustic soda solution.The resulting aluminium oxide can be collected and reprocessed into aluminium using renewable energy sources.Eventually we will become fully sustainable.