The availability of alternative energy comes in many different forms. Most people immediately think of solar energy which utilises photovoltaic cells to capture energy from the sun and fortunately these cells are becoming more affordable. Solar power does not harm the environment and can be used for all our energy requirements including generating vast amounts of electricity with the added benefit of being environmentally friendly. Although there is still a great deal of work to be done to make this an economically viable solution for the long term. The one major problem is storing the power for use when the sun is not as strong, on overcast days and when night falls.
As of the moment, the most-invested-in alternative energy source favored by many private investors as well as the government is the wind energy. These are huge windmills with two but more often three blades which harness the power of the wind to generate electricity for many communities. Making use of energy and having a windmill to carry out the process is not something that can surprise many. Of course today's windmills are much larger than their predecessors and much more advanced. Of course, the drawback to wind energy is - what do you do when there is a calm, still day? Of course, the power we need can come from other sources when this happens so currently we cannot rely completely on wind power even if we had sufficient farms to cater for our needs.
For many years now, hydroelectric power has been used as a form of alternative energy to create prodigious amounts of power almost everywhere in the world. Simply put, hydroelectric energy uses the motion of water—its flow in response to gravity, which means downhill to turn turbines which then generate electrical energy. The use of water for driving hydroelectric turbines is not much of a worry even finding for its sources because water is just everywhere. Having said that, building huge dams is very expensive, time consuming and there are other issues which usually make the whole process costly at the beginning. Dams are often built in order to be able to control the flow of the water sufficiently to generate the needed power.
Building a dam to store and control water's potential and kinetic energy takes quite a lot of work, and operating one is complex as well, and conservationists grow concerned that it is creating environmental problems. Of course, a dam is not always needed if one is not trying to supply the electrical needs of a city or other very densely populated area. One good alternative to consider is using small run-of-river hydroelectric converters to provide electrical needs to neighbourhoods or even to an individual office or home.
Some countries have harnessed the power of geothermal energy (energy from inside the planet) to heat water under the ground although this is still an under-utilised energy source generally. Water below the earth's surface is heated by the incredible temperatures at the planets core. Methods such as the “dry steam” power plants, “flash” power plants, and “binary” power plants are some of the various methods used to draw up water for harnessing geothermal energy. When hot water is drawn up, it simply means that there is the need to gather steam. The Geysers is an example of a dry stream plant located in the region of about 100 miles north of San Francisco and perhaps the best-known of all geothermal power fields.
Homemade Wind Energy and Homemade Solar Energy can save you a whole load of money every year. This is something you NEED to look at.
