We explain what so-called alternative energies are and why they are important. Advantages and disadvantages of these clean energies.
What are alternative energies?
It is called alternative energies or, more properly, alternative energy sourcesto techniques and procedures for obtaining energy other than traditional ones, consisting of the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.). This term is generally associated with the search for less polluting energy but with equal performance.
Since the Industrial Revolution of the 17th century, the burning of hydrocarbons continues to be the most used energy source in the world, given its enormous performance when it comes to manufacturing fuels for automobiles, aircraft or sources of electricity. However, its environmental consequences, added to the instability of raw material markets, impose the need for energy. cleaner, safer and more economical. Those are, then, alternative energies.
This term appeared in the 70s when the environmental impact of human industry and its alteration of animal ecosystems were already more than evident. There is no definitive criterion as to which forms of energy production are properly “alternative”, since the term is often used to refer to forms of ecological energy or “green energy”.
Examples of alternative energies
Broadly speaking, the forms of alternative energy would be:
- Tidal energy Take advantage of the movements of the tides and ocean currents.
- Wind energy It takes advantage of the mechanical force of the wind to mobilize generating turbines.
- Nuclear power It obtains energy through controlled atomic reactions that release a lot of heat and allow electricity to be produced.
- Solar energy It takes advantage of and stores the energy from everyday solar radiation.
- Geothermal energy Take advantage of the natural heat of the deep layers of the Earth's subsoil.
- Hydroelectric energy It generates electricity by harnessing the gravitational potential energy of large bodies of water such as waterfalls or rivers.
- Biofuels It takes advantage of waste organic matter to generate alcohols and gasoline with average performance and lower cost and environmental damage than petroleum derivatives.
Importance of alternative energies
The development field of alternative energies It is vital in the post-industrial world given that the effects of our industrial activity over almost two centuries are already being seen in the environment and generating controversy among scientific communities.
As our demand for energy only grows and grows, as we employ more technology and sophisticated devices, there is an urgent need to find safer and more reliable forms of energy for the future.
Advantages of alternative energies
The main advantages of alternative energies are:
- Less environmental impact Although these are not ecological or green ways of obtaining energy, since a hydroelectric plant has a considerable ecological impact, they are more convenient for the global ecosystem and climate change problems than the burning of hydrocarbons, since they do not generate as many greenhouse gases.
- Lower cost of raw materials By not depending on the extraction of oil, coal or natural gas, these energies keep their costs stable, in many cases limiting them to the initial installation and subsequent maintenance.
Disadvantages of alternative energies
Despite their advantages, these energies have a weak side:
- Lower efficiency They are not usually as powerful as traditional methods, which requires greater installations, savings campaigns and an entire energy culture contrary to the waste to which we are culturally accustomed.
- Higher risks. Although they do not harm the global ecosystem as much, these technologies can cause a lot of damage if something goes wrong: losses of radioactive material from nuclear power plants, microearthquakes generated by geothermal energy or the drop in power generation from wind plants when the wind decreases or the climate changes, these are issues that must be taken into account.
Types of alternative energies
Alternative energy sources can be classified into two types:
- Renewable or sustainable energy Those that use materials or take advantage of inexhaustible resources or that nature constantly replenishes, without risk of exhausting them in the immediate future. In some cases they even take advantage of organic waste materials, such as biomass. Some are more or less ecological, but they do not usually have very high performance.
- Nuclear power All forms of nuclear energy, both fission and fusion (not yet developed), which, although taking advantage of non-renewable resources (such as uranium for fission; although fission would take advantage of hydrogen, so abundant in the universe that it is virtually eternal ), entails environmental dangers such as the generation of highly toxic radioactive waste.
Continue with: Exploitation of natural resources
