Renewable Energy Needs Improvement Before We See Effective Results

the essay needs to be a lit review. I have a lot of information gathered and partly written the essay. it needs 4 sources and needs to be in APA format. it mainly needs citations and some reworking. you can restart from scratch if needed or use the essay below. I have attached a sample essay which is how it’s supposed to look. if you decide to start over, please use the same research topic.

Ayanaav Mull

Ritsumeikan University

Global Studies Major / Academic Skills II 

Mrs. Kunshiac Claudia

December 2nd 2020

Renewable Energy Needs Improvement Before We See Effective Results

Introduction

The issue of climate change has been the subject of much controversy over the recent decade. The questions that constantly arise from these debates is: Are conventional energy sources such as fossil and nuclear fuels worse than so-called “renewable” energy sources, and should humanity do a 100% switch?  Of course, these questions will not be answered overnight, but hypothetically, should the possibility of switching everything even be considered? Analyzing the costs and effects of using reusable energy either completely or partially as a substitute for finite energy sources can help people understand the necessary conditions to create these changes and whether the cost is even worth it. What are renewable energy sources anyway? Renewable energy sources are energies that are naturally replenished on a human timescale; energies that are always available and having an unlimited reserve. For example: the wind, the sun, and the ethanol for Hydraulic and geothermal energy can all be used to produce electricity, but because of the limited possibilities of use alternatives, it may represent only a minuscule part of the total alternatives actually possible in future time. Wind and solar energy also have the perception of not producing carbon dioxide during operation, but because of its low efficiency during manufacturing, it actually releases more than one would think. So we can cross wind and solar energy off the list because it’s beyond feasible. A good definition of “feasible” would be: Able to work or function; it is good enough to replace conventional energy sources. Good enough to be an alternative source, and therefore independent of each other. As of now, it seems like it’s not possible, but maybe it can be realized at a later stage.

Four Vital Factors to take into Consideration

In the book “Power Hungry,” Robert Bryce mentions four vital energy sources that work in the commerce space: energy density, cost, scalability, and power density. Power density is how dense or spread out power generating systems use different energy sources are. Nuclear and fossil fuel power plants are generally compact, while wind and solar power plants are usually large. Researchers found that power densities can vary by as much as 1000 times, with biomass the lowest (at 0.8 W/m2) and natural gas the highest (at 1000 W/m2). Solar and wind power needs around 40-50 times more space than coal and 90-100 times more space than gas. These calculations play a major role when determining a viable renewable energy source. Not only calculations of resources needed, but more importantly, the cost of transitioning to 100-Percent Renewable Energy. There are several studies that indicate it would cost the world trillions of dollars to transition to an electric system that is 100-percent renewable. Even if the world was somehow able to scrape that cash and invest in renewable energies, not every establishment will be able to adapt this new technology. This is when scalability comes into play. Scalability determines whether an energy source can be efficiently scaled up to a proper size or percentage of the energy sector. For example, hydroelectricity and geothermal meet most needs, but only a few sites are suitable for this type of energy, so their scalability is limited. In addition to the four imperatives listed above, a fifth imperative must be added: reliability. If you cannot rely on a source of electricity to produce power when you need it, it is unacceptable to be a significant player. Many have high hopes for energies such as wind and solar, but it’s best to only have a pessimistic perspective as these new technologies can have devastating effects on the world. Take wind and solar for example. Wind only has usable energy when it blows within an acceptable range; and solar energy only produces electricity when the sun is shining and only when the sky is clear and the sun is in its ideal position at full power.

Why Cost May be Even More Important Than Other Factors

As a country, we have to evaluate all energy sources for electricity production on the basis of costs. It is difficult to establish a precise basis because of the many technological variants, position, dimensions of the systems, etc. However, some costs of different projects can show a relative comparison between different energy production technologies. Some developed countries have introduced measures to restrict fossil fuels. Consumption through a mix of carbon taxes, charges or regulations (in the case of the European Union, certain American states, Japan, Canada, and Australia), subsidies for energy saving (in the United States and other countries) and development the use of low or zero-carbon energy sources (in the US and elsewhere). In these and other countries, the data from the annual statistical review of public relations show that consumption of oil and coal has fallen by around 10%, while natural gas consumption (which has lower carbon emissions) increased by 10% from levels in 2005. In addition, Smith says, “Compared to conventional electrical power generation costs, renewable technologies are always more expensive. Wind is 40-100% more costly, and solar is higher than conventional sources by a factor of 3 to 10 times.” which further accentuates this point.   

Ungovernable Factors of Renewable Resources

It is obvious that due to the variability of wind and sun, renewable energy power plants cannot be considered as a continuous source of electricity. Currently, renewable energy relies on the support of fuel-burning sources to provide a proper source of electricity and reliable power to meet the needs of the grid as an alternative source of electricity to replace fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Only renewable energy must be able to provide reliable energy regardless of the energy sources it is intended to replace. Alone, electricity from renewable energies must have energy mode batteries that can be activated when needed when the wind blows in addition to the energy needed to recharge these devices when the wind blows in case of an emergency. There are conceptual alternatives to electricity storage, including energy from pump water, flow batteries, flywheels, and compressed air, but these reserve energy storage facilities would require significant expenditure for construction and maintenance, in addition to the cost of wind/solar energy generation plants. Being able to supply electricity to the grid-like wind and sunlight power sources, and making sure that extra electricity is available to charge the battery for later use, and enforcing the development of production capacity to multiply the demand, is too high for a single contribution. Jones further states that, “Unfortunately, the problem of promoting environmental perceptions that are not consistent with the legal reality goes beyond individual solar companies’ deceptive actions. When actual policies are examined, even some state leaders who proclaim renewable energy leadership have participated in these practices.” The solar wave has also caused an increase in solar energy nationwide. In a comment in the LA Times, Severin Borenstein, professor of economics and public sector at UC Berkeley policy, has outlined this growing national problem: “If you’ve installed solar panels on your roof and feel aglow with environmental virtue, you may be in for a rude awakening. The solar community is often affected by an effective marketing campaign to become “solar” by registering with a third party.

Why Sustainability is Poor and Why Investments Are Not Constant

In the past, whenever the price of fossil fuel fell for various reasons including economic recession, there was a sharp reduction in renewable energy investment and Research and Development (R&D) budget along with a drop in decisions to adopt new policies to promote renewable energy (Bhattacharya, 2010) On September 27, 2016, the Ontario Ministry of Energy suspended the planned second round of the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP II) process and the Energy-from-Waste Standard Offer Program. This decision halted the procurement of over 1,000 MW of electricity from solar, wind, hydroelectric, bioenergy and energy-from-waste projects. According to the Ministry of Energy (2016), the decision to suspend planned electricity procurement from renewable sources was informed by the IESOs Ontario Planning Outlook, an independent technical report on the electricity system in Ontario, requested by the minister of energy in June 2016. In the IESOs report, various planning scenarios for the future of Ontarios energy system over 20 years were outlined, presenting the Ministry of Energy with options for decision making. The IESO concluded in its report that Ontario had an adequate supply of electricity to meet demand over the coming years. (Oji, C., & Weber, O. 2017).

Conclusion

Although the majority of this essay focuses on the renewable energies of wind and solar, variants of these two primary replacements are even less viable. There is an undeniable role in maintaining energy to further allow the development of civilization. In modern society, it is challenging to find one reliable resource that is low cost, reliable, and harmless to the environment. There have been many times during the existence of human civilization that a traditional energy source was changed. Not because the old source was exhausted, but because there are more sophisticated and efficient ways to carry out the same processes. In a pursuit to improve the lives of others, many may fail to consider the consequences of such deeds and acts. The story of energy remains infinite until we develop methods that are effective and safe. But until then, we can only accept the fact that there are no simple solutions, only intelligent choices.

Citations:

Oji, C., & Weber, O. (2017). Advancing Sustainable Energy in Ontario: The Case of Regional Renewable Energy Cooperatives (pp. 9-10, Rep.). C. Hurst and; Company. Retrieved December 2, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep15529.13

Bhattacharya, A. (2010). (Rep.). Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Retrieved December 3, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00734

 

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