Tapping the energy of the sun is an idea that has always appealed to man. Since the earliest of times, man has aspired to harness the enormous energy producing capacity of our solar system’s sun. Now the dream is a reality in many places, and solar energy production is likely to grow enormously in the next several years. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of solar energy.

Cons of solar energy

1. Cost. The single biggest barrier to deploying solar energy throughout the USA is the cost. That’s likely to change due to stimulus from the Obama Energy Plan. As more solar panels are produced and installed, the cost of deployment will fall. As the price falls, adoption of the technology increases. Since solar energy is such a big part of the new “green jobs” push, we will most likely see price drops. But for now, the price of solar installations can be prohibitive.
2. Certain geographic areas don’t get enough sunlight to effective produce solar energy.
3. Bad weather hurts solar energy production efficiency. Areas with poor weather that changes frequently might experience difficulty producing enough solar energy.
4. Solar energy production is affected by pollution. In areas with high levels of pollution this could quickly turn into a major headache. If this dimming gets bad enough, it could be “lights out” for solar energy production in the worst areas. “But airborne particles also scatter light that does get through, and that diffuse light cannot be used by solar energy concentrating systems that produce electricity, Daniel Murphy, a scientist at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., reported in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.”

Pros of solar energy

1. Solar energy is renewable and sustainable. The production of solar energy does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions or contribute to climate change.
2. Solar energy production is quiet. There is not a lot of attendant noise caused by producing solar energy.
3. Solar energy is very effective in areas with high degrees of sunlight. In areas that aren’t blessed with strong natural sun, solar energy technology is rapidly improving. With improvements to storage capacity, the weather will become less of a factor.
4. The solar energy industry can produce jobs. The jobs are not necessarily demanding of great training, so people who are out of work can be re-trained relatively quickly into the “green jobs” offered by the solar energy industry.
5. The cost of electrical production through solar energy is low. The initial startup cost can be expensive, but once you’re up and running the savings on electricity tend to be enormous.

President Barack Obama is sold on the capability of solar energy production. He’s made increasing the solar energy industry into one of the mainstays of his energy policy. For that reason alone the technology is guaranteed to proliferate massively in the next few years.

Solar energy is clean, proven, and can create badly needed jobs right now as the United States re-tools for a “green future.”

Obama has stated that he wants the USA to double the amount of alternative energy production in the next three years. SEIA President Rhone Resch says that the recession is taking a big bite out of solar energy installations, but that could change quickly with a big enough push by the federal government.

“That is going require a substantial ramp up in the use of solar and that doesn’t just happen organically,” he said. If the ramp up occurs, the future is very bright indeed for solar energy.

Alternative Energy from the Ocean is an interesting topic, because so little is known about our oceans. Oceans have been explored by inquisitive people for centuries, but they’re so vast that only a tiny portion of their hidden knowledge has been mined. One thing is certain: the pressure that the waters of the ocean create are interesting sources of potential alternative energy.

Ocean wave energy is powerful and represents massive energy potential.

“Waves are caused by the wind blowing over the surface of the ocean. In many areas of the world, the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide continuous waves. There is tremendous energy in the ocean waves. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface.”

The energy created by waves varies from location to location throughout the world. One of the absolutely best places for tapping ocean wave energy is located just off the coast of Florida.

Alternative energy from ocean currents

Florida is quickly becoming the hotbed for ocean wave energy research. Let’s be frank, the potential for this research is huge. If energy could be easily and cheaply produced from the ample bounty of the ocean, you’re looking at clean energy that is sustainable and renewable. Plus it could prove a boon to economic development in the state of Florida.

Florida Atlantic University researchers say the current could someday be used to drive thousands of underwater turbines, produce as much energy as perhaps 10 nuclear plants and supply one-third of Florida’s electricity. A small test turbine is expected to be installed within months.

Right now the abundance of technology is merely in the planning stages. But the enthusiasm is catching for many. Right now there are no commercial-scale projects to tap ocean energy, and ocean isn’t mentioned as part of Obama’s Energy Plan.

But all that could change if a technological discovery is made that proves commercial applications are possible. The amount of research being done is increasing, so it seems at least ocean wave energy production is becoming more of a reality.

Safety is a concern, as usual. There’s talk of a “Cuisinart effect” which would be caused by underwater blades. Also, no one knows how economically feasible the whole idea is, given the scant amount of research done so far. That knowledge should rise dramatically in the next 12 months.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has already issued 47 temporary permit for projects based on ocean wave energy.

Alternative energy from the ocean is becoming closer to reality. Already signs of development are coming from money released by the Obama Energy Policy. Like this underwater turbine development.

For years, researchers in Dania Beach have been developing an underwater turbine prototype that will be powered by ocean currents to generate energy.

They got a boost this week by landing $1,189,375 from the big spending bill signed into law by President Obama, the first time the project has gotten federal money.

The researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Ocean Energy Technology plan to join Congressman Ron Klein on Friday to announce the funding at their SeaTech campus in Dania Beach.

The Dania Beach researchers are hoping to make underwater turbines a viable commercial product. This could conceivably give birth to an underwater energy production industry.

Once these turbines are developed they could be sold to energy companies around the country who could quickly deploy them into underwater turbine farms capable of commercial energy production.

The positive impact on employment in coastline areas is obvious. Alternative ocean from the energy is rising fast.

Today we take a look at exciting idea of using geothermal power as alternative energy. Geothermal power is energy that’s generated from the heat that is stored in the earth. The reason many people are excited about harnessing this type of power is because there’s such a huge source of it, lying just below the earth’s surface. If scientists can find an effective way to harness and distribute the energy from geothermal power, the results could be the lessening of our nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign energy.

Geothermal energy production has proven effective in the Philippines and Iceland

Both the Philippines and Iceland have invested heavily in geothermal energy and both countries get about 20% of their domestic energy needs from the technology. Overall, geothermal energy currently accounts for about 1% of the energy production in the world. As the example of Iceland shows us, any place that has a high concentration of volcanoes is a likely candidate for geothermal energy production.

Geothermal power technology covers a wide spectrum. In areas where such development is favorable, the introduction of geothermal energy is an obvious alternative energy source, which can at least serve as a supplement to the primary energy supplies.

Geothermal energy is clean and sustainable

Geothermal energy production doesn’t contribute greenhouse gas emissions to the environment and the energy source is completely renewable. Since it’s a renewable energy source, the supply is virtually inexhaustible.

Another great benefit of geothermal power production is the fact it requires minimum land use requirements. Geothermal energy has also proven itself reliable, with some sites in use now for 80 years. Geothermal energy production works.

The main drawbacks to geothermal energy are finding suitable locations and the fact such energy production is still not as efficient as standard power generation such as coal-burning.

Geothermal energy production in the US is growing

The US is currently the largest net producer of geothermal energy in the world. “The Geysers” a giant geothermal production facility 72 miles from San Francisco, shows the potential for the technology.

“The Geysers, comprising 30 square miles along the Sonoma and Lake County border, is the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world. Calpine, the largest geothermal power producer in the U.S., owns and operates 19 of the 22 power plants at The Geysers with a net generating capacity of about 725 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 725,000 homes, or a city the size of San Francisco.”

The success of The Geysers shows the potential for more geothermal development in coming years.

Barack Obama has already pledged that new job creation will focus on green technology

Right now representatives of green industries are lining up to make sure Obama listens to their pitch. The geothermal industry will be one of them. Up until now, geothermal energy production has received a very small amount of aid from the government for research. But that appears to be changing. So has the attitude from the private sector.

No greater benefactor than Google has already announced an interest in tapping the energy of the “hot rocks” that lie below the earth’s surface. The search engine giant has announced a $10 million investment into researching the subject.

They think enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) might be the road forward, especially for energy production in western states.

“EGS could be the ‘killer app’ of the energy world,” said Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives for Google.org, announcing Google funding for EGS research last August. “It has the potential to deliver vast quantities of power 24/7 and be captured nearly anywhere on the planet. And it would be a perfect complement to intermittent sources like solar and wind.”

The US Department of Energy thinks that geothermal energy production could meet 10% of the nation’s energy requirements by the middle of this century. The future for geothermal power has never looked brighter.

Biofuels are a popular topic when it comes to proponents of alternative energy. It’s easy to see why people would get excited about the prospects. Quite simply, biofuels are made from biomass, which is recently dead organic materials. Biomass contrasts from fossil fuels, in which energy is extracted from long dead material. Biofuel is any solid, liquid, or gas fuel that has been extracted from biomass. Since there’s so much biomass in the world already, finding a way to convert it into useful energy can reduce waste, as well as greenhouse gases.

Biofuel development has its’ share of critics

Biofuel development has come under fire for not being a realistic alternative for our nation’s huge energy needs. Since you have to grow crops like soybeans and corn, producing biofuel can be expensive and labor intensive. A sharp rise in the production of biofuel production could easily cause an increase in the cost of commodities. In fact, some experts believe the move to alternative energy such as biofuel may be one of the leading causes of the sharp commodity price increases we saw last year.

In August of 2008, UC Berkeley held a special conference called “The Future of Biofuels?” in which experts took a critical approach to examining the biofuel initiative.

The scientists looked at some of the most pressing concerns when it comes to developing biofuels as alternative sources of energy. The big problem is how using food crops for energy will affect the world’s food supply, which is already coming under heavy pressure as the population of the world grows mightily. A case in point is ethanol production.

“That imbalance between crops for food and crops for fuel stands to get even bigger, he predicted. Patzek said it would take food for 36 billion people – or six times the population of the Earth – to make enough ethanol to power the cars of every American.”

Cellulosic biofuel development shouldn’t disrupt food production

Of course, the production of “cellulosic biofuels” avoids this problem. Making alternative energy using cellulosic biofuels won’t affect food production because only the non-edible parts of plants, wood, and grass are used. This idea is appealing because it uses waste products to make usable energy. “Waste not want not,” would be the appropriate maxim. Since unwanted byproducts are being used, this area of development has a chance to catch on with a large segment of the population.

One thing is for certain. Right now there’s a ton of research going on in the field of using biofuels as alternative energy sources. High gas prices in the last few years worldwide have seemingly spooked consumers (and politicians) enough that an open dialog is occurring globally on the subject. But the main issues now center around the viability of any of the proposed schemes when it comes to replacing gasoline as the primary fuel for autos. There doesn’t appear to be any way the current methods of production can work, even in the case of cellulosic biofuels. The land use issues seem impossible to overcome.

Biofuel production needs to be scalable to be a true alternative energy source

Not only does it require a huge amount of land to produce fuel in this manner, it also takes a large amount of energy. Any time you’re using energy to make energy, you have to make sure the net energy left over is worth it. Not only that, but gas production is much cheaper. So far, consumers have shown no ability or desire to pay higher prices for fuel that might not be that much greener, and is certainly less efficient than what they’re already using.

Of course scientists understand these limitations, and are working on ways around them. Research is being conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Carnegie Institution at Stanford, and the University of California campuses at Davis and Berkeley, who have joined forces in a consortium effort to push past some of the current limitations. The researchers will focus its efforts on two types of plants that they deem best for biofuel production. These are woody trees such as poplar, and prairie grasses such as switchgrass and miscanthus.

Barack Obama expected to be a “green” President

Barack Obama is taking office shortly, and green tech industries are looking to him as a savior. There are a number of proposals and initiatives he will look at, including proposals for so-called “second generation” biofuels. These are biofuels made from municipal and farm waste (including corn stalks), or the specially grown nonfood crops (including switchgrass) that we’ve already mentioned.

The bigger question concerning Obama is, will he have the political will to push forward with alternative energy, especially since gas prices have dropped by 70% since their peak last year? History tells us that after the energy crisis of 1973-1974, American consumers were very interested in alternative energy. Within a decade, as fuel prices remained low, the average person lost their appetite for change. The same thing is clearly in danger of happening now. When traditional fuel production costs are low, investment in research of alternative energy tends to be low.

If Obama does push forward with massive government grants, and tax breaks for research, a golden era of biofuel development could quickly dawn. If that happens, we may all soon be driving vehicles fueled by energy derived from grass soon enough.

With Barack Obama taking over as President of the USA, many people expect a golden age of green technology to dawn in our nation. Obama has stated the desire to create 3 million new jobs, many of them coming from green industries. It’s a lofty goal, indeed. But it’s not like Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush has been completely slacking in the same department. He signed a number of landmark proposals into law concerning incentives for alternative energy.

Dependence on foreign oil prompts the US to look for alternative sources of energy

Ever since the first major oil crisis in 1973, the Federal government has made funds available to help fund alternative energy research. The idea of reducing our foreign dependence on oil is compelling, especially as the geo-political situation in the world becomes increasingly complicated. But for the most part, the price of crude oil has remained relatively cheap and research into alternative energy has proceeded at a pace that hasn’t produced the needed advancements to produce a quantum leap towards clean energy.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is one department responsible for promoting research in alternative energy, and they’ve seen an increase in recent years in the amount they’re investing. Right now, intrepid researchers can apply for grants if they’re researching in such fields as biofuels, solar energy, and hydrogen fuels.

Another advantage of the Office of Science is that specially chosen projects will also gain access to their supercomputer. This can help speed research along vastly.

“From understanding the makeup of our universe to protecting the quality of life here on earth, the computational science now possible using DOE’s supercomputers touches all of our lives,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach, who launched INCITE in 2003. “By dedicating time on these supercomputers to carefully selected projects, we are advancing scientific research in ways we could barely envision 10 years ago, improving our national competitiveness.”

The National Science Foundation is the other major government sponsor of alternative energy research. Although the NSF doesn’t focus exclusively on alternative energy research, such projects often fit their criteria for funding. In a sign of the times, they’ve even made finding such funding easier.

Businesses are looking for the solution to energy problems too

Of course one of the biggest sectors sponsoring scientific research into alternative energy is the private sector. Companies with R&D departments that sponsor alternative energy projects have been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years.

With oil prices through the roof, development of alternative energy became a prime concern for many companies. But as the price of crude oil dropped by 70%, a number of companies have already canceled projects totaling billions. As the last energy crisis in the early 1970s proved, people have a short memory when it comes to high energy prices, because most people have lived during a period of cheap energy. Some people might even expect cheap energy as a basic right of their existence. But huge challenges to this idea already exist. The world’s population sits at 6.5 billion and energy consumption is up in most of the developed world. These facts should ensure a steady stream of money into research.

2009 is an exciting time for alternative energy research. Events in 2008 spooked consumers. GM and Ford found themselves in huge trouble because they were trying to sell gas guzzling vehicles to customers who wanted much better fuel efficiency. With these events still fresh in everyone’s mind, and a new administration and congress in power, it’s likely a push towards alternative energy will be on everyone’s mind. It’s likely part of this push will result in more and bigger government grants for alternative energy research.

Today we look at the relatively controversial topic of developing nuclear power as alternative energy. The reason it’s a controversial topic is because most people don’t think of nuclear power as being “green.” Sure, nuclear power is “clean” to a degree, but it’s also the opposite of renewable. Plus, the potential danger of generating nuclear power is well documented and is powerful enough to scare anyone.

The advantages of nuclear power as alternative energy

Nuclear technology has been is use for years, and is currently the second largest source of electrical energy in the United States. Nuclear energy creates energy through the process of the fission of uranium, rather than through the burning of fossil fuels, which contribute to pollution and global warming. Right off the bat, you can see that nuclear power is beneficial because it eliminates the creation of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, dust and greenhouse gases.

The disadvantages of nuclear power as alternative energy

The two big drawbacks to using nuclear power are:

1. Nuclear safety – nuclear safety must be the top priority, because a “meltdown” of the core reactor can have devastating affects on the environment and is lethal for anyone exposed to the dangerous radiation
2. Nuclear waste – removal of nuclear waste is a major task. Removal and storage of the nuclear waste until it’s depleted of its active materials is a must

All in all, nuclear safety has proven to be safe. Very few people die from nuclear energy each year. Nuclear energy is even less likely to kill anyone than coal energy.

“Potential problems from accidents in transport of radioactive materials are largely neutralized by elaborate packaging. A great deal of such transport has taken place over the past 50 years and there have been numerous accidents, including fatal ones. However, from all of these accidents combined, there is less than a 1% chance that even a single death will ever result from radiation exposure. Probabilistic risk analyses indicate that we can expect less than one death per century in U.S. from this source.”

Compared to coal, nuclear energy leads in several categories. It’s much cleaner for the environment, and even less dangerous overall to humans.

Despite being reviled for years, nuclear energy has been making a comeback in recent years. The reason is obvious. The developed nations of the world now have long track records of operating safe nuclear power plants, and although there have been accidents, there’s no proof that nuclear power is any more dangerous than coal produced electric energy. The accident at Chernobyl has been the worst case of a nuclear meltdown and that incident caused the death of less than 50 people. Coal burning for electric generation has long been proven to be worse on the environment. Plus it involves depleting one of earth’s bounties through constant mining.

The problem of nuclear waste has long been solved, as well. If you bury nuclear waste for thousands of years, it becomes inactive. Of course the idea of burying nuclear waste in anyone’s backyard is not palatable to most voters, therefore a lack of such sites exists worldwide. Even the famed Yucca Mountain Repository has never opened for business, despite the Department of Energy slating the project to begin in 1998.

There’s always the matter of transporting the waste to the repository as an ancillary issue that receives much discussion. Experts predict that Yucca Mountain will open by 2013, but all bets are off depending on what the new administration and Senate decide.

Nuclear energy has been enjoying a bit of a comeback in recent years because it’s “greener” than other methods of electrical production. If people could be assured that the technology is completely safe, and if businesses can make a profit from the construction of nuclear plants, it’s likely that many developed countries might move more of their electrical production needs over to nuclear. Nuclear energy is far from perfect, but it has performed better than many alternate proposals.

Alternative energy from the Ocean is an overlooked resource. The Ocean is a vast part of earth that is many ways remains largely unexplored. Scientists who are interested in exploring energy alternatives will leave no stone unturned. Now they’re turning their attention to the ocean.

Ocean Current Energy

One area that looks especially promising is the use of Ocean current energy.

Ocean waters are constantly on the move. Ocean currents flow in complex patterns affected by the wind, water salinity and temperature, topography of the ocean floor, and the earth’s rotation. The ocean currents are driven by wind and solar heating of the waters near the equator, though some ocean currents result from density and salinity variations of water. These currents are relatively constant and flow in one direction only, in contrast to the tidal currents closer to shore. Some examples of ocean currents are the Gulf Stream, Florida Straits Current, and California Current.

Ocean currents create tremendous amounts of energy

The great part for energy creation is that these oceans waves, due to the density of water can create powerful energy. The potential is enormous, and could replace the current methods of electrical generation in many parts of the USA. Of course the technology will have to be perfected before that can happen.

Tapping into the alternative energy of the ocean will require several technological breakthroughs

Right now there is no commercial application that can be used to mine this vast source of energy. Scientists in the USA, China, Japan, and Russia are studying the ideas of unleashing the energy, but so far there hasn’t been any major break-through developments that would allow them to start harnessing this energy in a useful format.

Certainly tapping the power of the ocean won’t be easy, or cheap. It will take quite a bit of technical know how to harness the energy, as well as to transport it back to people. Current designs center around a system of turbines and pipelines, somewhat similar to what is being done on “wind farms.” Whether that concept pans out remains unknown.

Some facts are unknown, such as what type of maintenance will these machines need? Since they’ll be buried deep in the ocean, cleaning and repairing them will be no easy task. Plus, considerations of the effect on the current ecology is of paramount importance. There’s no telling what type of damage such intrusive instruments might wreak on the the ocean, which until now, has remained relatively pristine.

Alternative Energy Ocean Power

Of course it’s also unknown what would happen in the event of changing the current flow of the ocean. Currents that are artificially slowed down could potentially have a harmful affect on the rest of the ocean. Without more studies, and small test projects, these answers will remain unknown.

Researchers in Florida are extremely interested in answering these questions about the ocean’s power. With ocean pressure at 450PSI, the ocean represents engineering problems that haven’t been solved up until this point.

It’s hard to not get excited when you think about ocean energy. The power of the currents is incredible, and tapping these resources would be enormously useful to many people, especially those located in Florida. If the technological issues can be overcome, then ocean current energy could replace coal as a means of generating massive amounts of energy.

Alternative energy for the home is becoming more readily available

Providing our own home energy needs from an alternative source is becoming more appealing to people in modern times. Lots of folks are aware of the problems related to coal energy and are looking for alternatives.

Some of the alternative energy sources for the home are:

1. Solar energy – Solar energy is popular in areas where the sun shines nearly constantly. Solar energy has proven to be effective for many people, but solar energy systems tend to be pricey upfront.
2. Wind turbines – Wind turbines are catching on in many parts of the world where wind is common. Some wind turbines can be built with subsidies and the energy can be sold to a whole supplier. Wind turbines tend to offer some attractive features to homeowners.
3. Water turbines – small systems designed to work in tandem with solar energy in areas where rainfall is common.

Disadvantages of Alternative Energy for the home

1. Initial price is always the main deterrent. It costs a good bit of money to install solar panels or wind turbines. The high cost of startup is the main issue cited by consumers who don’t end up using alternative energy for their homes.
2. Solar panels and wind turbines are BIG. You need quite a bit of room to install these systems and make them work.
3. The sun and wind aren’t always friendly partners when it comes to making energy.

Advantages of alternative energy in the home

1. Alternative energy is clean and renewable. This type of energy is much better for the environment.
2. Energy is free after your initial purchase. Once the setup is done and you know have energy to burn. In some cases, you might even have a surplus you can resell.
3. Alternative energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions so the environment will be better for your investment.

It’s important to think of purchasing alternative energy equipment for your home as making an investment in the future. You will spend more upfront, in most cases, but you’ll be contributing to a cleaner world, and you’ll be saving money from then on. If more and more people start using these type of green technologies for the home, it will drive overall pricing down as unit sales increases. When the price becomes low enough, everyone will have solar and wind energy in their homes and people will be much more reliant on energy monopolies to provide them with service.

SunPower recently announced that they are going to build their third Photovoltaic Solar Cell manufacturing plant in Malaysia.

This new plant is expected to produce more than 1,000 megawatts of cell per year. 1 megawatt is enough to supply 750 homes with power.

SolarPower said they plan to begin solar cell production in 2010. The first phase of construction calls for 14 solar cell production lines. Each line will have a capacity of 40 megawatts per year.

To learn more about this emerging technology, please visit Sun Power.