Impacts of Green House Gas emission and Alternate energy Resources - Research Paper Example

Impacts of Green House Gas emission and Alternate energy Resources Impacts of Green House Gas emission and Alternate energy Resources Introductions The percentage of green houses gases in the atmosphere is constantly increasing because of massive industrialization and use of fossil fuel resources. The constant increase of green houses gases in the atmosphere is disturbing the natural balance between various natural processes. Natural balance between various natural processes is important to maintain a healthy temperature, hydrologic cycles, and other natural processes. Transportation green house gas emission are also alarming as the number of vehicles is increasing day by day and the oil requirement o the world is increasing day by day. We are not only eliminating the natural resources but also making the atmosphere not suitable for life existence. Alternate energy resources like wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydrodynamic have more potential than our current requirements. Only solar energy has 80 times more potential than our current energy requirements. Alternate energy resources are not only fee from green house emission but also require low maintenance and low operational costs as compared to conventional energy conversion methods. Alternate energy resources are sustainable resources that are not going to end one day as conventional energy resources like coal, gas and oil. Green House Gas Emissions Green house gases include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, methane, hydrogen and other harmful gases. Naturally green house gases are present in the atmosphere and a distinct amount of these gases are important to maintain the temperature of the region. Without green house gases earth would have much cooler atmosphere and as the amount of green house gases increase, the atmospheric temperature gradually increase, as carbon dioxide (major portion of green house emissions) has the natural tendency of the to retain the solar energy. Carbon emissions remain in the atmosphere and provide a blanket for the solar radiations that return back to space at night (Chu). Power Generation and Industrial Emissions and Transportation emissions The major contributors in increasing the green houses gases in the atmosphere are the power generation units. Most power generation units utilize coal to generate power. Coal is the worst fossil fuel as it is packed with more amount of waste and less amount of energy. Natural gas is the most energy content and least waste among other fossil fuel resources. Coal burns with producing solid as well as gaseous waste. Major content of gaseous wastes include, oxides of carbon, oxides of sulfur and oxides of nitrogen. As the energy requirements are increasing, power generation units tend to burn more coal and other fossil fuels in the power generation units to meet the energy demand. As the amount of feed coal increases, the green house gas emission from the power generation units also increase. We can conserve energy to reduce the waste (Chu). Transportation also accounts for the green house gas emissions. In some bigger cities, number of cars is approximately equal to the number of persons living in the city. It means that every person is contributing in transportation wastes. EIA projects that world energy requirements will increase 56% by the year 2040. EIA reports that world current energy requirements are about 524 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), however, by the year 2040, the energy requirements will increase by 820 quadrillion Btu.  EIA also projects that by the year 2040, 80% of the energy requirements will remain dependents on fossil fuel resources (Eia.gov). Global Warming The average temperature of the earth is constantly rising because of increasing carbon emissions. During the period from 1906 to 2005, it is recorded the average temperature of the earth atmosphere rose by about 0.74°C (Crutzen et al.). In fact, during the past two decades, the average temperature of the earth is risen to 1 degree on the Celsius scale. In some places, the average rise in temperature is more than 1oC. In hotter regions, this much rise in temperature seems to be inconsiderable but in the temperature sensitive regions like Arctic region, this much increase in temperature might cause catastrophic conditions. Impact on natural balance Natural balance between various natural activities altered because of widening global warming and increase in green house gas emission. The intensity of rains in some regions of the world is more than other regions. Number of floods in some regions has drastically increased. However, in some other regions of the world are facing droughts. Other natural occurrences in the world, heavy winds, cyclones and other have increased due to the global warming and green house gas emissions (Hilderman). Colder regions of the world are facing other consequences. The forming of ice on oceans surface remains limited, as the temperature remains higher than freezing point of water. Thus, the oxygen levels in the oceans is consistently reducing, as forming of ice in winter and melting of ice in summers interchanges the water form surface and ocean bed. The water from the surface is rich in oxygen while the water in ocean bed lacks the oxygen (Hilderman). The intensity of winters is reduced and winter has a short period as compared to previous decades. The whole process favors the hatching of insects that hatch only during summer. Insect borne diseases are rapidly increasing due to disrupted weather patterns (Hilderman). The arctic glaciers and mountainous glaciers are melting at constant rate as the temperature remains higher as unable to maintain the glaciers frozen. The melting of the glaciers not only further reducing the temperature of the region down but also depleting the fresh water resources in different regions of the world. There are only 25 glaciers remained in the glaciers national park. The melting of the glaciers is also increasing the sea level. In 20th centaury, the rise in sea level is about 8 inches averagely (Hilderman). Alternate Energy Resources In order to protect the world from harsh impacts of the green house emissions, there is need to limit the use of conventional energy generation methods. The power generation sector is the major contributor of increasing the level of green house gases in the atmosphere. Alternate energy resources like wind, solar, geothermal and hydrodynamic are free from green house emissions and require low maintenance and running costs as compared to a conventional power generation unit. Solar energy Solar energy is the energy from sun. Solar Photovoltaic cells directly convert solar light into DC electricity that can be inverted to AC or can be used in the form of DC. Solar thermal energy utilizes the solar heat energy to convert the water into steam and then super saturated steam that has a temperature of more than 250 °C. The steam is further utilized to run the steam turbine that runs the alternator. The alternator generates electrical energy with respect to the requirements and amount of steam produced and capacity of the alternator and steam turbine. The current energy requirements of the world is about 524 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) according to EIA and solar energy has the potential of 800 times more than what EIA predicts (Dincer). Solar energy should be promoted not only on industrial scale but also on individual scale. Solar energy can be captured by harnessing solar PV modules on roof tops and solar geysers. However, research should be focused to reduce the price of solar energy further down to reach its maximum capacity. Solar energy is an endless source and will remain till the earth remains (Dincer). Wind energy Wind turbines capture aerodynamic energy of winds and convert it electrical energy or some other usable form. Wind energy is becoming popular as it has several advantages over other renewable energy resources. Wind energy generators stand several feet high from ground and thus ground can be used for harvesting crops. Moreover, wind generators require low maintenance and operational costs. Vertical axis wind turbines are also introduced that have efficiency more than that of the horizontal axis wind turbines. Vertical axis wind turbines are efficient and individual use of these types of wind turbines is promoted to reduce the dependency of fossil fuel resources. Wind energy has 80 times more potential than the requirements of the world (Existing and Sites). Hydrodynamic Energy Hydrodynamic energy captures the potential and kinetic energy of running water and converts it to a usable form. Dams are made on rivers to store the water and its potential energy. When this water is released from the dam, gravity forces the immense amount of water downwards. The potential energy converts to kinetic energy. The running water runs the water turbine that runs the alternator (Borges and Pinto). Tidal energy is also a type of hydrodynamic energy. The generators remain submerged under the surface of water to capture maximum amount of energy during high and low tide. The locomotion of water during high tide and low tide converted the potential energy in water into kinetic energy that is captured by the submerged tidal generators (Borges and Pinto). Wave generators also work on the similar principle as that of the tidal generators. Wave generators also move hydrodynamic energy to generate power from moving waves. Geothermal Energy Geothermal energy attains thermal energy from geothermal grounds. Water is pumped into the geothermal grounds and steam is generated. The attained steam then runs the steam turbine that runs the alternator. Geothermal grounds that have potential to generate energy are located at few locations in the world. However, full potential of geothermal energy is still under research. Geothermal energy can also be utilized to exchange heat from ground. As the temperature under the upper surface of the ground remains constant from 20 -25 °C, indoor temperature can be exchanged with the grounds temperature to maintain the indoor temperature. The temperature exchangers can only utilize ground heat exchangers and in door heat exchangers. However, water or any other liquid can be used to exchange heat efficiently. Biomass Energy Biomass energy is attained from the bio waste. Bio wastes originate from the living organisms. It is important to properly process the bio waste as bio waste can also present problems in producing green house emissions. Bio wastes like rice husk, woody biomass, etc can be directly burnt in the place of coal to extract energy. However, a process of controlled combustion is proper combustion process that reduces the amount of green house emissions into the atmosphere (Field, Campbell and Lobell). Biogas is derived from biomass. It is a gas that has high content of methane that is highly flammable gas. The digestion of biomass in the presence of digesting bacteria produces biogas. Biogas can replace the natural gas after some treatment. Bio gas can replace natural gas in boilers and generators to extract the energy content out (Field, Campbell and Lobell). Economic aspect of alternate energy and conventional energy Countries like Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and other countries that are rich in fossil fuel resources continue using fossil fuel resources due to massive availability of cheap fossil fuel resources. It is economically feasible for the oil rich countries to generate energy with the help of fossil fuel resources. However, rest of the world the lack the fossil fuel resources depend son the export of coal and oil. These countries are paying the fuel costs as well as transportation costs. As the fuel prices are increasing and the transportation costs are increasing, the cost of power generated with the imported coal is increasing. Now it is impractical to import the costly fuel and neglect the alternate energy resources (Langwith). Future of Alternate energy resources Alternate energy resources have a very bright future. As the fossil fuel resources are depleting and the prices of oil and gas is rising rapidly, conventional energy generation methods are not only environmentally impractical but also economically impractical. The energy prices are rising as the fuel prices are increasing. It is important to move towards the alternate energy resources to attain environmental as well as economic benefits. It is important to reduce the use of fossil fuel resources as much as we can and increase the use of alternate energy resources as much as we can. Individual as well as industrial use of alternate energy sources should be promoted to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel resources (Langwith). Future of earth without alternate energy resources If we neglect the alternate energy resources and continue using the fossil fuel resources and continue practicing impractical behavior towards environment, our future generation will have no access to the fresh water resources, will have to strive for attain required oxygen for living. The atmosphere of the earth will be no more suitable for human health. In the near future all the progress that depends on energy generated with the help of fossil fuel resources will stop due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources (Langwith). Conclusion World is on the verge of a great disaster in terms of global warming and its various impacts. It is important to take measures to protect the future of the world. The use of fossil fuel resources to attain energy is the biggest factors that are increasing the global warming at a rapid rate. Rise in sea level, melting of glaciers, rise in temperature, alteration in hydrologic cycles and increase in floods and droughts is due to the massive use of fossil fuel resources that emit green house gases and pollute the environment. Renewable energy resources like solar, wind, geothermal, hydro power, etc are all free from green house emissions as these energy resources do not burn any type of fuel to generate energy. Coal, oil and gas are going to end one day; while sustainable energy resources are not going to end till the end of the world. These are easy to harness at industrial as well as individual scale. In order to protect the future of the world, there is a need to limit the use of fossil fuel resources and move towards the renewable energy resources. Works Cited Borges, Carmen LT, and Roberto J Pinto. Small Hydro Power Plants Energy Availability Modeling For Generation Reliability Evaluation. Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on 23.3 (2008): 1125--1135. Print. Chu, Steven. Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Science 325.5948 (2009): 1599--1599. Print. Dincer, Furkan. The Analysis On Photovoltaic Electricity Generation Status, Potential And Policies Of The Leading Countries In Solar Energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15.1 (2011): 713--720. Print. Field, Christopher B, J Elliott Campbell, and David B Lobell. Biomass Energy: The Scale of the Potential Resource. Trends in ecology \& evolution 23.2 (2008): 65--72. Print. Eia.gov,. EIA Projects World Energy Consumption Will Increase 56% By 2040 - Today In Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). N.p., 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. Hilderman, Richard. Signs of Climate Change. North Earth News, 2011. 60-64. Crutzen, Paul J et al. N 2 O Release From Agro-Biofuel Production Negates Global Warming Reduction By Replacing Fossil Fuels. Atmospheric chemistry and physics 8.2 (2008): 389--395. Print. Langwith, Jacqueline. Renewable Energy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print. Read More