Alternative Energy News Source
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Alternative Energy Overview
By Russell Hasan, President of the Altenews Company
We now stand at an important historical crossroads in terms of the
structure of both American and global society. The focal point of our
changing world is our growing dependence upon foreign oil and our
rapidly diminishing traditional sources of energy such as oil, natural
gas, coal and nuclear power. Americans are addicted to oil and other
forms of energy and our need for energy grows exponentially as American
industry grows. There is especially a depletion of usable light sweet
crude oil. The simple fact, which every authority agrees upon, is that
our need for energy is soon going to outpace our ability to draw energy
from traditional resources. The global supply of coal, natural gas, and
most importantly oil are becoming depleted, nuclear power is too
dangerous, and without alternative energy sources we will experience a
severe lack of energy in the future. Therefore it is necessary for us to
discover alternative energy sources in order for our industrial and
commercial future in the twenty-first century to be secure.
Another reason for the need for alternative energy
sources to be developed is the increasingly devastated state of our
environment. The use of nuclear power, oil, gas and coal all produce a
great deal of waste product which pollutes the environment. Oil, natural
gas and coal produce toxic smoke which pollutes the air and affects
global warming, while nuclear produces radioactive waste and can give
rise to environmental disasters such as the Chernobyl and Three Mile
Island accidents. For these reasons it is going to be necessary to shift
to alternative energy sources in the future in order to maintain a
sustainable ecosystem.
Fortunately for us, new and environmentally
friendly energy supplies are being developed. Alternative energy methods
are technological advances similar to the development of candles or
kerosene for older civilizations. These energy resources have gone
largely untapped in the past, and they represent the future of global
energy consumption. Most people do not know about these growing energy
trends, but as we enter the new century these new alternative forms of
energy are poised to become as popular as the more traditional forms of
energy that they will replace.
The purpose of this website, Alternative Energy
News Source (www.Altenews.com), is to offer news, commentary and
analysis relating to the alternative energy industry. We seek to offer
investors and businessmen useful information on the various forms of
alternative energy and where the industry is heading, and we also have
the purpose of helping environmentalists learn new and better ways to
help achieve a green, clean environment. We will present up-to-date news
headlines about alternative energy information as the news becomes
available. We have links to a variety of resources on the web, we have a
page on each kind of alternative energy, and we offer features such as
interviews with experts, research reports on alternative energy
companies, a list of seminars and conferences, and a list of alternative
energy stocks. We encourage you to become a member of our website, in
order to access our monthly downloadable printable magazine and our
message board.
An overview of the various kinds of alternative
energy follows. At the outset we must differentiate between alternative
energy, and renewable energy. Alternative energy refers to any form of
energy which is an alternative to the traditional fossil fuels of oil,
natural gas and coal. Renewable energy are the forms of alternative
energy that are renewed by the natural processes of the Earth, such as
sunlight from the sun or wind from the air, and so are environmentally
friendly. We cover all alternative energies, but we will begin the
overview with the renewable energy sources.
Solar power arises from the light of the sun, which
can be harnessed through the use of solar power cells, which are also
called photovoltaic cells. Sunlight is easy to harness and free, but it
can be difficult to harness solar power for large scale power plants.
However, there are several solar power plant projects in existence.
Solar power has a great deal of potential in the field of home
electricity generation. Solar power is attractive because sunlight is
free and the only cost involved is the cost of solar panels. Solar is
also very environmentally friendly, as it produces no pollution or waste
byproduct, and it is therefore essential for a greener future. Solar
panels come in various sizes and can be used on a small scale by
mounting solar panels on a house for home electricity production, or
they can be used on a large scale for electricity production. Solar is
most commonly used for on-site local electricity production, by adding
solar panels to the roofs of homes or commercial buildings. It is often
used by consumers who want to help the environment, and also plays a
vital role in supplying power to buildings that cannot easily access
power lines. The three common solar power technologies are silicon,
thin-film, and solar thermal.
Wind power is also a very attractive field. Wind
technology has grown in scope, and in various places wind is becoming a
feasible source of energy. Wind has a lot of potential and investors
should keep an eye on it. Wind is vulnerable to weather conditions, but
in certain locations, mainly in coastal offshore areas and at high
altitudes, there is a steady stream of wind. Wind power is harnessed
through the use of wind turbines, which are turned by the wind to
produce electricity. The technology is not unlike a more modern and
sophisticated version of a windmill. Wind power can be used both for
electricity production on a large scale with multiple turbines to form
what is called a wind farm, or in other words a wind power plant, or,
more infrequently, on a smaller scale for home electricity production.
Wind power is the most persecuted of all forms of renewable energy, as
there is a multi-national anti-wind lobby that accuses wind turbines of
being ugly, noisy, interfering with radars and killing birds, all of
which are completely unjustified claims.
Geothermal energy is also an exciting new area. Geothermal energy draws heat from the planet’s core. Thermal power stations are set up which absorb energy from the planet. The heat from the planet boils a liquid which evaporates to turn turbines, producing the electricity. This technology is feasible because thermal heat is free and the only cost is the station. However, the locations where geothermal heat is easily available are limited and change based on tectonic movement and the arrangement of the surface of the Earth. Geothermal is renewable and does not pollute, and there are places in many parts of the world that are seeking geothermal power. Geothermal is also very well suited for home heating and cooling, in which pipes are placed underground and a liquid is circulated through them, so that heat from the ground comes up during cold times, and cool from the ground comes up during hot times. Geothermal heating is becoming very popular, and is a cost-effective alternative to oil or gas home heating.
A highly developed form of alternative energy is hydroelectric.
Hydroelectric power comes from dams which harness the power of rivers.
The river water passes through turbines at the base of the dam, turning
turbines which produce electricity. There are many dams in existence,
and hydroelectric is a highly developed technology. There are dams in
America, China, and elsewhere in the world. Hydroelectric is a clean,
green technology which produces no pollution. Unfortunately, most of the
lakes and rivers that could easily be exploited with hydroelectric have
been dammed already, so the future of hydroelectric power lies in the
development of less appealing sites. There are a number of hydroelectric
projects in existence, in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
Tidal power and wave power are two ocean-based
technologies with high potential for providing clean, free energy in the
future. Tidal power works when ocean water flows through tidal power
stations as the water goes in and out with the tide, turning the
turbines and producing electricity. Tidal power is not widely used, but
as it develops it could become a very big thing. There are high
potential tidal sites with very strong tides around the world, in
Eastern Canada and Scotland among other places. Another renewable energy
with high worldwide potential is wave power. Wave power seeks to convert
waves into electricity by placing equipment on the oceans that captures
wave movement and converts it into power. There are also efforts to
harvest energy from the salt content and temperature of the ocean. The
oceans of the world offers a huge possibility for electricity generation
projects, and most of this potential is so far untapped and waiting to
be explored.
Another interesting alternative energy source is
the development of biomass technology. Biomass is a term for any kind of
organic biological matter that can be converted into energy. Biomass
technology is being created that will enable dung, for example from cows
or pigs, or dead vegetable matter to be converted into energy. The
transformation of these common substances, which would otherwise end up
as waste, into electricity is an exciting area that has a great deal of
potential to produce energy from previously untapped sources without
polluting the environment. Biomass is usually either plant matter, from
either crops or forest waste, or fecal wastes. A subsection of biomass
is biogas, natural gas produced from biological sources.
A similar and very exciting alternative energy area
is biofuel. Biofuel is liquid fuel made from biomass, usually from plant
matter. Biofuel is an exciting prospect because it will enable farmers
to turn excess crops into fuel. The biofuel that is the main focus of
research is ethanol, a form of biofuel that can be made from corn or
sugarcane. Ethanol can be used to run cars, and there is an increasing
interest in the use of ethanol to replace or augment gasoline as a
significant source of automotive fuel. Cars must be specially fitted to
run of ethanol, but the price is worth it, as ethanol burns more cleanly
than gasoline, producing fewer pollutants, and it can be made from
domestic crops, reducing dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol from
sugarcane already makes up about forty percent of the fuel used by
automobiles in Brazil, and this is a huge factor in Brazil’s energy
independence. In the United States the ethanol is made from corn, a
plentiful crop in the American Midwest, and the United States government
has ethanol initiatives and mandates to promote the use of ethanol.
Additionally, there are many American states with their own ethanol
initiatives and mandates. Major car companies are building
ethanol-powered cars, and gas stations are creating ethanol fueling
stations, and the use of ethanol is definitely on the rise. Gasoline can
be combined with ethanol to create gasohol, and a popular form is E85, a
blend of eighty-five percent ethanol and fifteen percent gasoline. There
is also E10 and E15. Cars called “flex-fuel” cars are available that are
flexible in their fuel use, meaning that they are able to run on either
gasoline or ethanol. There is a form of ethanol called cellulose
ethanol, being developed in research laboratories, which is made from
inedible biomass and burns more cleanly than normal ethanol.
Another form of biofuel is biodiesel, a fuel that
is like diesel but which is made from biomass. Biodiesel can be used in
any engine that run on diesel, making the switch to biodiesel very easy,
and it is widely useful. Biodiesel can be made from waste vegetable oils
produces from cooking, and also from palm oil and canola oil, and from
jatropha plants. Biofuel is a high potential area as it will have a real
effect in reducing our dependence upon foreign oil for gasoline
consumption, which is a key element in our addiction to oil, and as
global demand for oil grows the use of ethanol and biodiesel will grow
as well.
An area related to alternative energy is hydrogen
fuel cells for cars. A hydrogen fuel cell is a device that is being
developed which will run a car using only hydrogen as fuel, to reduce
the demand for gasoline and foreign oil and to promote green energy. The
exhaust from cars is one of the chief factors in air pollution and this
technology will enable cars that will have no exhaust. The technology
involves a chemical reaction with hydrogen and oxygen that produces
electricity, with water as the only created waste product. Many
companies are involved in the research and development of hydrogen fuel
cells and this will be a very hot area in the near future. The only
problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that there is a cost to produce the
hydrogen used as fuel.
Aside from renewable energy, there are also
alternative energy areas in oil and natural gas, which consists of
alternative oil and gas exploration. The traditional reserves of oil and
natural gas are becoming depleted, and the global economy’s insatiable
demand for energy will make previously untapped reserves of oil and
natural gas highly profitable. Alternative oil and gas exploration will
find and exploit deposits of oil and gas that will help serve to supply
energy to the global demand as resources become scarce. The various
forms of alternative oil and gas exploration include oil sand, shale
oil, basin centered gas accumulation, tight gas, and coal bed methane,
as well as other areas.
Two kinds of alternative oil exploration are oil
sand, which is also called tar sand, and shale oil. Oil sand is a kind
of sand from which oil can be extracted. There are large oil sand
reserves in western Canada, centered in the Alberta region, so much so
that it makes Canada a major potential source of oil on equal footing
with the Middle East, and the exploration of oil sand is a very hot
area. A growing oil extraction infrastructure has grown up around the
Canadian oil sands, and there are many opportunities in that area.
Shale oil is another kind of energy consisting of
oil pressed from shale. There are shale oil reserves in Utah and
elsewhere, and this is a very interesting field. Companies are competing
for the rights to develop shale oil, and as the infrastructure comes on
line shale oil could produce a lot of oil. Oil sand and shale oil
represent sources of oil that have not been previously tapped, and if
the oil can be extracted through cost effective methods then oil sand
and shale oil could become highly profitable, as they will produce oil
from nontraditional reserves that have not been depleted in a future
when most traditional resources will have run out. This area is very
exciting for energy companies as the traditional sources of oil dry up,
and there are many companies currently working to exploit oil sand and
shale oil reserves.
Methods of alternative natural gas exploration
include basin centered gas accumulation, in which gas in a basin is
extracted, tight gas, in which the gas is difficult to get to, coal bed
methane, in which natural gas is extracted from coal beds, and gas to
liquid technology, in which natural gas from distant locations is
converted to a liquid for the purpose of transportation. It should be
noted that natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels in terms
of the toxic emissions released when it is burned, and it can be useful
for electricity generation and home heating. These technologies should
be closely watched as traditional oil and gas reserves become depleted.
There are also new methods of storing energy that
are being researched and developed. These include new battery
technologies such as improved rechargeable batteries for cars, new kinds
of rechargeable batteries for electronic devices such as laptops and
cell phones, and the use of nano-technology in batteries. These battery
technologies could revolutionize the storage of electricity and lead to
improvements in the energy industry and to changes in automotive
technology, as the battery becomes more energy efficient and eases the
demand for electricity in electronic devices and cars that run on
batteries.
Another way to reduce global oil consumption is through conservation of gasoline and battery-powered cars. Cars that are lighter and more energy efficient, which can get better mileage-per-gallon, significantly reduce the quantity of gasoline that is required for transportation demand. Electric cars, which run on electricity and can be plugged in to get their energy source, are an alternative to gasoline-powered cars. Plug-in hybrids can run on gasoline or on electricity, and there are also hybrid cars that augment their gasoline usage with motion-generated battery power. Hybrid cars have had some success and most major car companies have hybrid car programs.
One last kind of alternative energy to discuss is
nuclear power. Often classified as a traditional power source, it is
possible to think of nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels. Nuclear
power plants do not produce air pollution, so they are clean compared to
oil, gas and coal. However, nuclear power produces radioactive waste as
a byproduct, and nuclear reactor accidents can have catastrophic
effects, so the environmental value of nuclear is debatable. However, it
cannot be denied that nuclear power can replace fossil fuels to some
extent as they run out, and there are many countries around the world
that are currently planning to build new nuclear power plants.
An area that relates to alternative energy in terms
of being friendly to the environment is green building. Green building
consists of erecting buildings that are environmentally sound and energy
efficient. This can be done through better heating insulation, more
efficient electrical appliances such as fluorescent lighting, and other
structural elements. Green building is environmentally friendly, and it
also saves money because it reduces energy consumption. Another green
idea is pollution credits. Pollution credits, also called emissions
trading, is a program in which the government establishes a total limit
for pollution, and companies that pollute less can sell their right to
pollute to the companies that pollute more. This creates a financial
incentive to cut pollution. Green building, pollution credits and public
transportation can all contribute to reducing pollution and saving the
environment.
President Bush said in his 2006 State of the Union
address that alternative energy is very important to America’s future as
an industrial leader. Investors need to keep track of these alternative
energy areas in order to take advantage of the growing trends in the
energy industry. There are two factors that will drive alternative
energy growth to historic highs in the years to come. First, the “Peak
Oil” scenario, in which global oil reserves run out and the oil-based
world economy must transition to an alternative energy-based global
economy. Second, the need to prevent global warming and engage in an
ecologically sustainable lifestyle will lead to the encouragement of
environmentally responsible renewable energy. Government initiatives
combined with private enterprise will grow the alternative energy
industry a very great deal in the near future, and this growth will
affect individuals, companies, nations, and the entire world. There are
many opportunities for businesses and investors to put money into
alternative energy and reap the rewards of the coming future growth.
Alternative energy is attractive to all different
sorts of people, including investors and entrepreneurs. A main reason
for this is the fact that alternative energy can appeal to both
individuals and families on the one hand and to corporations and
businesses on the other hand. Alternative energy sources, particularly
solar and geothermal, can be used on a small scale for home heating. The
use of solar panels or geothermal pipes for individual homes can enable
households to decrease home heating bills and break away from dependence
on gas and oil. As the price of home heating rises this will make
alternative energy more popular and spread the technology among
individual households. Solar power and wind power can also be used for
home electricity production, enabling households to remove themselves
from costly electrical grids and produce their own electricity more
cheaply and with greater concern for the environment.
Simultaneously with household use, alternative
energy is going to become popular with corporations and businesses. The
price of oil is continually rising and global supplies of light sweet
crude oil are running out. Also, oil production is controlled by a
cartel of countries who drive the price up and make oil overpriced in
American markets. This is going to make oil an unattractive option for
industrial purposes in the future. The prospects for coal, natural gas
and nuclear are also bad, due to both financial and environmental
reasons. Global supplies of coal, natural gas and uranium are becoming
depleted, and these energy sources produce pollution on a scale that is
undesirable. These factors are going to lead businesses and corporations
to turn to alternative energy sources for their electricity. There are
many cases of businesses using green building to reduce energy costs and
relying on renewable energy to have a reliable and cost-effective source
of power. As alternative energy supplies become economically feasible
they will be adopted by conventional businesses, to the point of
becoming mainstream in the future, and the companies that supply
alternative energy stand to make substantial profits by supplying energy
to these companies.
Several factors will also make the American government support the development of alternative energy. The first is the need for energy independence. The disaster of hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed that the American supply of petroleum, based on pipelines coming from the gulf coast, is unstable due to potential bad weather conditions, and alternative energy sources will help America become less dependent upon oil pipelines. More importantly, alternative energy will also help America become less dependent upon foreign oil, particularly from the Middle East, which is in the national interest. American dependence upon foreign oil is a major issue due to the political instability of the Middle East, it involves a huge political and military commitment by the United States to peace in the Middle East, and alternative energy will help to alleviate the situation and enable America to break free from dependence upon the Middle East and foreign oil. This could help America disentangle itself from its problematic relations with Iraq, Iran, and the other major oil-producing countries of that region. In fact, the American government has already enacted several measures to promote the alternative energy industry, both giving grants for research and taking steps to make alternatives more competitive through government incentives, and more are sure to come.
Aside from the need for energy independence,
alternative energy will also grow and become common due to environmental
necessity. Alternative energy is not just cost-effective and necessary
for foreign policy, it is also required for domestic policy, to promote
a sustainable environment and to prevent global warming and the
worldwide catastrophe that advanced global warming could create. The
cause of environmentalism is becoming increasingly popular, among both
experts and ordinary people, politicians and businessmen, liberals and
conservatives, scientists and religious leaders. As the majority of
people learn to understand the threat of global warming, and the beauty
of a well-preserved environment, the public will demand more renewable
energy.
One of the primary reasons that alternative energy
is so attractive is that conventional fossil fuel supplies are running
out. The evidence for this is presented in the case for the “Peak Oil”
theory that has been endorsed by many experts. As oil, coal and natural
gas supplies become scarce there is going to be a shortage of energy
resources. Uranium supplies are also being depleted and are becoming
expensive to develop, and nuclear is too unsafe to provide a complete
solution. Alternative energy sources stand poised to fill this gap. As
global fossil fuel reserves become depleted, industries will be forced
to convert to new energy supplies in order to remain competitive. There
is an important opportunity for alternative oil and gas exploration to
provide the necessary oil and gas resources to last us until renewable
energy infrastructure can be created to satisfy world energy demand.
There is already growing concern among businessmen and government
officials over diminishing oil supplies. With the majority of
traditional world oil reserves in the politically unstable Middle East,
and the vulnerability of American oil pipelines revealed by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, there is a growing recognition that America needs to
develop alternative energy supplies. Solar power, wind power,
hydroelectric power, geothermal power, tidal power, biomass, biofuels
such as ethanol and biodiesel, and hydrogen fuel cells have the
potential to help the American energy industry and to ameliorate
American dependence upon foreign oil. Nontraditional oil and gas
exploration will provide the rest of the energy needed to satisfy the
American and global hunger for energy.
It is clear that American reserves of oil and natural gas are not sufficient to satisfy the needs of American industry, and foreign oil is becoming increasingly expensive in both monetary and political terms. As conventional oil supplies run out there will be serious problems with energy production, both in America and worldwide. As alternative energy supplies become cost effective, alternative energy will supplement and eventually replace the scarce and environmentally unfriendly traditional fossil fuels. Alternative energy is becoming popular not only in the USA, but around the world, in India, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Nigeria, and Brazil, and many other places. The most exciting area in energy today is alternative energy, and there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and companies that are interested in this field. It is also clear that in the future the environmentalist movement will play an increasingly important role in protecting the future of the planet. We hope that you will look to Alternative Energy News Source (www.Altenews.com) as your source for information about trends and growth in alternative energy.