Sources of Alternative Energy
Since the discovery of petroleum in the 1860s, fossil fuels have become the foremost source of power in the world. For over a century after their inception, their availability was very seldom called into question. The oil crisis of 1973, however, brought this issue to the forefront. With the widespread knowledge that the supply of oil and gas would eventually expire, the public eye has turned toward finding renewable sources of power. Moreover, fossil fuels are amazingly destructive to the environment. The burning of oil for power creates great amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes a great deal to the greenhouse effect. The Great London Fog of 1952, wherein over 12,000 people died of smog inhalation, was the result of coal-burning. Additionally, power plants and factories are known to dump their waste into lakes and streams, consequently fouling the water and killing whatever marine life may reside therein.Over the past few decades, three alternative energy sources (henceforth altsources) have become the most well known: solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. The main point of support is, of course, that there is an unlimited supply of sun, wind, and water; equally important is that they all produce minimal
Solar power requires special types of energy cells, known as photovoltaic cells, to be properly harnessed. A third large point of contention is the fact that turbines kill a great amount of birds and bats. The most popular altsource is solar power. When the sun evaporates water in the ocean, the vapor forms clouds which later fall on mountains as rain which is routed through turbines to generate electricity. First among them is the claim that wind turbines are unsightly and contribute to "visual pollution"; another is that the heavy motion of the rotors are incredibly loud and jarring. Cost is the first and foremost counter-argument: the cost of building, installing, and connecting altsource facilities is far greater than that of simply maintaining the fossil facilities already in use. Times of drought can cause severe problems, since water replenishment rates may not keep up with desired usage rates. Since ancient Rome, people have used rivers and streams to power water wheels. The cells are also hooked up to batteries that store energy in great quantities, which provides a steady flow of energy day and night. A great deal of time later (and after much redesign), they were immortalized by Miguel Cervantes in his epic Don Quixote, and came to be seen as symbols of rural areas. Active solar energy has only been fully developed in the last half of the twentieth century and refers to the type of power that requires outside assistace (such as photovoltaic cells and parabolic mirrors) to be utilized. Additionally, oil refineries are very unpleasant to look at, more so than wind farms; additionally, they foul the air and water, thereby killing more wildlife than windmills ever could. Another popular myth is that these cells do not work on cloudy days and at night.
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Acceptance Essays
