Alternative energies are becoming a major focus point as climate change reports are showing staggering statistics on how negatively fossil fuels are effecting the earth’s climate. Per the Government of Canada (2016), human activity has been the number one cause of climate change on earth. The suns intensity and volcanic activity are the only natural causes to climate change today. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, are the leading causes of today’s climate change problems. Renewable energy is emerging as a focus point in many countries around the world. The road to 100 percent renewable energies is becoming a realistic goal of many societies. The question becomes, how to implement this on a world-wide scale, and,
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On a world-wide scale, hydropower currently makes up approximately one sixth of the totally supply of electricity (Statkraft). The undeveloped potential of hydropower world-wide is extensive, especially in places like Africa, where they are in need of sustainable electricity (Kaunda et al, 2012). Hydropower is energy that is generated by flowing water. Many current systems are river systems, and power stations can be placed one after another to generate more energy. While hydropower stations in rivers is good for helping regulate and protect people from droughts and floods, it can also be damaging to the ecosystem. Hydro stations affect the flow pattern of the rivers and can have a negative impact on salmon spawning (Statkraft). Another negative impact hydropower can have on the environment is the low emittance of methane from large scale storage hydropower stations. It has been encouraged that the methane emittance not be ignored while doing greenhouse gas national inventory exercises as methane has more global warming potential then carbon dioxide (Kaunda et al, …show more content…
Solar and wind power are widely used all around the world. They are 100 percent renewable, and are a very clean source of energy. Solar and wind farms are becoming present all over the world, and supply power to the grid which can then be sold to citizens. Solar panels can also be placed on individual homes and buildings, which can then be used to power that building, and excess energy can be sold back to the grid. While the technology of both are well developed, and have great potential, they also have some setbacks. The first major setback is the cost of current technologies. The technology and power is not affordable for many countries around the world. However, there has been major drops in the recent years and is projected to keep dropping (Schmalensee, 2015). Another downfall of these technologies is intermittency. Solar and wind intermittency is the inconsistent generation of energy. As solar power can only be generated in daylight, winters become more difficult when daylight is limited. The same can be said for wind power. Windless days can cause a major decrease in energy production. To get around intermittency it needs one of two things, paring it with another source of energy, or provide storage systems for the energy (Schmalensee,
On a world-wide scale, hydropower currently makes up approximately one sixth of the totally supply of electricity (Statkraft). The undeveloped potential of hydropower world-wide is extensive, especially in places like Africa, where they are in need of sustainable electricity (Kaunda et al, 2012). Hydropower is energy that is generated by flowing water. Many current systems are river systems, and power stations can be placed one after another to generate more energy. While hydropower stations in rivers is good for helping regulate and protect people from droughts and floods, it can also be damaging to the ecosystem. Hydro stations affect the flow pattern of the rivers and can have a negative impact on salmon spawning (Statkraft). Another negative impact hydropower can have on the environment is the low emittance of methane from large scale storage hydropower stations. It has been encouraged that the methane emittance not be ignored while doing greenhouse gas national inventory exercises as methane has more global warming potential then carbon dioxide (Kaunda et al, …show more content…
Solar and wind power are widely used all around the world. They are 100 percent renewable, and are a very clean source of energy. Solar and wind farms are becoming present all over the world, and supply power to the grid which can then be sold to citizens. Solar panels can also be placed on individual homes and buildings, which can then be used to power that building, and excess energy can be sold back to the grid. While the technology of both are well developed, and have great potential, they also have some setbacks. The first major setback is the cost of current technologies. The technology and power is not affordable for many countries around the world. However, there has been major drops in the recent years and is projected to keep dropping (Schmalensee, 2015). Another downfall of these technologies is intermittency. Solar and wind intermittency is the inconsistent generation of energy. As solar power can only be generated in daylight, winters become more difficult when daylight is limited. The same can be said for wind power. Windless days can cause a major decrease in energy production. To get around intermittency it needs one of two things, paring it with another source of energy, or provide storage systems for the energy (Schmalensee,