How efficient are fossil fuels compared to alternative energy sources?
December 17, 2009
By alternative energy sources I mean things like solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc. I want to see how efficient they are, not really paying attention to how polluting they are.
You can’t make a meaningful comparison that way.
A coal plant, for example, may have 30% thermal efficiency. The coal it burns, though, comes from plants that had only about a 2% efficiency in turning sunlight into biomass. A nuclear plant using the same steam technology as a coal-fired plant has about the same thermal efficiency, but involves far less fuel – indeed, some nuclear plants make more fuel than they use.
Thin-film solar panels are only about 1/5 as efficient, area for area, as standard silicon solar panels, but cost about 1/10 as much. Either panel has far higher overall efficiency than a coal-fired plant, but involves manufacturing costs that makes their electricity more expensive if subsidiary costs (like adverse health effects) are neglected.
Relative availability of energy is also an issue. Solar and wind aren’t always available. A hydroelectric dam becomes useless if the river feeding its reservoir dries up.
The wiki article referenced discusses relative costs of electricity produced by various methods.
I recommend you watch the science channel and look for the TV show hosted by bill Nye
References :
http://www.sciencechannel.com and look insert the key work bill nye
You can’t make a meaningful comparison that way.
A coal plant, for example, may have 30% thermal efficiency. The coal it burns, though, comes from plants that had only about a 2% efficiency in turning sunlight into biomass. A nuclear plant using the same steam technology as a coal-fired plant has about the same thermal efficiency, but involves far less fuel – indeed, some nuclear plants make more fuel than they use.
Thin-film solar panels are only about 1/5 as efficient, area for area, as standard silicon solar panels, but cost about 1/10 as much. Either panel has far higher overall efficiency than a coal-fired plant, but involves manufacturing costs that makes their electricity more expensive if subsidiary costs (like adverse health effects) are neglected.
Relative availability of energy is also an issue. Solar and wind aren’t always available. A hydroelectric dam becomes useless if the river feeding its reservoir dries up.
The wiki article referenced discusses relative costs of electricity produced by various methods.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel_power_plant
Fossil fuels are better.
The Ice Melting,The sea is rising,Hurricanes are blowing
It is true or lie?
All this exists and has existed long ago, the changes are completely normal, because nothing is stable.
Just as there are warm season, there is also the cold.
Just remenber:
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of cooling that occurred after a warmer era known as the Medieval Warm Period.
You can read this in this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
Here you explain why the planet’s temperature rises or falls, all your doubts, here’s the resolve.
This 2007 documentary blows the whistle on what may be the biggest swindle in modern history. Proponents of man-made global warming (led by Al Gore) warn that climate change is the greatest threat ever to mankind, and if we do not change our ways and reduce CO2 emissions, polar ice caps will melt, coastal areas will flood and hurricanes like Katrina will become common.
This film interviews some of the world’s leading scientists, climatologists and former environmentalists, who challenge and contradict these claims.
The Great Global Warming Swindle [1 of 8]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeY8oqAGhyA
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References :