Executive summary
Most companies and governments tend to preach about conservation of the environment but in the actual sense it is the very same companies who end up polluting the environment the most and this is seen clearly on the energy source that they use.
Due to increasing expansion of human population and there more complex innovation of more technology in the world, there is an increasing danger of rapid depletion of the life found on the biosphere. There is a great need to put in measure and controls on the use of energy since there is higher rate of depletion of the available sources of energy than they can be replaced by nature, as a result the waste products of human depletion of the natural resources is increasing at an abnormal rate making it impossible for nature to assimilate them in addition , there rate of human population increase is exhausting the major parts of the biosphere, threatening much of the regenerative capacities these systems afford (Boyle, 1992).
It is clearly said that the modern rate of human extinction is at most hundred times greater than it were hundred years ago and this has been brought about by extinction and pollution of natural resources by us humans and therefore the possible effects of this to our generations to come is very huge and it is necessary to start Switching to more appropriate alternative technologies which can be able to reduce some of the impacts created by human unreasonable use of the environment, if it is carried out on a truly massive scale. More so, major improvements in the energy conservation methods should also be put first and this can be achieved through increased efficient use of energy and the change of lifestyle by the same people using it (Breeze,1995).
Furthermore improvements in conservation of energy, through both increased efficiency and modest lifestyle changes can also be useful. However, there is clear evidence which implies that these on its on is not sufficient to prevent major adverse environmental modifications, a substantially degraded biosphere for future generations of humans. We may no longer be able to have another option for a precise course and hope that this will result in the continued viability of our life-giving atmosphere and a healthy water system.
Introduction
There are main five sources of renewable energy in the world which must be exploited by every company that have environmental conservation in mind. With the increased technological skills and information the following are some of the renewable energy sources which are exploited:
Solar energy is energy that comes directly from the sun. The has always been a stable source of the earths’ energy and its energy can be tapped in various forms such electric energy, Heat energy and so on.
Wind
Non Anthropogenic climatic conditions generate winds which usually flows across the landscapes. Back in History, the windmill was put into use and aided in generating mechanical energy, some of the uses included pumping water or grinding of grains. Modern day wind turbines produce electricity.
Water
Water is a vital resource as far as energy utilization and conservation is concerned. Glacier found on mountain tops usually consists of large volumes of water and when it melts away it flows down towards the lakes and the sea. In the past, hydro- wheels were put into use to turn grinding stones and to run mechanical equipment. Nowadays electricity is generated using the water driven electricity generators.
Biomass
The biomass is one of the meager forms of renewable energy producing resources since the process of photosynthesis constantly produces new organic matter in the growth of trees and plants. Photosynthesis stores the sun’s energy in organic matter. Biomass produces heat, liquid fuels and electricity (Bladegrl, 2008).
The work is done solely for the benefit of humans. One result of this viewpoint is that financial support for power energy research drops whilst there are short term increases in non renewable energy accessibility. To persons with a more worldwide and long-term view, this is unsuitable. Literally there is more to it than this. We are commencing to understand that great per capita non renewable energy use patterns are usually harmful to the earth’s life sustaining systems.
Destruction of the Ozone layer and the the planet’s climatic changes are two challenging phenomenon which result because of the above unrationality. There has been an enhanced awareness on the importance of avoiding the use of Nonrenewable fuel or energy since it is said that continuous use of these resources can cause loss of biodiversity and degradation of the environment. Now we need to take this understanding a bit further. The anthropogenic use of energy producing resources has been seen over time to have detrimental impact to the environment, even when renewable energy sources are being used. The renewable sources are thought to generally have less impact, but the impacts are there. So, in addition to switching from nonrenewable to renewable, we need to reduce the impacts of the new sources and to reduce human dependence on them. Many populace believe that we have to go still further and decrease our per capita energy consumption patterns (or greatly reduce the human population) to insure a viable life-support system for future generations. a number of of these changes can be consummated by merely technical interventions, and Amory Lovins has extensive and detailed information that shows how to go about it.
The putting into action of Lovins recommendations needs change in beliefs and societal structures, but most of his recommendations are justified on purely conventional economic bases. These are inherently anthropocentric arguments. It is clear, though, that only technological interventions can not be sufficient alone in addressing g these issues. Individuals’ activities changes will be desirable, not only to put into practice the proposed technological changes but to achieve needed changes that technology and economics alone cannot accomplish. We can try and make more power resourceful houses and offices, but if we maintain constructing them farther and farther apart, transportation energy costs will eat up building energy savings. We can adopt eco-friendly plastics, to reduce the ecological impact of their disposal, but we will still be using energy intensive nonrenewable raw materials to manufacture them (Bladegrl, 2008).
Thus, individual behaviors, and the consequent significance systems, are crucial components of an effective energy policy. It is significant to look at how unsuitable principle systems, that human beings ,and the society at large, produce behaviors that are inconsistent with an earth-sustaining energy policy. Then the attitude that lead to these behaviors can be attended to by the means indicated previously. vital to this work is a necessity to avoid narrowly-based human centrism. We must do what we do for the whole earth’s environmental system, not necessarily because non human organisms have rights, but because individual wellbeing is also at risk. Finally, economists, energy planners, researchers, and businessmen are by now undertaking a an enormous agenda of societal engineering, attempting to make extreme changes in the habits whichhumans use to obtain and use energy. Disputing this reality, or denying that there are moral issues to be made in the process, is clearly irresponsible.
Paraphrasing Strong and Rosen field, we have two choices before us, to begin now to seek guidelines for meeting the fundamental problem of how to protect the world’s physical resources from ultimate exhaustion, or wait until drastic change is forced upon us by the severity of the problems we have helped to create. “We can take on innovative communal and ecological principles now or wait until human degradation and environmental deterioration threaten our very existence. Whichever intervention we adopt, we must realize that the future relies on our present undertakings and that neither as persons nor as a society can we evade from accountability for them.”
The link between renewable energy and ethics it is certainly short and clear: we do not have the right to destroy the conditions for life on earth by continued use of climate damaging energy sources; we must replace them with clean, safe, abundant and geopolitically benign renewable energy; the mechanism proven to deliver the fastest, lowest-cost renewable energy deployment is the feed-in tariff (FIT), often referred to in the U.S. as the advanced renewable tariff (ART).
There are precise challenges regarding ecosystem conservation, energy security, and a clear solution. It ogres well for European states that have become world a leader in renewable and the law has helped to raise awareness, participation and support for renewable.
The opportunities for renewable systems
The solar energy system
There are opportunities for a solar system project to take place because of the availability of raw materials and the enough space where the project is to be installed. A well built solar energy system needs very clear access to the sun for the better of the day. Since the location looks promising the government can effectively install this project.
How it works
Pivoltanic allows you to produce electricity without noise or air pollution from a clean, renewable resource. Many PV system components are easily available since most of them are in the market they can be obtained easily at a cheaper price.
cosmological electric power comes in very handy on farms, and is frequently the most lucrative and low-maintenance solution at locations far from the nearest helpfulness line. PV can be put into use to clout illumination, electric fencing, minute motors, ventilation fans, gate-openers, irrigation control device switch, automatic supplement feeders. cosmological electric power can even be used to move some sprinkler systems.
Wind energy
the opportunity for starting this project are there because of the availability of a ridge near the towns with a steady strong wind through much of the year, and in addition to that there is plenty of farm that belongs to the government of Belina which can be used to install the project and since the verse of land is remotely located hence it is not easily access to the utility lines.
The cost of wind energy
The cost of wind energy is only experienced at the installation of the turbine can cost anywhere from 3,000 dollars to 35,000 dollars installed, depending on size, application, and service agreements with the manufacturer. A universal rule of thumb for calculating the rate of a housing turbine is 3,000 dollars per kilowatt for systems up to 10 kW. Minor wind system is more expensive per kilowatt of installed ability
Renewable fuels
Since the government has a vast truck of land which is uncultivated, they can start cultivating corn which can be used to produce ethanol for example in the United States, ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, is made from the starch in kernels of field corn. contemporary fuel alcohol technology is extremely complicated and resourceful, and the procedure is similar to manufacturing alcoholic drinks. Starch is converted into sugars, the glucose sugars are converted to a “beer,” and then the beer is distilled to make pure ethanol (Eastop, 2000).
Discussions of the various bids
Bid No 1: Eurogen
The bid is workable because of the presence of most of the water bodies on the site which they can be able to use to generate energy to be used in town by up coming industries. The cost of the project will not be that expensive, this is because it has been partially financed by the Sudeten government and in addition to that there are loan incentives which are being offered by financial companies.
However, the project is only workable if the Sudeten government can be able to sustain the mother nuclear reactor plant in their own country for the next 50 years. Therefore it shows that the project is not independent and it is not a long term oriented where we can invest our money on it, our future generation will lack energy source.
Bid No 2: Windiber
The project is viable since we do have a ridge near the towns with a steady strong wind through much of the year but the question comes when we start talking about the quantity of energy that can be produced by these wing turbines which will be able to support all the industries being established plus the increased in population. The winds are able to produce only 1MW but we need 1GW of wind therefore we will be running on a shortage.
Bid No 3: RelRose
The project is workable only if everything is constant including the demand for natural gas, political stability at Middle East and steady supply but otherwise we cannot work on the project because:
- Very partial accessibility as exposed by shortages throughout winters
- several years ago
- Could be major contributor to global warming
- Expensive for energy generation
- Large price swings with supply and demand
Bid No 4: Atishi
Even though the unit generation price of project is less expensive, it will not hold for long because of the political instability in the Middle East and the above factors will play part.
- limited availability as shown by insufficiency during winters several years ago
- Could be major contributor to global warming
- Expensive for energy generation
- Large price swings with supply and demand
Bid No 5: Natfuel
The project is not visible because the amount of land will be very large and the amount of energy generated is low compared to other projected even though it’s expensive. More so:
- Biomass is very Inefficient if small plants are used and we cannot know how much land will be set aside for the project without displacing the people who are living around, since we are not told that the government is ready to compensate the displaced families.
- Biomass could be significant contributor to global warming because fuel has low heat content
Bid No 6: Minigen
This project is workable because the raw materials are found at the seas offshore, and the land is owned by the government. More so, the Building contract is underwritten by a consortium of international financiers who will finance the expenses of digging down the bedrock for gas. The benefit of this project is:
- Fuel energy is not expensive
- Energy manufacturing is the most concentrated source
- Waste from it is more compacted
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is cheap to install a project of renewable energy source since it has got a lot of advantages for example Renewable energy facilities generally require less maintenance than traditional generators. Their fuel being derived from non anthropogenic and available resources cuts down the costs of production.
Even more importantly, renewable fuels removes little or no by and has minimal impact on the environment such as production of carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants, so has the environment.
But in another side renewable source of energy has got some of the setbacks that make the whole exercise questionable for instance it is difficult to generate the quantities of electricity that are as large as those produced by traditional fossil fuel generators.
Recommendations
It will be prudent for the government to choose MINIGEN the international nuclear engineering company to install for them the project since:
- Fuel is not very expensive compared to other sources of energy.
- Energy generation is the most concentrated source
- Waste is more compact than any source
- Extensive scientific basis for the cycle
- Easy to transport as new fuel
- No greenhouse or acid rain effects
It will be very vital to say that the project recognizes that growth occurs within some limits and it is ultimately limited by carrying the capacity of the environment. In addition to that the project has respect for life forms and supports diversity and this is evident since the project does not pollute the environment.
It is also recommended since it makes best use of local efforts by employing the young population of Belina in both skilled and unskilled labour, it has also made use of local resources since not much is imported into Belina.
References
Bladegrl John (2008). Earth 4 Energy (2nd Ed.). London: Pluto Press.
Boyle, Godfrey (1992). Energy Systems and Sustainability.
Breeze, Paul (1995) Power Generation Technologies. London: Harvard Press.
Eastop, T.D. (2000). Thermodynamics for Manufacturing Technologists. London press.