Alternative Fuels
...t. Would it not be in our best interests to make a switch to these alternatives sooner rather than later? One of the many alternatives being used today is wind-generated energy. Wind is used to turn turbines that generate electricity for large-scale operations like power plants or even on a much smaller scale in homes. It is gaining popularity because wind can produce pollution free electricity and the fuel source, wind, blows steadily in some areas. In 1990, California's wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants that would have otherwise been produced(2). This is a huge step in the right direction for helping out with our conditions on Earth but unfortunately wind energy is not realistic for all areas. The wind needs to blow at least 12-15 mph to produce enough energy to turn the turbines and winds of that speed are common only in certain areas. Also there are some down sides to take into account when dealing with "wind farms" that produce electricity. Since there are lots of wind turbines together in an area to produce enough electricity, the noise generated can be somewhat of a problem to those living close by. The level of noise produced by one wind turbine is equivalent to that of your washing machine(3) and also some may find it unpleasant to have to see the countryside laden with lots of wind turbines. Another alternative to take into account is water created energy. The same concept is used to gain electricity through water as is through wind. In most cases a dam holds backwater and when the gates of the dam are opened the water rushes through and turns turbines to create electricity. As with wind there are no pollutants being emitted in the atmosphere from generating electricity this way but there are some problems with this method. A large body of water is needed for these dams because of the amount of money it costs to build them would not make it very cost effective on smaller scales which means the cost would be passed down to the consumer. One reason alternatives are not being used today is because of the price difference compared to more conventional methods like fossil fuels. Also these dams have an effect on the waterways they are constructed in. Many rivers, before dams, used to have spring floods that washed out river backwaters and deposited silt to form sandbars. Dams put an end to those spring floods and allow vegetation to clog up river backwaters(4). The clogging leads to the death of the different types of fish that live and depend on this area. The last major way of creating energy without using Earth harming fossil fuels is the source of so much life on our planet already, the sun. In this case, modules c...