wind energy could be an easy socially responsible investment yet it isn't. Why?
138678
Wind energy is actually growing at a double digit rate, albeit from a very small percentage of the energy total.  Like solar and geothermal it's about as green as energy can get, so it is very responsible in that sense.   It will take strong government committment to spur it's use because it's still rarely competitive with fossil-based energy.   The Wall Street Journal had an article last week about the difficulty of the boldest experiment yet - a Danish island that has tried with limited success to get off shore wind energy as the primary source (it was going OK until the government withdrew subsidies).
423132
It all depends on the area where you live. Like people in Florida would benefit most from Solar energy. People living near dams would benefit more form water energy. Wind energy would benefit people who live in the mountains. It all has to do with the geography of the land. But dealing with fuel options... I'm stumped!
61173
Both. As non-sustainable practices begin to have more and more consequences we will be forced to find alternatives, and often will not find the alternative in time to prevent significant suffering. In some areas we may have enough foresight to change before the impact is felt. I am encouraged to see more and more wind power being installed, both on land and on ocean based platforms, but at the same time I am discouraged to see people choosing to drive large SUV's which will have a negative impact on the future. In some areas reforestation is taking place, where 100 years ago there was deforestation. This is encouraging and is simply the result of changing economic use. I have also been encouraged to see negative population growth in the most industrialized countries; this suggests the present stresses on the planet may be relieved.
107141
I am guessing you are asking about environmental conservation.  Certain natural resources are limited.  If we use them wisely, then they will be available for a longer period of time.\n\nThere is a limited amount of oil in the ground, for example.  If we use it up, we will not have it to heat homes and power vehicles.  One way to conserve, would be to find other ways to heat homes and run motors.  Solar power, wind power and now biofuel are ways in which people are trying to do this.  Another way to conserve would be to use less heat in our homes and find other ways of travel, instead of cars.\n\nFrom my point of view, the most important environmental resources are clean air and clean water.  If you pollute those resources then nothing will live - people, animals, plants - we all need clean air and water.\n\nTrees help clean the air, which is why it is important to have forests and parks, so the trees can consume the carbon dioxide we breathe out while they breathe out the oxygen we breathe in.
610297
There is not enough wind power being generated for everyone who might want to buy it. And I would be suspicious too. How do you really KNOW that all your electricity comes from wind? Just because the electric company says it does? And you believe them? Wind power is just put on the power grid with all the other electricity, so it is all mixed up. You are depending on accountants at your power company to correctly calculate, second by second, that all the power from wind entering the network equals or exceeds all the power being used by customers paying extra to get wind power. I am not sure I trust them to do that.
686726
Actualy there ARE free energy solutions out there, such as a self sustaining magntic generator the problem is noone will fund building these power sources becuz there is no profit in free power and we all know everything is about money and profit.
1094104
Actually, these natural resources are being used to generate electricity. There are drawbacks to each of them, as there are drawbacks to using coal and nuclear energy. \n\nSome of the top drawbacks to these forms of energy are:\n1) consistency - most people want power day or not, whether the wind blows or not and whether the river is high or not. \n2) energy content - these forms of energy are not as efficient as burning fuel, typically\n3) cost \n4) specific concerns, such as birds getting caught in wind turbines, fish habitat being destroyed by hydroelectric dams, etc.\n\nPutting these all together, there are significant hurdles to overcome.
56246
It's a renewable resource, and can provide electricity in places that otherwise would have none at all.\n\nIt also helps all those satellites and space crafts in service for such long periods of time.\n\nIt's not the most practible source of energy here on Earth but it is something that can be built upon.
394468
Green energy that includes natural enegetic processes.  Geothermal power, wind power, small-scale hydropower, solar power, biomass power, tidal power and wave power fall under such a category. Some versions may also include power derived from the incineration of waste.\n\nRemember that no power source is impact-free. For instance, concerns are raised over bird kills and in some cases noise pollution by windmills and over heavy metal use and associated mining damage by raw materials used for constructing solar cells.\n\nHere in Greece we have used windmills  ancients before electricity but now we use it to produse electricity for our islands. We use also solar cells and  small-scale hydropower to produse electicity.
276622
Major problem is there aren't a lot of locations with a high enough tidal push to make it feasible--Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations.\n\nAdvantages\n    * Once you've built it, tidal power is free.\n    * It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste.\n    * It needs no fuel.\n    * It produces electricity reliably.\n    * Not expensive to maintain.\n    * Tides are totally predictable.\n    * Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not ruinously expensive to build and do not have a large environmental impact.\n\nDisadvantages\n    * A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area - the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed. There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages.\n    * Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out.\n\nBottom link is similar idea:
771960
With the current environmental situation being what it is, why shouldn't this be a credit.  Here are some thoughts.\n\nCurrently, the world is economy driven.  Factories are sprouting up all over the place and pollution is becoming a major problem.\n\nEveryday our food sources are in the news for some kind of health risk (e.g. mad cow, ecoli, bacteria etc.)\n\nIf people and more importantly youth were able to learn about agriculture and self-sustainability perhaps the next generations and subsequent generations could cut down on pollution and start making a difference.\n\nSecondly and more philosopically speaking, people need to recognize that we don't own Mother Earth.  That we are a part of it and we need to start respecting it.\n\nFurther to that, by learning about agriculture we are subject to a number of values and morals.  Some of those being, hard work, determination, seeing something through from start to finish, growth and care of nature etc.
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.
1159109
There are a number of programs that could be better funded, and topping the list are research into alternative energy solutions, disease prevention and suppression, and fighting homelessness and starvation.  Could you imagine a future where renewable energy sources provide the majority of our world's power?  And a future where millions of people's lives are saved because a vaccine for malaria was developed and made available to people in poor nations all over the world?  And how about a future where farmers grow their crops and what we don't use is sent to places all over the world so that little kids don't starve to death?\n\nJust imagine our standing and credibility with the world.  People hate us because we produce so much and take so much from others without even thinking about people less fortunate.  Yet this dream probably will never happen because of our greed.  A vaccine for malaria will probably be developed, along with a cure for AIDS, but do you think that the companies producing these are just going to give them away to people who couldn't possibly afford them, or are they going to be sold to the highest bidder?  Alternative, renewable energy sources are available, and have been for some time.  The technology has finally matured enough to where these sources can be efficient, but are we making use of them?  No, because the oil companies are trying to kill these innovations off.\n\nThe fact of the matter is that until there is a significant shift in our thinking, this future isn't possible.
467790
I would agree that theres probably no one who would disagree with your question/quote. With the exclusion of the actual corporations who often dont really abide by any real social responsibility. The old adage is that corporations are not responsible to society, merely to their stakeholders. This may be changing slowly in some quarters but remember, the primarly goal of any corporation is and always will be --- profit.
918889
um. dunno. maybe energy efficiency (everything else seems to be energy efficiency rated these days), safety and increased development cost.
143632
Yes, I don't get why people don't understand the idea of "better safe than sorry", even if global warming isn't proved yet we should cut down emissions now before it's too late.
21772
because people feel that everyone should be responsible for the environment, except them.  its the typical double standard.  its easier to preach than it is to actually follow your own advice.