“In the past 150 years, methane emission in to the atmosphere has roughly tripled, and today some 600 million metric tons are sent into the air annually. That rise is a concern because methane, like carbon dioxide, traps heat in the earth's atmosphere and therefore contributes to global warming.” (Scientific American, February 2007)
The above quote shows an example of how methane and carbon dioxide emissions are polluting our atmosphere, contributing to global warming. These are just some of the gasses that come from our power plants. Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels, which are burned for their energy. The gasses emitted from these are hazardous. How do we solve this problem?
If you've been tuned into the current technology advances, you'd know the answers are alternate energy sources. Alternate energy sources are energy sources such as biomass, hydroelectric, or solar energy. A lot of these are nearly endless, and produce little to none hazardous gasses.
Solar Power
Solar power is the energy emitted by the sun. Concentrating this energy uses technology that uses reflective materials to concentrate the sun's heat energy, which drives a generator to produce energy. This can be used in small cells on solar-powered calculators, or in large amounts such as solar power plants.
Wind Energy
Wind energy uses the kinetic energy (movement) of the wind and converts it into electricity. Using large windmill-like structures called wind turbines, the wind spins the turbine, and the movement is passed on to a generator to convert the energy. Sometimes they are in great quantities, and are called wind farms.
Mostly they are used by homeowners and small villages for their energy needs.
Hydropower
Hydropower is, as you may have guessed, energy generated from water. It is relative to wind energy, converting the kinetic energy of the rushing water into Electricity.
Biomass
“We've been burning "biomass" since the Paleolithic era, when wood fires warmed the cave and slow-roasted the leg of mastodon.” (Popular Science, July 2006)
Biomass is basically burning agricultural waste, grassy plants, sewage, or anything organic. Energy from the once-living or still living is burned just like fossil fuels. Although biomass releases carbon dioxide just like fossil fuels, biomass emissions are balance by the CO2 captured during growth. (US Department of Energy - Energy Sources)
Now the question is, should the government fund alternate energy sources? The department of Energy funds $20 billion dollars each in contracts and financial agreements. The end of the year 2005, coal was #37.51 per short ton (2000 pounds). In 2006 it had skyrocketed up to $48 per short ton. But to convert coal power plants would be very costly.
Where would all the money come from? Here's an idea: Know all the money being invested into the soldiers in Iraq? About 457 billion dollars, and it keeps on growing. If we were to stop spending in Iraq, imagine all the money that could go to converting power plants, conducting research, and more! (US Department of Energy - Prices and Trends, EconStats : Coal Prices,
CostofWar.com
In the future, I believe that fewer power plants will be powered by coal, and instead, powered by water, sunlight, wind, biomass, and more. Iceland has already started. Even though it will take a lot of money, and a lot of time, it's worth it if it's going to save our planet.
