Alternatives To Fossil Fuel Power Plants
Alternatives to fossil fuel power plants include nuclear power, solar power, geothermal power, wind power, tidal power, hydroelectric power (hydroelectricity) and other renewable energies (see non-carbon economy). Some of these are proven technologies on an industrial scale (i.e. nuclear, wind, tidal and hydroelectric power) others are still in prototype form.
Nuclear power, and geothermal power may be classed as heat pollutants as they add heat energy to the biosphere that would not otherwise be released. The nett quantity of energy conversion within the biosphere due to the utilisation of wind power, solar power, tidal power, hydroelectric power (hydroelectricity) is static and is derived from the effects of sunlight and the movement of the moon and planets. It may be argued that the net release of geothermal energy into the biosphere through volcanic activity is mitigated slightly over time due to the draw down of heat energy by geothermal power stations. This would entail an extremely complex analysis to resolve for individual installations.
Generally, the cost of electrical energy produced by non fossil fuel burning power plants is greater than that produced by burning fossil fuels. This statement however only includes the cost to produce the electrical energy and does not take into account indirect costs associated with the many pollutants created by burning fossil fuels (e.g. increased hospital admissions due respiratory diseases caused by fine smoke particles).
Read more about this topic: Fossil-fuel Power Station
Famous quotes containing the words alternatives to, alternatives, fossil, fuel, power and/or plants:
“The literal alternatives to [abortion] are suicide, motherhood, and, some would add, madness. Consequently, there is some confusion, discomfort, and cynicism greeting efforts to “find” or “emphasize” or “identify” alternatives to abortion.”
—Connie J. Downey (b. 1934)
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—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
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—Jacques Maritain (1882–1973)
“What I did not yet know so intensely was the hatred of the white American for the black, a hatred so deep that I wonder if every white man in this country, when he plants a tree, doesn’t see Negroes hanging from its branches.”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)