Summary of an Article on Solar, Geothermal, and Wind Energy

Solar, Geothermal, and Wind Energy
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August 17, 2012
Energy sources and their utilization closely relate to sustainable development. High power consumption has led to shrinking of the fossil fuel level in reserves. Use of fossil fuels increase emission of carbon dioxide and influences climate change hence need for renewable sources. Renewable power sources are additional important power strategies for power solutions in the world. Due to increased power usage, it is good to incorporate these renewable power sources, and although they cannot meet all the power needs, they are major contributors. Renewable power sources support clean environmental goals, at the same time addressing national needs for energy and independence. They are referred to as renewable sources since they cannot be extinct and can always be replenished (National atlas, 2011).
A report by National atlas (2011) states that solar power is energy collected from the sun and transformed into heat or electricity. The energy can be used at homes, businesses and industries. Although it is potentially significant for producing energy, it is rarely used, but with technology growth, many will embrace it. Solar panels are used to collect the solar energy from the sun by displaying them facing the sunrays and storing the energy in battery plates where it is converted to electricity. The energy can be used to heat water and for space heating purposes. Photovoltaic cells help in conversion of sunlight directly to electricity. Environmentally it has few negative impacts. Limitation associated with its use is the cost of setting up the system, limited hours of production together with climate changes. Solar is renewable since its source will never dry up.
Geothermal power is another source that uses naturally available resources of heat underneath to generate power. It uses hot water or steam from underground to generate energy. Emissions from the plants are minimal and have continuous energy supply. Direct-use systems, deep reservoirs utilization and geothermal heat pumps to manufacture electricity are three geothermal technologies. In direct use systems, a well is drilled on the reservoir that provides stream of hot water, which is used during power generation for turning turbines as a report by National atlas (2011) states. Geothermal heat pumps are used for space heating and cooling in additional to heating water for homes and businesses. During winter, these pumps transfer heat stored in the ground to homes while during summer it removes it from buildings into the ground.
National atlas (2011) shows that for many years` people have used wind to grind grains and pump water. With the growth of technology currently, large turbines are used to generate electric power. They are mounted on tall towers since wind above the surface travels faster. The wind turns the blades, which in turn rotates a generator to produce power. Currently wind...