Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamper

Alternative Energy: Facts and Proposals

Alternative energy is a top issues in global politics in recent years. It is one that has

stimulated a lot of debate here in the U.S. as well. According to Christopher Flavin the issue or,

“The question that comes up among policy makers, again and again is: If not coal, and if not

nuclear, then what?(p.124) Why is this a question that needs to be addressed? Rachel La Courte,

in her article entitled “Alternative Energy Sources Championed” helps explain. According to her,

“Experts tell us that the global oil shortage will only worsen, making the three-dollars-per-gallon

gasoline of summer 2005 seem affordable." This could be a problem for a number of obvious as

well as unexpected reasons.

Based on one study found in “Alternative Energy Sources,” by Christopher Flavin,

roughly 90 percent of all the energy in the United States in 1984 came from three sources. These

were coal, oil, and natural gases (p.123). Ian Ruteledge records, in reference to our oil

consumption, “The outlook saw consumption rising from 19.4 million barrels per day in 1999 to

around 26 million b/d in 2020”(p.363). Obviously, we are currently very dependent on fossil

fuels. What could our over dependence entail exactly though? For one, our over dependence on

oil coupled with it’s expected price rise will make many energy sources, such as gasoline for

one, increasingly expensive in the future. This means less people will have acces s to them most

likely. Coal also has many current as well as expected problems. Mellissa Jenko in her article

“Coal Energy” writes about many of them. She records Bencyrus Ellorin “…[a] spokesman of

Pinoy Kontra Coal, the largest Philippine coalition… banded together to reject coal-based

energy,” as saying that, “Communities across the country... continue to rise against proposed

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stampercoal-fired power plants. Coal energy is dirty and poses a threat to our health, environment,

livelihood and our children's future.” Stated simply, problems with our current sources of energy,

which include, the rising price of energy, its harmful, negative effects on human life and the

environment, and its finite nature provide powerful incentives for us to find alternative sources.

The finite issue alone seems to provide enough incentive for many to warrant a switch. Many

estimate we will soon not have enough coal and oil to meet our energy needs. As our dependence

on fossil fuels is being questioned and re-evaluated the definition of “good” energy is changing

to include factors such as sustainability and environmental friendliness. Thankfully, it seems

much of the world has already realized the need to update and upgrade our energy. Obviously,

increased time, resources, and funding are necessities in finding viable alternatives to the energy

crisis at hand.

The effects current mass energy sources have are widespread and far-reaching. This

makes the issue’s audience a wide and eclectic one. In my opinion, because much if not the

majority of the world relies to some degree on fossil fuels this particular issue could potentially

affect a large portion of the world’s population. Obviously, as previously stated, alternative or

clean energy is a prominent issue in U.S. as well as global politics. This means any groups or

people in the political arena will be affected by any changes. This means the business and

science communities are likewise subject to change as more consideration is being given to

allocating more attention and funding towards researching clean energy Furthermore, this trend

is likely to increase until suitable solutions are found. Much of the world’s general population

especially those living in large cities, will be affected. Future generations are also affected due to

the shifts in politics and science. These could potentially shift educational agendas and programs

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamperas research leads to new discoveries causing content in schools and universities to change or

broaden. I think this could particularly change the field of engineering being that engineering

relies heavily on fossil fuels as well as many other fields and professions.

Fortunately there are many alternative energy sources already identified that can be used

as a starting point in determining how to lessen and possibly cut off our dependence on fossil

fuel. In order to give an accurate idea of how many alternatives there really are and their wide-

ranging nature I will list a number of the more potentially viable ones. In his article, Flavin

explains solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower energy. He also includes Ocean Thermal

Energy Conversion, tidal energy as well as wave energy. Burner reaction, Breeder reaction, and

fusion reaction nuclear energy are also explained (p.125-144). These are all, to varying degrees,

useable alternatives that can help to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

As just mentioned there is Burner and Breeder reaction nuclear fission. Current nuclear

power plants use the Burner reaction process to create or manufacture energy. This process,

however, is dependant on uranium, which Flavin estimates, will run short about as quickly as oil

will if used at the current rate.This rules it out as a long term solution (p.139). Its effects on the

environment are roughly equal to those caused by fossil fuels as well, although they can be

contained better. The Breeder reaction process is an upgrade or refinement of the Burner process.

It is designed to extend the longevity of nuclear fission and is thought to be a “long-term”

solution or in other words to last for several hundreds of years. Breeder fission, however,

produces environmental hazards, waste disposal and control is difficult because of the large

quantity produced, and terrorists could create nuclear weapons from its byproducts relatively

easily. Because of the numerous and major drawbacks of Burner and Breeder reaction, fusion

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamperenergy seems to be the most promising of the available nuclear options. Flavin states, “Nuclear

fusion reactions have excellent potential as the planet's energy source. Much research has been

performed leading to the harnessing of fusion reactions for the production of power. There are

today, four or five major, and a dozen secondary, research centers worldwide working on fusion

technology. Few researchers doubt that energy can eventually be produced by the use of fusion

reactions”(p.141). The process converts lighter atoms to heavier ones. Because of this no

radioactivity is produced and it is expected longevity is about the same as Breeder fission. The

drawbacks of nuclear fusion are relatively minimal and the positives seem to fit the world’s

needs fairly well.

Solar energy has attracted attention lately due to the enormous amount available and its

virtually limitless nature. According to Flavin, “Calculations indicate that if we can harvest solar

energy at 20 percent efficiency then three percent of the area of the USA could provide all the

energy we need. Expressing this area in other ways provides a feel for the immense scale of the

collectors needed if we are to supply all our energy needs from sunlight. The contiguous 48

states have a total area of 7,710,516 km squared. Three percent of this is 230,505 km squared, or

nearly the area of the state of Wyoming, at 252,539 km squared. Of course, the sun does not

shine all the time in Wyoming. The 230,000-squared km must be located where the sun shines a

good portion of the time. This means the collection sites must be located in New Mexico,

Arizona and southern California”(p.125). The land necessary to accommodate a proposal of this

magnitude and type obviously presents a number of problems. One major obstacle is the fact that

according to Flavin, “if a large part of the solar energy falling on Arizona is converted to electric

energy and moved out of state, Arizona will become cooler. Significant cooling of Arizona will

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamperresult in dramatic changes in the weather there and in all the contiguous states.” This sudden

change in weather and the unknown side effects that might accompany it is a major drawback

needing to be addressed before solar energy can be seen as an effective alternative. Furthermore

this is not its only problem. Flavin goes on to explain, “Solar thermal technology has many

problems: cost of facilities… unreliability of sunlight, and potential high continuous maintenance

cost for cleaning”(p.129).

Solar energy is just one example I gave to demonstrate some of the positives and

negatives of “renewable” energy. Renewable energy sources made up the bulk of the list of

alternative sources previously mentioned. Generally speaking, renewable energy sources are

those tied closely with or generated directly by nature. For this reason they usually have very

little waste, are friendly to the environment, and usually provide an unlimited energy source. For

example, wind energy, which largely relies on windmills to catch wind and then generates that

into energy, is a renewable energy source. Geothermal energy, which has to do with extracting

heat from rocks and water deep under the crust of the earth is another example as well as tidal

energy, which obviously is powered by the changing tides of the ocean. Since renewable energy

sources rely on nature they are “harvested” rather than found or manufactured. Because of this

reliance they can sometimes be erratic leading to varying degrees of reliability. They also seem

to currently be relatively inefficient and incapable of creating the mass amounts of energy

needed when compared to non-renewable sources. However, based on my reading and the fact

that many of the positives of renewable energy sources are hard to find elsewhere, future

technological advancements could make these sources an ideal alternative one day.

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamper

Of renewable energy Flavin writes, “Although potentially useful for the generation of

modest amounts of energy under special circumstances, the renewable energy sources are

inadequate as the basis of an energy system that can be used to replace fossil fuels.”(p.144).

Because of this I would propose that increased funding and research be allocated to developing

these sources in order to find out whether improved technology could some day allow them to

play a more substantial role in supplying the bulk of energy on a national or global level.

Because of this, I propose governments create incentives for their citizens to use these renewable

energy sources on a smaller scale. I also think increased funding and research should be allotted

to them based on the potential previous research and funding indicate they have to meet our

energy needs. The United States government is already following a course similar to this. This is

shown by a number of different proposed and passed bills and legislation here in the U.S. dealing

with alternative energy sources in a number of different applications. Because fusion energy

seems to be the most promising of the long-term, high output sources I think steps should be

taken as soon as possible to replace our current nuclear as well as fossil fuel energy sources with

fusion sources. In order to make this happen major increases in research and funding should

immediately go toward this end. One of the major obstacles is obviously funding, which, given

today’s rapidly changing economy and especially the national debt here in the U.S. means there

is no simple answer. However, I believe, as increased priority and attention is given to this issue

by all branches of the government, realistic solutions can be found and implemented. Effective

legislation can be achieved through the legislative and executive branches making this a top

priority. The judicial branch can address potential ethical and law problems.

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Heston AllredEng 102Project 4Stamper

Works Cited

Flavin, Christopher. “Alternative Energy Sources.” Applied Energy Vol. 47. Science Direct

Journals. Web. 23 Nov. 2010.

La Corte, Rachel. “Alternative Energy Sources Championed.” Lexis Nexis. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.

Rutledge, Ian. Addicted to Oil: America's Relentless Drive for Energy Security. London: I.B.

Tauris. 2005. ASU Libraries E-brary. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.

Jenko, Melissa. “Coal Energy.” Lexis Nexis. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.

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