Alternative Energy - Disadvantages

Disadvantages

There are a number of issues that may arise from switching to alternative energy. “Increasing the nation’s use of natural gas for electricity generation could result in adverse economic consequences”, especially since “natural gas currently costs about four times more than coal”. Furthermore, if there were a widespread switching to natural gas from coal some countries would become increasingly dependent on international supplies. Also, “large-scale fuel switching would require substantial investments in pipeline storage and storage capacity and new terminals to process imported natural gas”. There is also the question of whether to convert existing coal-burning plants or to construct new ones. “Burning natural gas at an existing coal plant would require a pipeline with the ability to meet the plant’s fuel supply requirements”. It would also require “expansion of interstate and intrastate pipelines to transport increased volumes of natural gas” Overall it would be more feasible and cost-effective to construct new natural gas units than to switch coal-burning plants.