Advantages And Disadvantages Of Distributed Energy

Electricity costs in the United States average 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. A currently inexpensive solar system running at an average of 30% peak capacity due to no sun at night or cloudiness which produces 3 kilowatts will cost $6,552. This system will take about 10 years before it costs less than paying for electricity which has been made from coal. However there are some cases where solar energy makes economic sense. Photovoltaics power remote data storage devices can be highly beneficial where electricity is not available such as poor developing countries. Countries such as Africa use inexpensive solar collection devices for cooking and heating water, special design of new houses and buildings can greatly reduce the cost since much of the house becomes an effective solar collector. At the moment the price of coal is relatively cheap and stable due to easy access and an abundant amount that will last up to 250 years longer. Although solar energy is at disadvantage right now, the availability of “free” sunlight will continue to contribute to the development of new ideas that can make solar power more affordable in the future.

Energy is an important part of life producing the power of movement, heat, and production of electricity in many different ways. Therefore, choosing the correct source of energy is important for the environment and humans. Renewable energy that produces electricity never runs out, causing a lower environmental impact. Solar, Biomass, Wind, Geothermal, and Hydropower energy should be used globally to produce electricity. On the other hand, producing electricity from nonrenewable energy sources can be very harmful to humans and the environment. Humans can easily be dependent on it, which may not be the best option when it comes to finance, efficiency, sustainability and more. Approximately 52% of the US electricity comes from polluting sources like natural gas, oil, nuclear, and hydropower that have a lot of disadvantages effecting the environment in a negative way.

Wind turbines are another common way to power things. They are usually made to power a city and many are needed for a lot of energy to be created at once. Wind turbines are made to be very tall because that the higher up you go, the windier it gets.

Power production can come from multitude of sources with different types of power plant facilities each with some sort of unique need; these sources include coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, water also known as hydroelectric, solar, geothermal and biomass (U.S. Energy Information Administration). These energy sources are broken down into one of two categories, renewable or nonrenewable.

Emissions from coal fired power plants contribute to global warming, ozone smog, acid rain, regional haze, and perhaps most consequential of all from a public health standpoint, fine particle pollution.

In every developed country electrical power has evolved from a luxury to an absolute necessity. Even though it is wonderful to be able to read a book using the light emitted from a lamp and people could easily use a candle. Now a more important application such as the ability to save lives using advanced medical equipment would be far too great of a loss, if were to go without power. So how do people continue to create and harness electrical energy? The large majority of electrical power comes from fossil fired or nuclear fired generation. Both fossil and nuclear fired use their fuel source to heat water into steam which is used to spin turbine of a generator. However one of the glaring weaknesses of these types of generation archetypes is

The Distributed is electrical power generation in small scale (usually 1MW to 50MW) near the load centre using either conventional techniques such as Diesel generators and micro turbines or using non-conventional techniques such as Photo-Voltaic, wind turbines and small hydro power. This modern concept of power system is very advantageous as it reduces the load on the grid, consumers get a reliable power of better quality, and consumers can supply surplus power to the grid and earn a considerable profit. Thus, adopting this modern concept of power system is not only beneficial for consumers but also to the utilities.

For the purpose of this discussion, the specifics of the electrical energy system in the United States are not important, rather an introduction to the basic elements of the system, who they serve, how they relate the larger whole and how they are regulated will suffice. On a most basic level the electrical grid, or system, in the United States is comprised of three basic components; the generation of electrical energy, transmission of this energy, and the distribution of this energy to end consumers.

The United States has an extremely well developed and maintained power grid which in its current state is configured primarily for non-renewable power generation. As the cost of green power comes down there will be an increasing amount of green power generation on the grid. This new, cleaner source of energy unfortunately has disadvantages that more traditional methods of power generation don’t suffer from, namely consistently. Photo-voltaic cells will only work when the sun is shining and wind turbines only spin when wind is present. I will be examining the readiness for renewable power of the power grid within the United States as well as investigating improvements that would allow for a larger national power generation percentage of renewable

There is a restricted amount of coal being supplied in power plants. The second con is the increased rates of asthma and lung cancer from coal emissions. Breathing the coal dust is extremely dangerous and can result in major health concerns for people especially those who work inside the power plants. I have a cousin who has asthma and he has trouble breathing sometimes. He does track for Ramapo College of New Jersey so he has to use an inhaler before starting his races so he could breathe normally and perform better. I can’t imagine what his pain would feel like if he had to run an event five miles away from a power plant that produces sulfur dioxide clouds. The last con is the cost of transporting coal is expensive. According to power-eng.com, “Owners of coal-fired plants invested more than $30 billion in flue gas desulfurization systems, also known as scrubbers,” (U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants Invested More Than $30bn On Scrubbers In Four

Six different methods for generating electrical energy, coming from electric power generating plants. Fossil fuel, hydroelectric, solar thermal, nuclear, geothermal, and wind power all generate electrical energy, but which is the most environmentally friendly? Electrical energy is the movement of charged particles through a wire, from a power plant to our homes and businesses. Fossil fuel energy is created through a natural process of pressure, heat and time, and used through the decomposition of buried, dead organisms which contain energy. The energy can be separated into coal, oil, and natural gas.

In Europe, around 300,000 houses are not interconnected to the main electricity grid (Lymberopoulos & Zoulias, 2008). These houses are located in remote areas such as islands and mountains. Currently, fossil fuel based generators do the electrification of these households. These generators are sometimes supplemented with renewable energy based systems (e.g. PV solar panels or wind turbines). The fossil fuel based generators face problems with onsite fuel availability, noise and local emissions. The renewable energy systems, on the other hand, face problems with the intermittency of the natural source, such as wind or sun. The disadvantages of both systems could be potentially overcome with the introduction of the artificial leaf technology

It is a widely accepted fact that renewable energy would be highly beneficial to our country and the general well being of those living in our country. Instilling this new way of energy usage into our communities will inevitably increase the state of living for those in cities and other well populated areas. The change to renewable energy sources could drastically lower the pollutants currently being dispersed into the atmosphere by coal mines and other harmful power options,

Producing electricity in almost any power plant is a very similar process. In each, a fuel heats water into steam, which then flows through pipes to spin turbines. When the turbines spin they produce usable power. The main difference between the power plants are the form of fuel used and how it is used. In a coal-fired, wood, or natural gas power plant the fuel

Microgeneration addresses some of the fundamental problems with the centralised system that we presently use to generate power, and some commentators (Greenpeace, 2006; Greenpeace, 2005) have claimed that distributed generation should be the basis of any low-carbon economy. This view was shared by many environmental activists and government bodies however uptake has not matched the initial enthusiasm.