Renewable and Nonrenewable Sources Essay

Introduction

Energy can be defined as the power which drives a machine. In some general cases, energy has been seen as the ability which is required to do work. For work to be done, energy must be applied which will be responsible for driving a machine or any other device for its operation. From the definition, energy is therefore very important for the basic running of equipment, engines, and life. Living organisms similarly require energy to remain strong and productive. The living nature gets energy through metabolic reactions within their systems such as through digestion in animals and photosynthesis in plants.

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Similarly, moving objects require energy to accelerate and keep the motion going or an external energy which stops the accelerating body. In the chemical industry, energy is produced when different chemicals are mixed (Zehner 25). The reactions between different chemicals for example in exothermic reactions, energy is produced in form of heat while an endothermic reaction, energy is absorbed in the reaction which shows that the reaction requires energy to proceed which must be acquired from the surrounding.

Energy can be divided into renewable sources and nonrenewable sources. The categorization is based on whether a particular source of energy can be reused after it has been used or not. Ideally, some sources of energy can be used again and again without completely exhausting them while others can only be used once and they can never be recycled afterward. The energy sources which can be used and be reused are known as renewable sources of energy while the ones which can never be reused once they are used are known as non-renewable sources of energy. The moment they are used, their services are terminated and hence can never be used in a different capacity or form. Different sources of energy are very important since they have different impacts on the environment as well as impacts on life. At times when the energy is not present all other processes remains at a standstill until the energy is supplied. For example, the absence of petroleum can have very negative influences on the environment. These effects can result in inflation which leads to poor living standards due to economic depressions and regressions. The discussion of sources of energy, their impacts and effects on the environment can be discussed under the following sub-headings which group them into either renewable or nonrenewable sources (Winebrake 46)

Renewable Sources of Energy

According to (Sustainable Biotechnology: Sources of Renewable Energy 32), renewable sources of energy are energy sources that can be generated from natural processes which are continuously replenished. Example of renewable sources of energy includes sunlight, geothermal heat, wind, tides, water, and various forms of biomass. Such energy cannot be exhausted and therefore, is constantly renewed. Most of the renewable sources of energy occur naturally on the earth's surface and therefore only require proper skills to put them into better uses. The renewable energy constitutes over 50% of the energy on the earth's surface and this explains their abundance (Spellman 24)

Sunlight as a source of energy

Sunlight energy is the free renewable energy that is tapped from the sun and used in different forms. Sunlight energy reaches the earth's surface through radiation where plants use it for photosynthesis. It is therefore used by plants to manufacture their food, the food that is consumed by animals to produce energy in their body cells. Sunlight is therefore very important in plants since it serves very many purposes which include photosynthesis, germination in seeds and growth and development. Secondly, sunlight enables the plants to have a green pigment known as chlorophyll which is used during photosynthesis. The absence of sunlight energy can lead to weathering of plants in malnutrition. However, as much as sunlight energy is required for the various process in plant stages, excessive exposure of plants to sunlight energy results to drying up of plants due to dehydration that it causes.

Apart from plants, sunlight energy is required by animals in different capacities since it helps in different functions in the body. To start with, sunlight energy is very important in the provision of vitamin D in animals which leads to a strengthening of the bones. Vitamin D thus improves the ability of the animal body to produce calcium which leads to strong bones. Insufficient sunlight energy leads to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Secondly, sunlight energy provides light energy which increases the visibility in animals. Most animals including human beings see well in the presence of light. Excessive production of sunlight energy has proved to be very dangerous in animals since it leads to body complications such as the sunburns and other defects such as vision impairment which destroys the pupil hence reducing visibility.

Commercially, sunlight energy is very important since it has a wide range of uses. Sunlight produces heat which can be used in different forms as dissed below; the heat energy produced by the sunlight can be used in solar panels to generate electrical energy. Large solar panels joined together can tap a lot of heat energy which thus produces the very huge amount of Watts of electric current that can be used as an alternative source of electricity. Most of the African countries have explored the idea of the solar panels since the method is eco-friendly and uses a natural resource which requires no maintenance and very low costs. Similarly, sunlight is found in abundance in arid and semi-arid areas which receive very little or no rainfall hence production of hydroelectric power cannot be explored. This leaves sunlight energy as one of the most important sources of energy that is transformed in such areas to act as a resource and not a disaster. Apart from production of electricity, sunlight energy is used for food drying which acts as one of the food preservation methods.

Limitations of sunlight energy

Sunlight energy produces heat which leads to desertification hence leading to loss of life. Secondly, excess sunlight leads to aridity which transforms the former productive agricultural lands to arid and semi-arid areas which do not support life. Secondly, excessive production of sunlight leads to overheating of the earth's surface which leads to global warming leading to the melting of ice in the mountain tops and hence resulting to hazardous flooding and hurricanes along the coastal regions. Lastly, sunlight leads to the formation of sand dunes which buries human alive and resulting in loss of lives. The sun dunes are other desert features provide good living conditions too dangerous animals such as poisonous snakes (Smith 70)

Water as a source of renewable energy

Water is a renewable source of energy that can be used in different forms. Water is very much abundant in existence since over 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water. Among the uses of water are; the first use of water as a source of energy is the production of hydroelectric power where water is used to turn the turbines which produce electricity as noted by (Singh and Harvey 59). Secondly, water is used by both plants and animals for their internal metabolic reactions such as cooling of the body and providing a site for chemical reactions and detoxifying the bodies of the living things.

Similarly, water is used for agriculture which leads to high food production. Water is, therefore, regarded as one of the most important sources of energy which freely exists on the earth's surface (Pagnoni and Roche 105).

Limitations of water

Excessive production of water leads to floods which claimed several lives hence making it very dangerous for human lives. Secondly, water can result in low food production especially when it is produced above the expected level.

Wind

Wind is a renewable source of energy that exists freely in the atmosphere. Wind energy is one of the most important energy sources due to its abundance in existence and can, therefore, be used without exhausting it. In its usage, wind energy is used to drive blades which rotates to move the turbines which are used to generate electricity. The technology uses the windmills which contain special blades which have large surface areas to tap more wind for the rotation of the turbines. Since the inception of the windmills, the technology has transformed wind such as the cyclones and hurricanes which used to be hazardous to be useful (Nelson 2).

Limitations of wind energy

Wind is durational and directional hence can only be used when its direction favors the intended usage. It, therefore, leads to the production of inconsistent energy due to the fact that sometimes it appears and other times it doesn't. Similarly, it produces a lot of energy which leads to property destruction and loss of life. Such wind like the hurricanes is very dangerous since they can cause the death of many people at ago.

Waves and Tides

The ocean waves and tides are renewable sources which can be used to produce electricity. The high tides can be trapped as water and then used to turn the turbines which eventually produces electric energy. Similarly, the waves' energy can be used to steer boats and ships in the seas and ocean. It is, therefore, a source of renewable energy whose abundance depends on the seasons since it depends on the position of the moon.

Limitations of tides

It keeps on fluctuating because the volume of water in the seas and oceans are never constant. This makes it produce energy which is very much inconsistent. It causes loss of life due to wrong timing and its seasonality making it hard for people to predict it.

Geothermal heat energy

Geothermal heat is an underground energy which exists as a result of underground earth movements and volcanic activities. The energy is very useful since it can be used to generate electricity. The electric current generated from a geothermal power station produces enough Watts which can serve a wider area. Since the energy comes from underground, it is always produced in an unlimited manner and can be used for a lifetime without exhausting it. Most developed countries use geothermal energy instead of the normal electric energy from hydroelectric power station since it is very cheap and environmentally friendly (Renewable Sources of Electricity)

Limitations of the geothermal energy

Some of the disadvantages of the geothermal energy are that it leads to the production of greenhouse gases which can come to the surface and emit to the atmosphere hence causing global warming. Secondly, the geothermal energy leads to surface instability since its production leads to the heavy construction of the geothermal plant which makes the land to become unstable. Lastly, the hydrothermal plants are always sited on geological hot spots, which normally have higher levels of earthquake risk hence posing a high risk of earthquakes in such places.

Biomass energy

Biomass is a renewable source of fuel which is used to produce energy simply because the waste residues will always exist and in abundance. The waste materials are always present inform of scrap wood, mill residuals and other forest resources which when properly managed will always give the bio residuals which are then used as biogas. The biogas is therefore used as a source of fuel energy which can be used and reused severally without depleting its existence. It is the only source of energy which is present in abundance to many people worldwide since forests and other living organisms are found everywhere. Biomass energy is very important since it reduces the need for fossils in the production of heat, steam, and electricity

Limitations of biomass

The production biomass is very expensive since it requires a lot of res...