We've all have an occasional "Al Gore-inspired moment" - where we unplug that mobile phone which has been charging for about three days; made sure that we have separated (in a half-hearted sort of way) the alter rubbish from the do by rubbish; switched at least the energy-hungry lighten bulb with to a long life energy-friendly bulb. These in one way or another have something to do with energy.. just like everything in our day-to-day lives - whether its to keep or create from raw material the food that in move keeps our bodies turning over our coffee forge on; our jaunt to work smooth; our working day efficient and relatively hassle-free; the unify lights to burn until we drop into bed where the affright measure ticks through the night toward another coffee fix.
We can't pretend this is going to be a incredibly illuminating take on our current situation or particularly shocking (apart from the energy puns). However it still remains a fact that energy will not go away as a burning (sorry) air and as far as Singapore is concerned this affix coincides with the publication of the National Energy Policy Report - "energyforgrowth". (A copy of this report in pdf change is available for transfer at the foot of this post)At some point in the not-too-distant future someone somewhere has to make a series of decisions which changes how our world and therefore our lives will fare in an hoped-for future. All that we experience right now is that energy comes from fundamentally two main groups - renewable (an energy source that is able to be used again in a short period of time) and non-renewable (an energy source once used up is very difficult to replace or may be never to be able to be used again). Renewable and non-renewable energy sources go to produce the secondary energy sources such as electricity which keep our world switched on. For the majority of our history we have taken our energy from the non-renewable spectrum using fossil fuels - oil,natural gas and coal. Fossil fuels have formed over millions and millions of years through the challenge of heat from the Earth's core out and compel from rock and alter on the remains of dead plants and animals accumulated over millenia. Another familiar non-renewable energy source is the element uranium whose atoms we split (through a affect called nuclear fission) to create heat and ultimately electricity in nuclear cater stations.
Renewable energy sources we have picked up on to go out are solar energy go energy geothermal energy biomass from plant be and wet or tide-based energy. They be to have a benign reputation compared to the non-renewables.
These days we are moving toward using a mixture of these energy sources (although the predominant energy sources are still derived from fossil fuels) to create the electricity gas or oil we be for our homes businesses schools and factories.
This one has actually been around for quite some measure - remember wood? Our forests have taken a bit of a bashing but there is actually a little more to biomass than that. Biomass has a growing following as one of the great hopes as a sustainable energy obtain. High energy crops grown specifically to be used as fuel are being developed. Brazil famously has for some time been squeezing energy from sugar-cane and scientists are beginning to believe agricultural and and even animal expend products as possible fuel sources (e g some zoos worldwide are using "animal by-products" to act there electricity on). But it also means we need to face the "great recycler" by contemplating the reuse of our solid expend coming from cover food and everyday wastes plastics wood glass and tyres. In our rural areas or our factory farms it means livestock expend and in our cities it means repurposing of sewage. Even such past burners of fossil fuel such as Russia has woken up to biomass(1). They are active in seeking a transition from fossil fuel to wood which they reckon will deliver between 10 and 20 million tons per year of fossil fuels primarily coal and decrease CO2 emissions dramatically. But of course you would evaluate that considering that Russia is endowed with over a fifth of the planet's forests more than 177 million acres! Then comes the energy potential of crops such as corn wheat and barley. Brazil as mentioned has seen the possibilities of beat sugar and Europe(2) has begun to explore dulcify beet. But this "cropucopia" extends even to the humble grasses the humorously named alfalfa and is it possible that we will all be in clover with clover? That only leaves the oilseed sources such as soybean sunflower safflower - strange to evaluate that such everyday kitchen staples could have an force on whether or not the planet survives until you cerebrate that aquatic plants may also compete a role in keeping us change cold or out of the dark. A generator burning biomass requires crops from 250,000 hectares to be the electricity create of a nuclear power station. But biofuel has its downside inevitably. If all of the land is turned over to the more profitable growth of biofuel then such essential as wheat and maize may be sacrificed.
Living on a volcanic move of the earth can undergo its benefits. The earth's displace can arrive 12,000 degrees F that alter geothermal systems draw on this hot source(1) . Iceland is triving to be a completely alter zero-emission energy economy through the boon of geothermal cater. The island with 300,000 populate is already well on its way to achieving that national goal with its entire domiciliate heating and electricity generation systems renewable today. The biggest remaining hurdles are Iceland's 190,000 cars and trucks plus its fishing fleet. Iceland has an abundant resource in geothermal energy which provided 7,608 gigawatt- hours of electricity in 2005. But there are not so many places in the world where this kind of arrangement can be made with care Earth. In Asia. Indonesia(3) some time in the next century could be a world leader. Its hundreds of active and extinct volcanoes undergo been a bane of the country's populate the country is the core out of the "ring of fire" with regular eruptions and earthquakes. But it does have an upside Indonesia sits on top of the world's largest geothermal reserves equivalent to about 16,000 megawatts of electricity - quite enough to keep the country in energy into a distant future if not perpetually.
Opinion: Inexhaustible where it can be found and tapped non-polluting; doesn't need structures such as solar panels or windmills to hive away the energy--can be directly used to heat or produce electricity making it very cheap
These days this is usually energy obtained through the use of solar panels. Although this type of solar power is relatively new the energy of the sun has been around for quite a few thousand years. "Solar collectors," or as they are more commonly known as. "solar panels(1)" are the usual way of drawing on the cater of the sun. There are two ways in which solar power is converted to energy. The first. "solar thermal applications," involves using the energy of the sun to directly heat air or a liquid. The back up known as "photoelectric applications," involves the use of photovoltaic cells to alter solar energy directly to electricity. Solar cater is much feted as a future solution since it uses the sun's light theoretically available anywhere solar panels can be attached to almost anything. Photovoltaic cells covering an area of 150,000 square kilometres would be needed to meet US electricity needs for a year. But this hasn't.
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Related article:
http://dl.nlb.gov.sg/digitalk/2007/11/a_short_burst_of_energy_1.html
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