How does alternative energy affect our envoronment?
149125
Hydroelectric dams flood large areas of wildernness destroying it. If the area flooded is famrland that area needs to be replaced byt cutting down forests someehwre else. The cold water they trap kills fish. The dam itself prevents fish migration. The sediment trapped behind the dam is a major source of nethane, a potent greenhouse gas.\n\nWind farms kill birds that gt struck by the blades. Hundreds of thousands of birds each year. Wind farms are also a major source of visual pollution and noise pollution.\n\nThe growing of crops for ethanol or biodiesel production requires more petroleum than is rpelaced by the end product. That leads to increased pollution generaly and greatly increased greenhouse gas production.\n\nGrowing crops for biodiesl or ethnaol production requires us to cut down rainforests to produce the farmland. The production of those crops also requires irrigation, which disrputs the flow rates of rivers. It requires the use of synthetic fertilsiers which flow into rivers and oceans, killing coral reefs and causing toxic algal blooms. It reuires the use of pertsicides, with all the npormal environmental problems that causes.\n\nThe environmental effect of most alternative energy sources are negative.
584743
I see 2 possibilities each mutually exclusive to the other.  In one, we find a way to overcome our dependence on oil energies and as a result our earth improves it's environment.  As for other problems we either find a way like we usually do, just look at the inventions and resources that are at the disposal of man. At least 40,000 commercially available products have come from the exploration of the moon.  Where ever there has been a challenge human ingenuity has followed.\n\nNow the other end of the spectrum is, what ever doesn't kill us makes us stronger so if we don't find ways around these horrible problems we will perish.  But I remain optimistic from the sheer tenacity and ingenuity people have.
347168
Energy that enters the system from the surroundings.
542493
to save the environment!! Hybrid cars and some alternative fuel cars save on emissions and do not attribute to the overuse of fossil fuels such as petrolium ( which is refined into the gasoline that we use in our cars).  Yes i am a tree hugging hippie..but at this time of global warming and overall ecosystemic breakdown...we all should be...did you know that by 2050 the north pole is expected to be ice free through the summer months?? That will mean a dramatic increase in ocean levels...meaning a dramatic loss in usable land mass...meaning people will be moving further in land...rebuilding..using up more of nature's building materials and facilitating further breakdown of nature...and eventually both world economy and humanity itself...never mind the aesthetic value of once booming tourist attractions going way downhill
667844
I think it would be more correct to say that our culture is heavily committed to the use of energy.  Currently energy is heavily generated by oil.  That relationship with oil will continue in the near future but not necessarily for the long term, other energy sources are very possible.  The involvement with energy will continue to evolve and increase, ultimately dispersing its availability to many more peoples with its unit cost decreasing.
457897
No.  If the planet were on a cooling trend, and stayed that way for a while, it might be heading towards a periodic Ice Age, as it has done in the past.  We would consume a lot more of outr limited energy resources just to keep ourselves warm.  Also, don't worry so much about Global Warming.  As I said before, nature goes through these cycles of warming and cooling.  Yes. humans have an impact, but it is small.
70676
Natural gas is a very good source for energy, but it is non-renewable with our current technology. \n\nHydro-electric is a viable energy source for electricty. It will always be available unless the water cycle ends.\n\nCoal is a good source for heat and power, but it does have some polluting characteristics in its natural state.\n\nNuclear is good for electricity production, steam generation and heat (from steam), it does leave residual waste, that is more concentrated radioactivity than what occurs naturally.\n\nFuel cells require power to produce but they work very well. They use readily available materials and can be scaled to the power output that is needed.\n\nGeothermal is good for heating houses and on a large scale in some areas for producing electricity. It is also a renewable power source.\n\nWind and solar are two more options that are becoming readily available for the end user. They are generally coupled with a battery system for calm periods of weather and night time.
215423
The problem is oil is running out. Once the oil runs out, we will probably be able to switch to renewables and get by. But the problem is there are many things other than car transport we use petrochemicals for. Plastics, fetilizer, lubricants, moving tankers across the seas and so forth. We will still need those things, and wind farms will not fertilize our crops.\n\nSo the short answer is, we need to stop using oil for things we have alternative sources of power for, because we will still need oil for other things 100 or 200 or 500 years from now. For those things for which there is no replacement for oil.
249468
Solar is the most efficient, available, reliable, and simple form of alternative energy at about .37/kwh. but it has one big disadvantage... You can't put it in your gas tank.
536274
Seemingly opposite to each other but objectively the same job. A proper energy management saves energy and thus conserves the natural resources by reducing their rate of decay. After all we need energy also.
328702
I don't believe this would make much of an impact. How about something else? Find alternatives. Participate in public transportation (or ask civic leaders to provide better public transportation). Vote for leaders who prioritize and value alternative, sustainable energies. Carpool, reduce your dependency on Gasoline. \n\nThere is an inequity between supply and Demand. Either the supply of fuel would have to be significantly and disproportionally increased (which won't happen) or people will have to start looking elsewhere for alternatives. Demand, in this situation, won't change without alternatives. The best way for people to help is to buy something else instead.
1101520
Considering we REFUSE to adopt a comprehensible alternative energy plan...societies will likely break down into chaos and anarchy...there will be class warfare with those who have the reserves of fuel and those who don't. Mayhem, Blood in the streets those sort of things.
767789
decrease potential energy.....through physical factors like friction....
1151307
More research into alternative fuels. And replace current power plants with solar and wind.
799696
the positive effects: the positive side is that you can produce  energy (electrical or heat) for a much lower cost than by using fossil fuels such as coal or oil. and unlike oil, the US isn't subject to an economic embargo or restriction by other nations on the fuel source.\n\nthe negative effects include a special type of pollution problem in dealing with the spent fuel assemblies and contaminated facilities, limited areas where you can erect reactors due to earthquakes, and the abuse  of of plutonium produced by the reactor for weapons.
751107
I guess it is an assumption by you but it can happen.  It would be a better world because it will replace the use of many contaminating fuels and will be of a great economic value.  Also the hole over the pole caused by industrial  emissions and others would have a higher probability of surviving.  Actually such a use is increasing and you can find windmill farms for the production of electricity.  They are contamination free except for an acceptable low noise.  Although great advances are being made on the subject,  more can be done.  I have found a lot of information about this topic in the Internet, as well as for other alternatives like gasohol and bio diesel.  Today  you can get heat from the sun as well as electricity  by using either common panels or vacuum tube collectors.
815781
Good question.\n\nThere seem to be many other sources of energy but they seem to be expensive to obtain or to require large amounts of land to be dedicated to crop growth or for collectors.  This is in itself a type of inefficiency. \n\nIn the long term prices may come down but energy such as crop based gasoline alternatives don't seem to me like they would cut it with a growing demand for gas their will be a growing demand for the amount of land that must be dedicated to its production. not to mention the population is growing and its not going to stop.\n\nIf we move toward becoming almost entirely dependent upon alternative energy we must move towards harnessing different kinds of power and not just search for one solution.\n\nA lot of money would be lost from a lot of big companies.\n\nFor instance there is a windmill type device you can purchase for your home needs right now for around $10,000 it is highly efficient\nand supposedly super quiet.  It is said to be able to generate between 30% to all of a homes energy needs depending on where you live. If too much energy is generated the excess may be sold back to the electrical company.  \n\nIf you could purchase three of these at the hefty price of $30,000 you could theoretically not ever have to pay a power bill again in some places or pay almost no bill at all. The electrical companies services could be utilized as a form of backup power.  \n\nIf everyone had these wind collectors this would certainly shrink the electrical power industry.\n\nThere is no information available to me about how much it can cost to repair these items or how well they can withstand the event of a hurricane or tornado. \n\nBut I dont think think alternative energy is a pipe dream it is just something that is going to take a large investment to start up and develop towards higher levels of performance and efficiency. \n\nThe engineering of rugged devices will have to play a large role and does currently, however, a lot of trial and error needs to occur to see what works where and why and what got destroyed by random acts of god and the forces of nature and how that can be prevented.\n\nShould things begin to look rather good for alternative energy... and it seems things look better day by day... energy companies would have to begin facing downsizing and new business models and perhaps invest themselves into the production of alternative energy or alternative energy generating devices for sale to the public.  Either way at some point they wont be the economic giants they have been to this point and thats probably gonna keep them from helping.\n\nAlternative energy will only be a pipe dream if people are afraid to nurture it and harness the energies available. This is something that is and will be heavily influenced by politics.\n\nOn another note, I think that nuclear power seems to be an "easy way out" but I don't believe that it is a good or secure solution.  There have been so many nuclear mishaps you dont hear about and so much waste that you cant prevent or do anything about. Aside from alternative energy being developed for fear of a lack of oil I also thought a large part of it was moving towards a cleaner earth. Moving towards nuclear power and nuclear waste is dangerous for everyone.  Radiation does not simply go away it is corruption of matter and it is "contagious".  Sure we could maybe launch it off into space, but should something go wrong on the way out of here we would face yet another type of radiological disaster.