Energy

Now that there has been much concern over the fact that oil is depleting; there is much concern over how we will power many things. Many things that we use today are powered by oil. From cars, heating homes, and even cooking. Oil and oil based products play a key role in our everyday lives and is a necessity that is vital to how we live. Scientist and engineers are working on ways in which we can use different forms of energy to power what now uses oil and oil based products. Such ideas are solar, water, geothermal, wind and hydrogen power. All of these have there positives and negatives but ultimately one or more of these ideas will be the fuel in which we use to go about our daily lives.

Solar power in not uncommon and is used in many today. From providing energy for a calculator to helping a parking lot light to work solar panels are used quite frequently. There are two ways in which one can collect the sun’s rays to power things. One way uses flat plate collectors and the other is concentrating collectors; both of which need ample amount of space to provide enough power. On average, you would need the size of a two-car garage floor in order to provide enough energy that the average person will consume on a daily basis. Flat plate collectors are essentially what the name indicates. They are generally used for water or space heating of a home. A flat plate collector consists of a black transparent face over a black plate. As the sun heats the black plate, tubes under the plate are heated. The tubes will consist of water or air. As the water or air circulates it generates energy which in turn heats the home. In the Northern hemisphere, the solar panels must face South; and in the Southern hemisphere the panels face North. This must be done to maximize the collection of solar energy. The major disadvantage with this collection method is that a great deal of heat from the sun is required to heat these panels. This is where concentrated collectors come in. Unlike flat plate collectors concentrated collectors, direct sunlight into a concentrated area as opposed to a larger surface area. As the sun rays reach the panel they are reflected to a concentrated area allowing for a higher temperature to be reached. In order to direct the light the panel uses mirrors and reflective sheets to direct the path of the sun. This allows for temperatures to reach 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat of these proportions can be used to generate water power.

Water power is yet another source of energy which can be used. The constant motion of water can be used to generate turbines to produce electricity. In most cases the constant flow of large volumes of water is used on order generate power. Usually these large sources of water are waterfalls, or rapidly moving currents of water. Some regions though are unable to access such vast amount of water that the need to build dams, man made lakes, and even bypass canals and the economical cost is often out weighed by the cheaper far more contaminate form of fossil fuels. Though in the long run it is far cheaper to maintain a hydropower plant to produce electricity. Though there are environmental benefits there