Renewable Energy Development

It should seem clear by now that finding non-polluting energy isn’t just a nice thing to do, but is the act of a species aware of its power to really foul things up. As a species we are currently “fouling the nest.” Self-preservation should be kicking in now. The form it clearly must take is a move to stop burning things for power.

Large Scale Renewable Energy Development

Power companies hoping to remain relevant in the future are, not surprisingly, powerful advocates of large-scale renewable power installations. However, in most cases, the embedded energy cost of producing to scale requires a great deal of energy put into it, partly due to the large amounts of metal and concrete that are involved.

As with all renewable resources, they require storage to really be effective as most people use electricity. While usage patters will certainly have to change too, storage capacity is an equally challenging goal as collecting the energy into usable power.

Small Scale Renewable Energy Development

Small-scale devices are generally less efficient and somewhat limited in scope. An entire population using such devices could easily meet a large portion of its own energy needs. An extended local network of small generators tied into a larger grid is a more efficient way to use energy-input resources. It also addresses the problem of finding space for a large public project – everyone who installs a collection device is volunteering part of their own property to the effort, just a few square feet.

Requiring less power is also a good way to ease the transition. There are many technologies coming online now that are able to deliver the equivalent service without nearly the same amount of polluting resources. Several governments have even gone so far as to ban incandescent light bulbs that have lit homes for nearly a century.

Some Renewable Energy Development Are More Promising

There is plenty of room for the development of alternative fuels, but this must be done with the true cost of development in mind. The climate change problem is a complex and far-reaching one that can only be met through well reasoned action – there’s no time to muck about with disaster.

A Stop-Gap For Renewable Energy Development

Bio-fuels can be a stop-gap measure to ease the transition to what will likely be an electric future for a lot of combustion engines. It’s impossible to know what sort of energy is put into the carbon budget of the crop that became our fuel. It’s all mixed up together in the commodity system and at the industrial distilleries of the power source.

No way could bio-fuels ever keep the fleet of vehicles and the wasteful practices of commerce that is in operation now running. Already for bio-fuels to satisfy the home heating needs, it would still be an enormous commitment of food resources. It’s possible that a shift to even that much bio-fuel production could even require us to adopt a diet with far less meat in it.