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http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/bill_mckibben.html

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"There is an urgent need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, dramatically reduce wasted energy, and significantly shift our power supplies f..." - Bill McKibben

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http://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2011/04/01/disadvantages-of-renewable-energy-drawbacks-of-different-alternative-energy-sources/

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The Biggest Disadvantage of Renewable Energy is the relatively higher cost of most forms of alternative energy compared to fossil fuel sources of energy.This has prevented the higher penetration of clean energy as compared to the non-renewable sources of energy.Also the massive old energy lobbies have successfully used their massive influence and power to inhibit the growth of renewable sources of energy.The recent lobbying by oil and gas firms like the Koch Brothers and Valero is quite pertinent.Note the oil and gas lobbies receive almost 10 times the subsidy received by clean energy sources like wind and solar despite their massive established bases.The disadvantages of Renewable Energy are quite a few and have been listed individually for each source of Renewable Energy like solar,wind,biomass,nuclear,tidal,hydro and geothermal.However their biggest advantage is that they do not lead to the growing global warming problem.Despite the current apathy towards climate change mitigation efforts,Global Warming is one of the biggest existential threats to humankind.
Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy

1. Nuclear and Radiation Accidents - This is the biggest con for Nuclear Energy and has been repeated 3 times in the last 30 years in Japan,Russia and USA.The fear of a repeat is so great that despite all the safety arrangements touted by the nuclear equipment operators and suppliers,Nuclear Energy faces an uncertain future

2. Nuclear Waste Disposal - Again a massive problem as the spent Nuclear Rods of Nuclear Reactors are prohibitively costly and difficult to dispose of.Spent nuclear fuel is initially very highly radioactive and so must be handled with great care and forethought.There is no foolproof way to dispose nuclear waste fuel after it is used in the Nuclear Reactors.The area around Nuclear Waste Sites can be dangerous to humans for hundreds of year as complex nuclear elements have half lives running into many years.the United States had accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors.Permanent storage underground in U.S. had been proposed at the Yucca but that project has now been effectively cancelled.Presently, waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate.

3. Low level of Radioactivity from Normal Operations - The nuclear industry also produces a large volume of low-level radioactive waste in the form of contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon decommissioning) the materials of which the reactor itself is built

4. Nuclear proliferation - Many countries have used the ruse of nuclear energy programs to generate fuel for developing nuclear weapons.Currently there is a major international controversy with regards to the Iranian Nuclear Energy Program.Nuclear Reactors are targets for rogue state actors who can steal the fuel for creating radiation weapons

5. High Capital Investment, Cost Overruns and Long Gestation Time - The time to construct a large Nuclear power project can take between 5-10 years which leads to time and cost overruns.The Nuclear Plant being built in Finland has been one of the biggest failures in Project Finance.The reactor has been delayed by many year and has led to a massive cost overrun.Areva the main nuclear equipment supplier has endured huge losses.In fact the safety regulations and the long time of construction has brought the Nuclear Energy in the Developed World to almost a halt.

6. Regulations - The Regulations for Nuclear Energy Power Plants are many and cumbersome due to the massive risks of a failure of a nuclear reactor.This greatly increases the costs of generating nuclear power.It also leads to a long time in the actual start to the completion of a Nuclear Plant .

7. Fuel Danger - Uranium which is the main fuel used in Nuclear Fission Power Plants is limited to a few countries and suppliers.Its use and transport is regulated by international treaties and groups.India which came under sanctions because of testing of nuclear weapons had to shut many of its nuclear plants because of embargoes.

Disadvantages of Solar Energy

1) Higher Costs that Fossil Energy Forms - This is the biggest disadvantage cited by anti-Solar Power activists despite the massive decline in costs that Solar Power has seen over the last decades.It has been estimated that solar power costs fall by 20% for every 100% increase in supply.The Solar Cost Curve has declined massively in the last 2 years as cheap Chinese solar production has made solar panel costs come down by 50% .Note in the next 4-5 years expect an average decline of around 10% per year which would make solar energy competitive with fossil fuel energy in most parts of the world.Current solar power costs between 15-30c/Kwh depending on the solar radiation of the particular location,type of technology used etc.

2) Intermittent Nature - One of the biggest problems of Solar Power ( Solar PV that is ) is that it is intermittent in nature as it generates energy only when the sun shines.This problem can be solved with energy storage however this leads to additional costs.This argument also does not make sense for a US DOE study indicated that solar and wind intermittent power won't be a problem till 30-40% of the electricity in the US is from these 2 forms of renewable energy.Smart Grids and Cheaper Energy Storage in the future should allow even higher penetrations of Wind and Solar Power possible.

3) High Capital Investment - A Solar Plant can cost around $3.5-6 million to be spent in building 1 Megawatt.This is said to be too high,however this again is one of the silliest arguments.The costs of energy can only be compared by Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) which calculates the cost of energy over the lifetime calculating the capex,fuel costs,maintenance,security and insurance costs.While it is true that the initial capital investment for solar power is quite high,the lifecycle cost of solar energy is not that high.

4) Cannot be Built Anywhere - This disadvantage of Solar Energy is present with other forms of Energy as well.Some forms of Energy are just better suited to some places.For example you can't build a nuclear plant on top of an earthquake prone region,you can't build a wind farm near the Dead Sea etc

Disadvantages of Hydro Energy

1) Environmental, Dislocation and Tribal Rights - Large Dam construction especially in populated areas leads to massive Tribal Displacement,Loss of Livelihood and Religious Infringement as potentially sacred Land is occupied by the Government.

2) Wildlife and Fishes get Affected - The Fishes are the most affected species from Dam Construction as the normal flow of the river is completely changed form its river character to a lake one.Submergence of land also leads to ecological destruction of the habitat of land based wildlife.

3) Earthquake Vulnerability - Large Dam Construction has been linked to increased propensity of Earthquakes.Massive Earthquakes in China and Uttarakhand in India were linked to the building of Massive Dams in these countries

4) Siltation When water flows it has the ability to transport particles heavier than itself downstream. This has a negative effect on dams and subsequently their power stations, particularly those on rivers or within catchment areas with high siltation

5) Tail Risk,Dam Failure - Because large conventional dammed-hydro facilities hold back large volumes of water, a failure due to poor construction, terrorism, or other cause can be catastrophic to downriver settlements and infrastructure. Dam failures have been some of the largest man-made disasters in history.The Banqiao Dam failure in Southern China directly resulted in the deaths of 26,000 people, and another 145,000 from epidemics.

6) Cannot be Built Anywhere - This disadvantage of Hdyro Energy is present with other forms of Energy as well.Some forms of Energy are just better suited to some places.For example you can't build a nuclear plant on top of an earthquake prone region,you can't build a wind farm near the Dead Sea etc.Hydro Energy can only be built in particular places though enough of those places exist globally

7) Long Gestation Time - The time to construct a large hydro power project can take between 5-10 years which leads to time and cost overruns.

Disadvantages of Biomass Energy

1) Pollution in case of Poor Technology - Biomass Energy can lead to air pollution in the form of char if the biomass is not completely combusted.This happens in the case of biomass energy being produced in rural areas through bad technology

2) Feedstock Problems - One of the biggest drawbacks of biomass energy is the problem of feedstock.The plants are forced to run at lower utilization leading to higher costs if feedstock is not available due to some reason like a drought

3) Good Management Required - The operations of a biomass plant requires very good management otherwise it may run into losses or even in some cases have to shut down.It requires a skill of high order to run the plant optimally and make use of alternative feedstock in case the regular one is not available

4) Limited Potential - Biomass Energy has smaller potential than compared to other forms of energy like solar,hydro etc.

5) Controversial NIMBY - Large Biomass Plants like the one in Scotland have run into massive protests as people think it might lead to air pollution and health hazards if constructed near their homes.

Disadvantages of Wind Energy

1) Low Persistent Noise - There have been a large number of complaints about the persistent level of low level nosie from the whirring of the blades of a wind turbine.There have been cases reported about animals on farms getting affected by wind turbine noise.

2) Loss of Scenery - The sight of giant 200 metres tall towers has drawn objections from neighbours about wind power leading to loss of scenery and beauty.The Cape Wind Energy project off the shore of Massachusetts has been delayed by over 10 years as it has drawn serious objections from the owners of coastal homes about loss in their property values

3) Land usage - Wind Turbines can sometimes use large amounts of land if not properly planned and built.The construction of roads to access the wind farms etc also takes up some land.

4) Intermittent Nature - Wind Power is intermittent in nature as it generates energy only when the wind blows.This problem can be solved with energy storage however this leads to additional costs.

Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy

1) Long Gestation Time Leading to Cost Overruns - The Gestation Time for permitting,financing,drilling etc. can easily take 5-7 years to develop a geothermal energy field.Compare this to 6 months for a small wind farm or 3 months for a Solar PV plant

2) Slow Technology Improvement - Geothermal Energy has the potential to generate 100s of gigawatts of electricity through new techniques like EGS.However the technology improvement has been slow with setbacks.

3) Financing is the biggest problem in developing projects particularly for small project developers in this industry.There are few big geothermal developers like Chevron and Calpine.

4) Regulations - Drilling for new geothermal energy fields,buying of geothermal companies in foreign geographies faces innumerable hurdles.Magma which is one of the biggest geothermal energy companies faced massive local opposition in trying to buy an Icelandic company.This prevents the growth of pureplay geothermal companies in acquiring a critical scale.

5) Limited Locations - Geothermal Energy can only be built in places which have the geological characteristics favorable to generation of geothermal power.Note there have been talk that Enhanced Geothermal Energy (EGS) can lead to a massive increase in the number of locations which can generate Geothermal Energy,however EGS is facing environmental issues.

Disadvantages of Tidal Energy

1. High Initial Capital Investment - Tidal Barrages require massive investment to construct a Barrage or Dam across a river estuary.This is comparable to construction of a massive dam for Hydro Power.This is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of this technology

2. Limited Locations - The US DOE estimates that there are only about 40 locations in the world capable of supporting Tidal Barrages.This is because this Tidal Energy Technology requires sizable Tides for the Power Plant to be built.The limited number of locations is a big hurdle.

3. Effect on Marine Life - The operation of commercial Tidal Power Stations has known to moderately affect the marine life around the Power Plant.It leads to disruption in movement and growth of fishes and other marine life.Can also lead to increase in silt.Turbines can also kill fish passing through it.

4. Immature Technology - Except for Tidal Barrage,the other forms of Technology generating Tidal or Wave Power are quite immature,costly and unproven

5. Long Gestation Time - The cost and time overruns can be huge for Tidal Power Plants leading to their cancellation just like that of the Severn Barrage in the UK.Many of the Tidal Power Stations like the gigantic Plant being planned in Russia will never come to fruition because of the very long gestation time.

6. Difficulty in Transmission of Tidal Electricity - Some forms of Tidal Power generate power quite far away from the consumption of electricity.Transportation of Tidal Energy can be quite combersome and expensive.

7. Weather Effects - Severe Weather like Storms and Typhoons can be quite devastating on the Tidal Power Equipment especially those place on the Sea Floor.

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Disadvantages of Renewable Energy - Drawbacks of Different Alternative Energy Sources | Green World Investor

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The Biggest Disadvantage of Renewable Energy is the relatively higher cost of most forms of alternative energy compared to fossil fuel sources of energy.This has prevented the higher penetration of clean energy as compared to the non-renewable sources of energy.Also the massive old energy lobbies have successfully used their massive

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http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/disadvantagesofalternativeenergy/

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http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_of_Renewable_Energy

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There are many advantages associated with renewable energy. Find out about the different benefits of various types of renewable power sources so that you can make an informed decision about energy consumption in your home.

Benefits of Different Types of Renewable Energy

Solar Energy

Solar power is created through the use of panels and other methods of collecting heat from the sun and converting it into energy.

Solar power allows consumers to be more self-sufficient with regards to their energy supply. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) indicates that the modular nature of solar power systems makes them less likely to succumb to widespread collapse, which is good for individual consumers and good for society as a whole.

Solar energy is one form of renewable energy that you can install in your home. You gain energy independence when you install a solar system in your home.

For individual consumers and society at large, solar power is ultimately cost-effective. Solar energy requires what you may consider to be a large initial investment. Your cost includes installation and maintenance of the system. The California Solar Electric Company indicates that the rate at which solar systems pay for themselves will vary, but it will happen in the short-term or the long-term.

Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy taps into an infinite source. Solar energy is free and renewable and as long as the sun shines, you have a source of energy.

Wind Energy

Like solar energy, wind energy offers you a clean, alternative and renewable source of energy. You can have your own system or be part of a network that offers service to a community.

Wind energy is ultimately cost-effective for consumers and for societies. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (OEERE) indicates that wind energy is among the most affordable of all renewable energy technologies.

The UCS includes wind energy when describing energy sources that are not accompanied by air pollutants. The introduction of wind energy is better for the environment and for human health.

The OEERE emphasizes the fact that the introduction of wind turbines can help many rural economies. On a larger level, since wind energy is domestic, it can help national economies as well, according to the OEERE. Individual rural people can benefit, and citizens can all benefit from a more stable economy and energy supply.

Biomass

Biomass replaces fossil fuel with an alternative, renewable form of energy. Examples include corn, soybeans, and agricultural wastes. This form of energy is implemented at the utility level.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) indicates that using biomass as a fuel source cuts down on the space needed for landfills while allowing existing landfills to persist for longer.

The advantage of using this form of energy is that it's readily available. In some cases, the use of biomass accomplishes two goals: provides energy and deals with a waste product such as sewage sludge.

The combustion of biomass produces fewer harmful byproducts than the combustion of other fuel sources. PUCO indicates that burning coal produces significantly more ash, and that biomass ash actually has some useful applications for agricultural soil.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity harnesses the power of downstream water flow to generate electricity.

Like solar and wind energy, you are essentially using a free source of energy, which causes no emissions. Of course, geography plays a key role in how hydroelecric power works and whether this form of energy can be implemented in an area.

The OEERE also indicates that hydropower can allow societies to become more self-sufficient with regards to energy since it is produced domestically.

Hydroelectricity is sustainable, since it is ultimately a product of the water cycle, as the OEERE indicates. Long after fossil fuels resources are gone, the forces that make hydroelectricity possible will still be continuing on the Earth.

Methane

Methane energy provides another renewable energy source that benefits both the environment and especially farmers. Methane can be created from cow manure, which generates heat. This heat is captured and converted into energy.

Methane is an efficient source of energy that allows people to take advantage of waste products as opposed to unnecessarily consuming resources that may have other uses.

The methane energy source helps the environment by removing agricultural waste and providing additional income to farmers while supplying a clean form of energy. PUCO indicates that the gas-to-energy projects conducted through landfill sites make use of the landfill emissions that were already being produced. This situation contrasts sharply with the fact that so many resources go into mining coal and obtaining other nonrenewable sources of energy.

The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) indicates that agricultural manure is a source of water and air pollution, so processing manure for the sake of energy production can help counteract those problems.

Methane itself is a potent greenhouse gas, so turning methane into an energy source can help decrease greenhouse gas emissions, according to the SECO.

Geothermal

Geothermal energy extracts heat from the earth and transfers it for use in your home. Geothermal heat is a byproduct of the natural decaying of minerals in the ground and the absorption of solar energy deep within the earth. While ancient uses of geothermal were limited to heating, modern technology allows for it to be converted into electricity. The most common home application uses geothermal for direct heating.

According to National Geographic (NatGeo), one of the biggest advantages of geothermal power, even relative to other types of renewable energy, is its availability. Geothermal energy can be extracted all year long.

NatGeo also indicates that geothermal energy is one of the cheapest energy sources available. Individuals and local and national economies can all benefit from this comparatively affordable energy source.

General Advantages of Most Renewable Energies

The environmental advantages of switching to renewable energy are unmistakable. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stresses the importance of being able to produce energy without creating harmful greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. On an individual level, using many of the renewable energy sources will reduce your carbon footprint because alternative sources such as solar energy, wind power, and hydroelectricity produce no emissions.

Many forms of renewable energy produce no solid waste, reducing pollution production.

With solar and wind energy, there is no water discharge, making your overall environmental impact from using these energy sources minimal.

Considering that your home energy and cooling and heating costs contribute to the greatest amount of your carbon footprint, choosing renewable energy can greatly reduce your overall environmental impact.

These sources are not detrimental to the earth since they do not require any mining or drilling.

The EPA also indicates that the sheer number of available renewable energy sources is one of the fundamental strengths of renewable energy. Switching to a system involving multiple renewable energy sources means societies get to enjoy a varied and stable energy supply.

In addition to all the environmental benefits, the EPA stresses the economic benefits of using renewable energy. Investing in renewable energy can lead to job creation in everything from installation to manufacturing, according to the EPA. Naturally, many individuals will benefit from this situation, since they will be able to take advantage of the new job opportunities

Goal of Using Renewable Energy

The goal in using renewable energy sources is to reduce the negative environmental effects associated with non-renewable energy sources such as coal and natural gas. Opting to use a renewable energy source will not only translate into cost savings for you over the long haul, but will also help protect the environment from the risks of fossil fuel emissions of non-renewable energy sources.

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Advantages of Renewable Energy | LoveToKnow

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There are many advantages associated with renewable energy. Find out about the different benefits of various types of renewable power sources so that you can make an informed decision about energy consumption in your home. Solar power is created through the use of panels and other methods of collecting heat from the sun and converting it into energy.

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https://joinmosaic.com/advantages-of-renewable-energy/

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When you burn plant materials, you generate energy; the ethanol in your gasoline is derived from corn and forest products. The problem is that large amounts of land and water are dedicated to growing these fuel crops, and that may not be sustainable in the long term. Furthermore, the NRDC points out that in some cases, trees are "co-fired" along with coal, and the process creates pollution that increases global warming. New methods are currently being developed that use existing agricultural and logging industry waste products for fuel production rather than growing dedicated fuel crops. Massachusetts is leading the way in encouraging sustainable biomass fuels, and there is promise that such programs can eliminate the current hazards.

We draw on the earth and sun for our energy, but currently over 80 percent of our country's energy is derived from nonrenewable sources: petroleum, natural gas and coal. We can look to the future with far greater hope if we focus today on deploying permanently renewable energy to power our society.

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Explore the True Meaning of Renewable Energy

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When you burn plant materials, you generate energy; the ethanol in your gasoline is derived from corn and forest products. The problem is that large amounts of land and water are dedicated to growing these fuel crops, and that may not be sustainable in the long term.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_energy

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Alternative energy is any energy source that is an alternative to fossil fuel. These alternatives are intended to address concerns about fossil fuels, such as its high carbon dioxide emissions, an important factor in global warming. Marine energy, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal and solar power are all alternative sources of energy.