Renewable Energy: How Energy Works and Why Renewable is Better

So a new college year begins, and as I am told, this is a new CURES - Cornell University for Renewable Energy Sources - blog. Well, I think it’s fitting for our first blog to talk about our goal. We are an organization dedicated to promoting and spreading renewable energy sources, and teaching people about renewable energy sources. Well, why is renewable better? There are many answers to the question, such as saving nature, promoting cleaner air, conserving natural resources, etc. Those are wonderful reasons for renewable energy, but the one reason that probably convinces legislators the most is: it is economically smart to use renewable energy. So, the aim of this first blog entry is to explain the basic process of “making” energy, and why renewable energy sources are beneficial.

Making Energy

As most people who have taken any chemistry or physics class know, energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So, how do we “make” energy? Well, we never really make energy; we simply convert one energy from one form to another. The general outline of this mechanism has not changed very much in the past few hundred years. It started with the basic idea of a water mill. A water mill converts the rivers flowing energy into rotational energy, thus powering a rotating device. Then steam engines were invented much along the same principle. Moving water creates rotational energy, which then can be used for a multitude of purposes. By using a combustible such as wood or coal, you burn it to heat up a chamber of water. The water turns to steam, and the steam is the driving force behind a turbine. A turbine is essentially a rotating device that is designed so the steam can only escape by pushing the turbine, thus causing it to rotate. This was used on steam boats, much like the ones Mark Twain was so fond about in his youth on the Mississippi. Then, how do we make electricity? Same idea as a steam engine, except the turbine doesn’t turn a giant ferry wheel on a steam boat, it turns a magnet surrounded by wires that, in a sense, forces the electrons in the wire to move in a certain direction, which physics calls an electric current. The exact physics is rather complicated, and it’s not always a magnet being rotated, but the general idea of creating rotation using a turbine of any sort to create electricity has not changed for the past hundred years.

Why is Renewable Sources Better?

Well, renewable energy sources, by definition, are sources of energy that do not disappear over time, or rather, our usage of this energy does not decrease its overall supply in the world. Common examples are wind, solar and water energy sources, where, no matter how much wind we use to generate power, the overall wind in the world will not decrease by any noticeable amount. But, the more oil and coal we use, the less and less we have left in the world. Well, any economist can see a problem here: as the supply of oil and coal is constantly decreasing, the demand continues to increase. The price of oil and coal will trend towards infinity, or rather, some really unaffordable number. You think 3-4 dollars a gallon is bad? People in Europe are already paying more, and there is no way the price is going to go down in the long run. By some estimates, all of the petroleum we have left on Earth will be depleted within 50 years. So, even ignoring the environmental benefits of a cleaner air or a greener world, it is still a very good idea to begin investing in renewable energy sources. For example, a simple Wikipedia search on “renewable energy” yields a page, with a chart from the “World Energy Assessment, 2004 Update.” Here are the main points shown below:
Note: all costs are in 2001 American cents per a kilowatt-hour (cents/kWh). The data is for a general overview of current status, and predicted future costs of large-scale implementation. Note, coal is given here as a comparison, but in some G8 nations, such as America, the cost of coal could be as high as 15 cents/kWh. The First set of numbers refer to the 2001 energy costs, while the second set of numbers refer to the predicted future energy cost

2001 Energy Costs (cents/kWh)---> Future Energy Cost (cents/kWh)
Wind 4-8, 3-10
Solar Photovoltaic 25-160, 5-25
Solar Thermal 12-34, 4-20
Large Hydropower 2-10, 2-10
Small Hydropower 2-12, 2-10
Geothermal 2-10, 1-8
Biomass 3-12, 4-10
Coal (comparison) 4

http://www.undp.org/energy/weaover2004.htm - The place to go for more information on this chart.

The reason a range of energy exists is because in some cases, it’s a little cheaper to produce energy in some places than others. For example, it’s cheaper to produce solar power where there’s more sun year round, usually near the equator, than places with comparatively lower amounts of sunlight year round, such as Canada or Alaska. Also note how much cheaper some of these sources of energy will be once the proper infrastructure is developed.

So What do we Do?

Well, there is a considerable amount of research and development that needs to be done, not to mention the initial investment for such power plants to be developed, in order for large-scale energy production using purely renewable sources to be economically feasible. So, what can we do? Well, you could enter the field of renewable energy research, but for those of us who have other plans in mind, we can simply be aware of the growing need for renewable energy, and continue educating ourselves and others about this growing need, and the benefits of renewable energy. We can promote the idea of renewable energy to our legislators, and push for increase funding and investment into the research. Or, we can simply keep this in mind as an issue we want to consider when we vote, or just spread the word. No one is expecting change overnight, but we can start working towards a better tomorrow with renewable energy. Renewable energy is a real possibility. With enough research funding and investment, it won’t just be a far off dream.

Any comments or questions can be directed to jc867@cornell.edu with the subject heading of, “Renewable Energy Blog Comments,” or something to that extent.