Alternate energy

 Authors note: I wrote this piece because writing on my blog has been a bit lacking. The idea came from my support group when we started a project on this subject but never finished.

One of the biggest issues today is the need for fossil fuels like oil and coal for power and electricity generation, seeing as combustion powered generators, but there are many other sources of power that require more renewable resources like wind or water(lots and lots of water) and are "environmentally friendly". Here are some examples of such sources of power, but first.I think you should know where the electricity generator came from. The original electricity generator was a simple a loop of wire or copper disc between two magnetic poles. This method was invented by Michael Faraday in the late 1820s to early 1830s, and is still in use today. Finally, before I get into alternate energy, I feel I should explain the normal combustion generator.

Combustion powered generator

This is the usual power generator. Coal is mined and transported to a large burner that, obviously, burns the coal to create heat. Above this burner is a pipe full of water which will heat up until it turns to steam. This steam travels along more pipes until it reaches a turbine in the center area of the plant. The steam causes this turbine to turn and that powers an electricity generator. The smoke from the burning coal is expelled through giant smoke stacks.

Geothermal power

Geothermal power uses the heat of the earth to generate power. It does this by using the heat to turn water into steam. There are three kinds of geothermal power: Dry steam plants, Flash steam plants and Binary cycle plants. Dry steam plants are the oldest kind of geothermal power, in which the steam is pumped directly into the generator and causes the turbine to rotate, creating electricity. Flash steam plants work by keeping the turbine chamber at a lower pressure than the rest of the system. When the water is pumped into the turbine chamber, some is instantly vaporized into steam to make the turbine rotate. In binary cycle plants, the same water is continually run through the process while the steam is run through a separate pipe. Both pipes are run through a heat exchanger, heating up the water inside the system into steam and the steam in the pipes cools and condenses back into water that is pumped back into the ground. The steam then goes through the familiar process of rotating the turbine before returning to a liquid state. Geothermal power is cheap and environmentally friendly because they run off heated water and give off almost no emissions apart from excess steam. As the water is pumped back into the reservoir, geothermal power is a renewable resource. Traditional coal power plants have an availability of about 75% while geothermal plants are over 90%. Geothermal power is generated 24/7/365. And the heat of the earth is virtually unlimited.

Wind energy

Wind energy is relatively simple. Wind is used to turn a giant turbine which, in turn, creates power. As wind is a non perishable resource, it will obviously never run out. The largest problem I see with wind power is that it’s not always windy. No wind=no power generation. Also. To generate a sufficient amount of power for a large population, a large “wind farm is needed, taking up a lot of space. Wind power is a very environmentally friendly power source as there are no emissions and it runs on a natural power source. Inside a wind turbine, the wind turns the turbine, the big propeller thing in front. The turbine powers the generator inside the nacelle and creates the power. The wind also activates this device on top of the nacelle that monitors wind speed and sends the info to a device called the controller, which keeps the turbine rotation at a safe speed

Hydro power

Hydro power is a renewable power source that operates by water power. Unlike geothermal power, which heats water into steam, hydro power uses the water flow to turn the turbine. We harness hydropower by building giant dams, like Hoover dam. It works like this. The dam creates a reservoir of water. Water then travels down a tunnel in the dam which leads to the turbine which powers the generator and creates power. Creating the dam and reservoir could be harmful to the environment but after that, it’s pretty environmentally friendly and creates massive amounts of power. It’s renewable because of the water cycle, which replenishes the reservoir when it rains.

Nuclear power

Nuclear power works through the process of nuclear fission. Highly refined uranium is broken down at the atomic level creating 2 things: energy and heat. The heat is used in the nuclear power process. The heat causes water in a pipe that runs through the reactor core to heat up. This heated water then runs through another pipe which itself runs through a chamber full of more water. This chamber heats up and turns the water to steam which powers a turbine. The steam then condenses back into water and accumulates at the bottom of the turbine chamber. The giant towers we see at nuclear plants are called cooling towers. These also contain water, which is pumped through another pipe into the turbine chamber to cool the condensed water so it can be cycled through again. The smoke that comes from these towers is not actually smoke, but more steam. Out of all these sources, nuclear is the only one that is non renewable.