A Breakdown of Alternative Power Sources

The world has an unfortunate dependence on oil to get through daily tasks and life in general. The cost of oil continues to go up, and it is a resource that will eventually run out, leaving those unprepared for this event in a real mess of a situation. Due to that scenario, scientists around the world are currently trying to find alternative fuel sources and ways to power things that don’t rely on oil. For example in Louisville, Kentucky there is Louisville geothermal and Louisville geothermal heat pump, things that are in development now and will hopefully soon help people cut dependence on oil. If all goes to plan these new ways to fuel the world are cost efficient and prove to be excellent substitutes for oil.

One form of alternative fuel that people are using is geyser power. Mainly popular in Iceland, where there are lots of geysers, geyser power uses the power of hot springs to create energy and power homes and provide electricity where other things normally would. It is also important for this type of power to be at its most effective to be located near the boundary of a tectonic plate. Geyser power is economically viable because there is little involved in the process of converting it into power and therefore it is very cheap to manufacture, for lack of a better term. However, due to the fact that it is typically helpful to be located near a tectonic plate boundary it is not really possible to power an entire country the size of the United States with only geyser power.

Another substitute form of energy and power is nuclear power. Nuclear power works by harvesting a small and controlled nuclear reaction, and using the energy from said reaction to be converted into electricity. The reaction that is used is called fission, and despite the fact that it is what is commonly used now in these controlled nuclear reactions it could also be an option to use a different type of nuclear reaction called fusion, which would be safer but harder to create. Some of the concerns that have arisen about nuclear power are of safety. Most people alive today remember the Chernobyl disaster in which a nuclear reactor ruptured and radiation was let out. Also, it is a major concern that there would be no place to put the radioactive waste that wouldn’t damage the environment.

Finally, a last source of alternative energy could be certain types of alcohol. Ethanol and Methanol alcohols have been tried out on cars to run them for a while now. In fact, there are some gasses at gas stations now that are blended with Ethanol. Ethanol would be extremely helpful as a source of fuel especially for cars because it is a renewable resource, unlike petroleum.

Imagine attempting to refuel a car and not having to pay over twenty to thirty dollars to have your car filled up with some kind of fuel. Think about being able to heat a home and use electricity without having to pay giant fees for the kinds of fuels currently used to heat homes.