The Shift Towards Clean Energy

Renewable energy has the ability to play a major role in the energy industry of the twenty-first century. Shell and other big oil companies are ironically investing in renewable energy sources. Environmental experts realize that renewable energy helps reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. They also predict that by the year 2050, renewable power may grow to supply half the world’s energy. It may seem unreachable, but generating electricity by using the constant power of the sun and wind is already a reality. Solar power relies on the energy produced by the sun, storing energy for nighttime as well. “This energy can be converted in many ways, such as simple water heating or by the direct conversion of sunlight to energy using mirrors or boilers” (Riley).

America’s nuclear energy plants are — by a wide margin — the nation’s largest source of carbon-free power. They produce clean, reliable electricity as well as well-paying jobs. Although several dependable nuclear plants have closed in recent years for economic reasons, nuclear energy is getting a fresh look for its ability to produce vast amounts of power without emitting greenhouse gases. And with new reactor designs, both big and small, scientists and technologists are re-engineering the future of nuclear energy for everyone’s benefit.

[Fossil fuels are expected to continue supplying much of the energy used worldwide. Although liquid fuels—mostly petroleum-based—remain the largest source of energy, the liquids share of world marketed energy consumption falls from 34 percent in 2010 to 28 percent in 2040, as projected high world oil prices lead many energy users to switch away from liquid fuels when feasible. http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/more_highlights.cfm]

Introduction: We live in a world that is crumbling and being destroyed all around us at an increasing rate. Humanity is now on a collision course with the natural environment. Using an alternative energy source can prevent all this, rather than the primitive methods commonly used now. After taking multiple classes that covered environmental issues in the world around us. Today, I will talk about the current problems facing our environment and generating energy and how nuclear energy can help fix those affects.

Each and every challenge that arises to the nuclear industry comes from a very well-known energy related trouble that the world is facing, i.e., to go for a sustainable and clean form of energy which could replace petroleum products. And as the world population grows, this challenge becomes even tougher as more and more fuel is needed for being utilized by the people, which makes it a problem that is to be resolved at a great pace.

Carbon capture basically involves capturing CO2 from large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants and transporting to a storage site where it would be unable to re-enter the atmosphere. The aim of CCS is to limit the amount of CO2 generated by industries that combust fossil fuels and release CO2 in the process. The project is targeted at CO2 emitting industries because CO2 is more concentrated in those regions and capture would be most effective in those regions.

With the U.S. and other major emitters continuing to rely heavily on fossil fuels, it is clear that technology that addresses this dependence will be needed in order to meet emissions reduction targets. These technologies may include renewables (primarily wind and solar), increased energy efficiency, hydroelectric power generation, or carbon capture and sequestration technologies (CCS). While technological advances have continued and investment for both development and

As the population rises, the demand for energy increases as well. Americans expect the convenience of electrical power to be there when they need it and their economy depends on it, but a lack of power might soon be a reality. A large amount of electricity in the United States is produced by burning fossil fuels. The national government, as well as individual states, are on a quest for less pollution, but with the energy demand so high it seems lower carbon emissions are impossible. Despite claims that the aging electrical grid is to blame for energy shortages, fossil fuel power generation plants simply cannot keep up with demand. While there is no question the electrical grid needs modernizing, alternative forms of energy production, such

Securing a sustainable future for electricity can be ensured by introducing renewable energy sources to develop a sustainable weighting of the three Economic, Environmental and Social pillars of sustainability. It is known today that the world needs sustainable electricity sources to produce energy, as our natural recourses such as coal are running out. The burning of coal for energy produces an output of carbon dioxide, which is the leading cause to global warming the detrimental effects on the future of the environment. The world has access to many sources of renewable energy such as, wind power, solar power, and hydro power. Although, renewable energy does not produce the majority of the worlds electricity as the conversion to renewable energy sources has been difficult due to lack of funding the governments are willing to pay across the world.

An article from Forbes goes into depth about the process of removing, transporting, and storing the carbon dioxide will work. The article talks about how CCS is much more expensive compared to other sustainable energy resources such as wind and solar. They argue that by adding the equipment needed for CCS to coal power plants, the efficiency of these plants will reduce. As a result, power companies must burn additional fuel to make up for the amount that would be lost in the capture of carbon. In fact, they also state how a new solar photovoltaic (PV) system or a wind farm is half the price of a new coal unit with CCS and has zero carbon emissions. Generally speaking, they don’t talk about how much space would be needed to produce an equal amount of electricity a coal power plant would be producing. A question that must be answered is will be CCS a worthwhile investment for producers of carbon dioxide to help remove CO2 from our atmosphere. When it comes to carbon dioxide every little bit removed will help our atmosphere. It the meantime, implementing CCS, even though it would be a costly investment will only be used for roughly the next century until the Earth runs out of fossil fuels. By doing so

With limited fossil fuel supply in the world and the growing problem of pollution, humans have to find environmentally friendly and renewable sources of energy. Alternative energy is any source of energy that is an alternative to using fossil fuels. Energy is an enormous factor in the production of wealth and is very important in economic development. “However, energy is defined as the maximum obtainable potential of work of an energy or energy flow in relation to the reference environment” (Midilli). With the population increasing and expected to double by the end of the 21st century, providing clean and affordable energy is a must. With the price of fossil fuels only to increase over the upcoming years, using alternative energy will

Global demand and consumption of energy is at an all time high; the world needs a safe, efficient, clean, and high producing source of energy production. The solution is something we already use for energy production, Nuclear power. From the beginning of nuclear energy there has been concerns over the safety of the power plants and its impact on the environment. With climate change and more accurate information on nuclear power the tide is shifting in its favor. This paper will explore the positives of nuclear power, political change on nuclear power, safety of the energy source and new technologies associated with the nuclear power process. Most importantly are the risks associated with nuclear power worth it? Research suggests that nuclear power is safer now more than ever and has less of an impact on the environment than coal or oil. Public support and misconceptions over the years have been up and down due to political agendas and those who are misinformed about nuclear power. Individuals who are involved in the energy field are in favor of nuclear power and building more plants with newer technology.

Mitigation of the climate change problem will require a transformation of world energy supply, in which fossil fuels are largely replaced by energy sources that do not emit CO [1]. Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that delivers nuclear energy to produce heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to generate electricity in a nuclear power plant. As nuclear power produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions during production of electricity as compared to other traditional sources like coal power plant, it is considered one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy [3]. However, it is confronting with many challenges [2].

As the graph above, we can see that the the use of energy consumption is always increasing every year. It shows how improtant the industrial energy especially the Natural Gas for life activities (IHRDC Solutions, 2015).

Nuclear power is a technology that has enormous benefits for humankind. As the demand for energy is only continuing to grow, it has become important to develop energy technology that has good yield and minimal negative side effects. After the harnessing of the atom for use in nuclear weapons, the knowledge of how to exploit the atom became incorporated in nuclear power plants (Corradini 1). These use uranium fuel in a process that releases tremendous amounts of energy to be captured, but also that creates minimal waste and other byproducts. Despite these, the benefits of nuclear energy outweigh any disadvantages, as seen by its high energy output, reliability, and minimal environmental impact when compared to energy sources such as