With soaring gasoline prices in the news and the threat of global warming increasingly apparent, switching to alternative energy has found its way into everyday discussion. People all around the world are trying to figure out how best to make the change to more sustainable forms of energy. Several different options exist, but each one has its positives and negatives.
Wind power has become one of the most visible forms of alternative energy. This is partially due to the extremely large turbines that have to be carted out to large open spaces. The technology is completely clean, but some argue that the turbines are eyesores and disturb the migration of birds.
Solar power went through a sort of heyday for individual users a few decades ago. Many people built houses powered this way and even sold electricity back to the grid. You can still find solar panels for sale for residential use. Now many countries with a lot of sunlight are setting up large collection sites. Often, they set up mirrors that reflect sunlight onto a series of solar panels. This helps collect the sunlight more efficiently. Unfortunately, the set-up costs for these sites can be quite expensive.
Hydroelectric power also requires a significant investment to get a project going. However, it basically works on the movement of water to move a turbine. Again, while this does not produce extra carbon emissions, dams can often negatively affect fish and other wildlife in and around rivers. They also change water levels, which may negatively impact human populations as well.
A variant of this is tidal power. This just makes use of the rising and lower of the ocean tides to push water through turbines. There are a few different ways of doing this, but all rely on this large amount of water moving up and down naturally. Of course, building structures like this near the coast can interfere with wildlife.
Geothermal power is quite exciting, although it will eventually run out in a given location. Using hot water from farther down in the Earth can extend heat throughout an area. Iceland famously uses geothermic power due to the volcanic nature of the island. This has allowed them to heat all their homes and provide hot water very cheaply.
The biggest problem for most countries is making the shift. These countries would have to largely reinvest in totally new infrastructure when the economy is built around coal-based energy production. In developing countries, the cost is just too high. This leads to people relying on wood and coal instead of leaping straight to cleaner sources. Funding in both types of countries will be needed in order to really implement the necessary changes.
At some point, something will have to be done about how we use the resources available to us. Different forms of alternative energy may have to be used in conjunction to start meeting the needs of an increasingly populated planet. The question is, which technology will take the lead and how will we finally get enough money in the sector to really make it take off.