Renewable Energy-Related Issues

We make use of energy for almost everything daily. We start our day with bathing, which needs heat energy for water, we need energy for travelling, cooking food, etc. Most of our energy requirements are fulfilled by non-renewable energy resources like petroleum and coal. However, the don’t renewable energy sources are depleting day by day, and we are facing shortages. The renewable energy industry could help in solving these issues. The sources of energy include wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectricity etc. Let us take a look at wind energy’s advantages and disadvantages.

Need for Renewable Energy

Energy can be divided into two types: renewable energy and non-renewable energy. Non-renewable energy is a type of energy which cannot be replenished. For example, fossil fuels are all examples of non-renewable sources of energy. Coal, natural gas, and crude oil are all considered fossil fuels. Non-renewable energy includes nuclear energy,  natural gas, Petroleum and biomass Energy. Even though renewable energy is conventional, there are many disadvantages to it.

Disadvantages of non-renewable Energy:

• All forms of non-renewable energy result in greenhouse gases.
• Once the reservoirs of non-renewable are exhausted, they won’t be produced again.
• The shortage of non-renewable energy is making it quite expensive.
• The residual products generated during obtaining non-renewable energy are mostly non-biodegradable.

Non-renewable energy is responsible for environmental damages like acid rain, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, etc.

To overcome this obvious disadvantage of non-renewable energy, the need to develop renewable energy resources is rising. Let us study renewable sources of energy like wind energy.

Renewable Energy and its Sources

The type of energy which can be replenished in a human life that is the lifespan of a human is called renewable energy. Examples of renewable energy are wind energy and solar energy.

Let us look at various types of renewable energy sources.

• Solar Energy: 

The light energy we receive from the sun is abundantly and freely available. The amount of energy that we receive from the sun in 1 hour could suffice for the planet’s total energy requirements. Solar energy questions are solar pressure cookers, solar water heaters, solar electricity generators, etc.

• Wind Energy:

 The season returns from the wind are clean. Large sir used to generate electricity from wind energy. These are installed at higher elevations where other objects will not obstruct the wind it receives. India has a lot of wind energy turbine setups.

• Hydro Energy: 

Hydro energy is one of the most implemented renewable energies in the renewable energy industry. Dams are constructed on water bodies or large reservoirs. The control flow of water from these dams will drive the turbine, which will result in the generation of electricity. This source of energy generation is more reliable than wind energy or solar energy. India has built a lot of dams to prevent floods and generate electricity.

• Tidal Energy:

 Tidal energy is also a kind of hydro energy where tidal currents drive the turbine generators instead of the dams. 

• Geothermal Energy: 

Geothermal energy uses energy that is naturally present below the earth’s surface to generate electricity. 

Geothermal energy is not freely available inconsiderable amount in a lot of countries. Hence, thermal energy is not a popular renewable energy source.

Let us now study the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy renewable sources.

Wind Energy Advantages and Disadvantages

Wind energy is generated by harnessing the energy generated by winds by using devices called turbines. 

Advantages:

• No fuel is required for the generation of wind energy. Once the turbine is installed, there is no need for fuel or power to generate electricity.
• Since no kind of fossil fuel or other energy is required to power the turbines, energy does not contribute to greenhouse gases. Hence, considered one of the cleanest energies.
• The oral cost of installing wind energy operations is reduced as no other energy is required to fuel it.

Disadvantages:

• The winter buys good post thread to birds who fly in the path of the turbines as the blade is cut into those birds.
• They create a lot of noise while operating. Hence people’s lives are disturbed.
• While wind energy is not high, the manufacturing and installation of the turbines are quite costly.
• The wind flows are not always consistent. Hence wind energy is not always reliable.

Conclusion:

The shortage of coal and electricity load shedding that India is currently facing portrays how non-renewable energy will become less reliable. Non-renewable energy is also harmful to the environment due to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, acid rains, etc. Renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, etc., are great alternatives for non-renewable energy. Renewable energy will never deplete; hence is reliable, and no energy shortage will be faced. Renewable energy is clean and environmentally friendly. However, the renewable energy industry has not quite utilised the full capacity of renewable energy.