Alternative Energy - Not As New As You May Think
There's a lot more news about alternative energies recently. Different people have different ideas about just what it is. They also have different ideas about how long alternative energy has been around. I wrote this article to give my perspective on
One way to look at it is to consider alternative energy an alternative to "standard" energy. Since the mid-1800s standard energy has pretty much meant fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas.
Our current perspective blinds us to the fact that the emergence of fossil fuels as the dominant form of energy happened only recently in world history. Wind, animals and hydropower were the dominant sources of energy until the mid-19th century.
Dutch windmills are an icon of the country. Windows are also closely associated wit old ranches of the American West.
Another example of earlier uses of what we now consider alternative energy is solar hot water heating. Several progressively better and more convenient solar water heating systems were available commercially in the early 1900s. At one point nearly 1/3 of the homes in Florida use solar hot water.
As you consider the above and similar facts I think you can see that the dominance of fossil fuels has been very brief and very recent. As it becomes harder and more expensive to meet our energy needs with fossil fuel, we need to return to other sources.
Having said all that, let me give you my current definition of alternative energy: energy that comes from a source other than fossil fuels
While many people automatically assume that alternative energy sources are renewable, that isn't necessarily so. For example, burning peat for heat is an alternative energy, but it is neither clean nor renewable.
Most sources of alternative energy have less environmental impact and burning fossil fuel. And most are renewable, meaning we don't have to worry about running out of them. These considerations have led to the increased interest in exploring alternative energy today
Although most people think about solar panels and windmills when they think about alternative energy, the field is really much broader than that. it's very exciting to see all the research being done in areas such as biomass, tidal power, geothermal, solar chimneys and so forth.
I think we can safely expect that the use of all forms of alternative energy will increase until they become the new standard.
One way to look at it is to consider alternative energy an alternative to "standard" energy. Since the mid-1800s standard energy has pretty much meant fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas.
Our current perspective blinds us to the fact that the emergence of fossil fuels as the dominant form of energy happened only recently in world history. Wind, animals and hydropower were the dominant sources of energy until the mid-19th century.
Dutch windmills are an icon of the country. Windows are also closely associated wit old ranches of the American West.
Another example of earlier uses of what we now consider alternative energy is solar hot water heating. Several progressively better and more convenient solar water heating systems were available commercially in the early 1900s. At one point nearly 1/3 of the homes in Florida use solar hot water.
As you consider the above and similar facts I think you can see that the dominance of fossil fuels has been very brief and very recent. As it becomes harder and more expensive to meet our energy needs with fossil fuel, we need to return to other sources.
Having said all that, let me give you my current definition of alternative energy: energy that comes from a source other than fossil fuels
While many people automatically assume that alternative energy sources are renewable, that isn't necessarily so. For example, burning peat for heat is an alternative energy, but it is neither clean nor renewable.
Most sources of alternative energy have less environmental impact and burning fossil fuel. And most are renewable, meaning we don't have to worry about running out of them. These considerations have led to the increased interest in exploring alternative energy today
Although most people think about solar panels and windmills when they think about alternative energy, the field is really much broader than that. it's very exciting to see all the research being done in areas such as biomass, tidal power, geothermal, solar chimneys and so forth.
I think we can safely expect that the use of all forms of alternative energy will increase until they become the new standard.
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If you want to find out just about all there is to know about alternative energy, a great place to visit is: Alternative Energy Primer
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posted by SolveItQuick at
8:39 AM
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