Essay Sample on Power and Energy: The Key to Humanity's Progress

Introduction

As work involves the transfer of energy, power is the rate of doing work. Power is essential as it is a function of time. Time is a factor that is one of the most vital in all activity and calculation on the earth. An example is in the coordinate system, where time is the fourth parameter that places a location in its exact place. The relation of power and energy makes it play a pivotal role in the energy sector. Humans are continuously and constantly relying on energy produced by various methods for survival. As the population increases, the demand for power is increasing. Even though power seems to be a good thing, some cons follow. Climate change being the most significant, affects every corner of the world. Complaints arise every day. Heatwaves and poor agricultural produce are evident. Various practices by man trigger the existence of climate change. The need to have the power to keep systems running is one practice that has contributed to the problem. Power generating plants are emitting fumes and extrudes that destroy the ozone layer. The ozone has enabled life sustenance since it acts as a protective. Also, greed by man has contributed to the establishment of selfish policies developed through ignorance. The evidence of climate change is felt by many, including the policymakers. It is, therefore, a need for adjustments to accomplish the neutralization of the menace. Every government plans to compete in attaining a green environment. For an activity to be under the green environment, it has to show the capability of minimizing and even zero production of greenhouse gases. An example to look at is nuclear power.

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Power Capacity

Nuclear power is a game-changer in the fight for climate change due to its production capability (Scheffran, et al., 2015). The principle for working of a nuclear power plant is either through fusion or fission. These two principles can produce energy in a controlled and engineered condition.

The Power Production Is High

An example is the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in New York. The power plant is the smallest in the United States of America since it has only one reactor. Even though it is the smallest, it can produce 582 megawatts (Yan & Hino, 2016). This amount of power is enough to sustain some developing countries. The existence of many forms of power generating systems can be a buffer of emission of greenhouse gasses and toxic fumes to the atmosphere. In hydropower systems; the energy is clean.

Although the latter has clean energy, the aspect of the establishment comes into place. Here, factors such as deforestation to avail land for water catchment go into place. The vast areas can accommodate eco-friendly trees (Yan & Hino, 2016). The presence of these nuclear power plants limits the number of small power-producing stations. The ratio of how well this point works can be deduced by having a comparison between damage caused by a nuclear power plant in terms of power production ability with that of other forms of power generators of the same power production.

It is a Renewable Energy

Renewable energy has come to be the new trending word in town. The governments convinced that the only way to attain green energy is through renewable energy. Renewable is related to reusable. A good example of renewable energy is geothermal (Vagnoli, Di Maio, & Zio, 2018). In geothermal, there is the reuse of the product used to generate electricity. Steam from the sub-surface had kinetic energy, which is vital in turning turbines. The transformations of energy reach to electric when induction occurs.

Steam is used in turning the turbines and then cooled at the cooling towers. Re-injection of water and brine back to the sub-surface follows. Through seepage, it naturally occurs as steam again. The same scenario happens in nuclear power plants. Water and the radioactive material, which is mainly uranium, are the most useful resource (Vagnoli, Di Maio, & Zio, 2018). Through decomposition or decay of the radioactive material is heat produced. After the water is heated and converted to steam as pressure increases, the steam turns the turbines and hence generates electric energy. Cooling of the heated water occurs and thus reused. The benefit of such a system is that it does not lead to the deprivation of the resource, water. All these provide a ground to combat climate change.

Clean Energy

The cleanliness of the energy is not compromised. In the United States, nuclear power accounts for 60% of clean energy supplied to the grid. The emissions from a single nuclear reactor are carbon-free. From the renewable nature of nuclear energy, it is evident that there are zero carbon emissions from the plant (Noh, 2017). Achievement of carbon-free emission proves to be a way towards a green environment and, thus, climate change remedy.

Durability

Longevity is another pivotal factor that illustrates the importance of nuclear power. The process of nuclear power generation works with how the decay of the radioactive material occurs (Pfenninger & Keirstead, 2015). By the mode of halflife, a sample of uranium can decay infinitely. It reaches a point where the decay is not economically viable, and thus, disposing of becomes the only solution. For a radioactive sample to be termed uneconomically sustainable, it means that it cannot provide the heat required in the plant. There is a long period taken for a radioactive element to be discarded (Pfenninger & Keirstead, 2015). Throughout this long period, energy production occurs endlessly without interruption by external factors.

High Safety Level Limiting Errors

The establishment of a nuclear power plant has regulations that enforce high safety precautions (Pfenninger & Keirstead, 2015). Since it is delicate, quality and maintenance are critical. Any leak of the radioactive material leads to a colossal disaster (Pfenninger & Keirstead, 2015). An example is the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine. For this reason, a drastic reduction of room for error occurs. Inhibiting room for error is vital in the process of combating climate change.

Act As Training Facility

It is a source of income for many. When people earn more money, they tend to buy quality products. The company offers training to workers. As training commences, the idea of the importance of turning green becomes clear (Baek, 2015). Workers who source employment from the power plants would have the ability to upgrade their products. The process of upgrading to quality means that more carbon-free materials will be purchased. The company can also provide proper housing facilities to the workers. Reduction to zero carbon emission becomes the collateral result.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nuclear power is essential in the process of climate change. Combating climate change is a vital issue. The implementation of all practices ideal to meet the objective done. The need to seal a sustainable future to the next generation is an investment that ought to consider for continuity. Failing to do so would kill our children. Nuclear power has proved to be an example of a way to follow to combat climate change.

References

Baek, J. (2015). A panel cointegration analysis of CO2 emissions, nuclear energy and incomein major nuclear generating countries. Applied Energy, 145, 133-138. Retrieved fromhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915001105

Noh, J. M. (2017). Climate Change and Nuclear Energy. Retrieved fromhttps://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:49078800

Pfenninger, S., & Keirstead, J. (2015). Renewables, nuclear, or fossil fuels? Scenarios forGreat Britain's power system considering costs, emissions and energysecurity. Applied Energy, 152, 83-93. Retrieved fromhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915005656

Scheffran, J., Burroughs, J., Leidreiter, A., van Riet, R., & Ware, A. (2015). The Climate-Nuclear Nexus: Exploring the linkages between climate change and nuclear threats.Retrieved fromhttps://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2483708/component/file_2483709/content

Vagnoli, M., Di Maio, F., & Zio, E. (2018). Ensembles of climate change models for riskassessment of nuclear power plants. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, 232(2), 185-200. Retrieved fromhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748006X17734946

Yan, X. L., & Hino, R. (Eds.). (2016). Nuclear hydrogen production handbook. CRC press.