Nuclear Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Nuclear Energy - Essay Example Solar energy is the biggest source of energy. Electrical energy can be generated directly from solar energy by employing solar photo voltaic panels. Electrical energy can also be produced by focusing multiple beams of light at a point to generate electrical energy using the thermal energy produced by focused beams. Solar energy has the biggest potential among all the renewable sources of energy. A photo voltaic solar panel employs semiconductor material, which generate electricity when photons strike its surface. If there are solar panels on every home, the need of energy can be fulfilled (West 2011). A wind generator generates electrical power by utilizing aerodynamic energy of the wind and converting it to electrical energy. When wind strikes the turbine blazes of a wind generator, it runs the generator. An electrical power generator, if a permanent magnet type, rotates magnets around a coil in such a way, that the magnets cut the flux, thus generating electrical power. There a two common designs of a wind turbine horizontal axis wind turbine and vertical axis wind turbine. Both of the designs are enough efficient to generate electrical power even in a low wind conditions. Wind power holds the second biggest potential of energy. A hydro power plant captures the hydrodynamic energy of running water and utilized it to generate electrical power. Dams are constructed as reservoirs of water, where water is collected from rivers and streams but mostly rivers. That water run through a number of turbines to collect hydrodynamic energy from water and convert it to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is then converted back to the electrical energy. There are many hydro power stations all over the world and they are being in use for over more than eighty years (Renewable Energy World .com 2011). Tidal energy generator converts tidal energy to electrical energy. A tidal generator works on the principle of high tide and low tide. It has the same mechanism as that of a horizontal axis wind turbine but in tidal energy generator, turbines are submerged under the water to collect the energy from the low or high tide. These types of generators can also be utilized to collect energy from running water as in the rivers, streams and other running water sources. Large tidal units can be placed at shores and at the rivers. Geothermal energy can be captured from geothermal grounds. This type of energy is basically a thermal energy and a geothermal power plant acts as a thermal power plant, where water is converted into steam which then runs the turbine to generate electrical power. Long pipes are bored into the earth where geothermal grounds are present. Water is passed through these pipes, where it is heated by the thermal energy from the ground and converted into steam (West 2011). There are several geothermal grounds in the world and energy can be generated by employing these geothermal plants. Biomass energy can be extracted from biomass or from organ ic waste. Biomass is gasified to produce a gas that can be burnt to generate electrical energy. These methods are not new, they are being utilized in many countries for many years. Biomass can be produced from raw wood, organic waste and other organic sources. Sometimes micro organisms are involved in the process to capture bio methane or bio gas from biomass. In this way the byproduct can be utilized as a fertilizer,