Introduction

What is solar energy?  According to Britannica, "Solar energy is the result of thermonuclear fusion reactions deep within the sun." In other words, solar energy is energy made when radiation from the sun causes chemical reactions that produce electricity. Eventually, as humankind searches for more ways to use clean, efficient energy, solar and wind power will become more and more popular, and will be used more and more often. As you can tell, solar energy has a lot of potential. In fact, if we place solar panels on 1.2% of the Sahara Desert, there will be enough energy to effectively sustain the whole human population in terms of energy! 

Process

So, how does this work? The first step is when the sun shines on the solar panels. The PV (Photovoltaic) cells absorb the sunlight, and this creates energy. This energy creates an electric charge that moves according to an internal electrical field in the PV cell, which creates an electricity flow.

Uses

Solar energy has a wide variety of uses, such as providing the electricity of a house, machines and technology, and other places. It is just as useful as the electricity we use now, and instead of using fossil fuels, we can use clean energy to power our devices.

Advantages

As with the many disadvantages to solar energy (stated below), there are just as many advantages, the most obvious one is that it's a clean and renewable energy source. The sun will always shine on at least one place of the Earth (hopefully) and we can always use that sunlight to create electricity. It is also carbon efficient, meaning it minimizes the amount of carbon used for a unit of energy.  This advantage of solar energy will help considerably in reducing the amount of global warming and pollution on the place humans call Earth.

Solar energy also creates jobs and is supports our growing economy. In our generation, some of us aspire to become scientists and engineers, and eventually as we become older, a few of these aspiring scientists and engineers will grow to become the best of energy experts. Solar energy, renewable energy, is our future.

Challenges

However, there are a few problems with using solar power; How will the places that are rarely sunny get enough energy to power their houses and other places? Will we have to transfer solar energy from sunnier places to the fog covered city of London (just as an example)? As for now, it is extremely complicated for scientists to transfer energy from place to place and with the danger of accidentally electrocuting themselves. We'll have to rely on other sources of clean energy in addition to solar energy.

To use solar panels to produce energy that we can use, must we use fossil fuels to produce the solar panels and other equipment involved with installing and producing the solar panels? Unless we can determine a way to manufacture solar panels without using fossil fuels, we are still causing climate change that can change ecosystems forever. 

Introduction

The Britannica Definition of wind energy - A "form of energy conversion in which turbines convert the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be used for power" - is kind of confusing. In simpler words, wind energy is a way in which turbines change the energy of wind's motion and movement into energy that can be used as electricity. 

Process

How does this work? Well, obviously, the first step of this energy conversion is the movement of wind. This is caused by the sun when it unevenly heats the surface of the Earth, creating areas of high and low pressure. As air flows from high pressure areas to low pressure areas, wind is created! This wind then turns the blades of the wind turbine around a rotor, which is connected to a generator. When the wind force rotates the generator, electricity is created.

Uses

This wind-created electricity (made in the process described previously) helps power the Grid (the national network of transmission lines, pipes, and equipments that electricity is distributed through, and can be used to power anything from public campuses to community facilities (schools, office buildings, and parts of a campus) to farms.

Advantages

Wind power has many advantages - the most obvious one being how it's a clean and renewable energy source. As long as the sun continues to shine on the Earth, wind is created, and wind power can be used. Also, it creates electricity without polluting the world with carbon dioxide, something fossil fuels do. In fact, according to Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy, using wind energy in the U.S. "helps avoid 336 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually," which is equivalent to 73 million cars worth of emissions.

Wind power also creates jobs, like solar power. Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy states that "There are over 125,000 people working in the U.S. wind industry across all 50 states, and that number continues to grow", and "wind turbine service technicians are the fastest growing U.S. job of the decade." 

One last, third, way wind energy helps the United States is by growing America's economy. It generates a considerable amount of U.S.'s net energy (more than 10% in 2022), and investments in new wind projects have added $20 billion to the United States's economy.

Challenges

Wind power is created in wind farms, which are usually far away from big cities. However, urban areas have a lot of demand for wind power, and require a lot of energy and electricity in general, so installation challenges must be faced to bring wind energy from isolated farms to large cities.

Furthermore, though wind energy, along with solar energy are more "economically competitive" than other fossil fuel, geothermal, and nuclear energy options when considering energy cost, they aren't always the most cost-competitive with actual money. In places where wind is not common, wind energy is understandably less popular, and must compete with other low-cost energy sources.

A final challenge wind power faces is it's impact on wildlife. According to Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy, "Although wind projects rank lower than other energy developments in terms of wildlife impacts, research is still needed to minimize wind-wildlife interactions." What wildlife impacts?, you may ask, and to that, Wind explained: Wind energy and the environment will tell you that birds and bats can be killed by the blades of wind turbines, and that "These deaths may contribute to declines in the population of species also affected by other human-related impacts." So, while wind energy definitely affects the environment in better ways than other energy sources (like fossil fuels), it can still hurt wildlife. Because of this, people in the wind energy industry and the government are looking into ways to reduce the impact of wind turbines on birds and bats.

Introduction

Geothermal energy is a somewhat obscure energy source. At the very least, it's not as often heard of as wind or solar energy. Therefore, for those who don't know, geothermal energy is, as stated in Britannica, "a natural resource and form of energy conversion in which heat energy from within Earth is captured and harnessed for cooking, bathing, space heating, electrical power generation, and other uses. " In other words, geothermal energy is a form of energy conversion that gets its energy from the heat of the interior of the planet and can be used for a variety of things.

Process

Now: how is geothermal energy obtained? The journey of geothermal energy starts in a hot rock, with water flowing through it. A geothermal power plant then draws the fluid up and turns it into steam. The steam turns turbines, which in turn creates electricity through a generator (in this way, geothermal energy is similar to wind energy, which is closely related to solar energy. Isn't it interesting how all these natural energy sources seem connected?). When the steam used to turn the turbines condenses, it can be reused and reheated to begin the cycle again, creating more electricity.

Uses

Geothermal energy has a lot of potential. According to Electricity Generation by the Geothermal Technologies Office, the U.S., the biggest producer of geothermal electricity in the world, generates more than 3.7 gigawatts in geothermal electricity - enough to power about 2.7 million U.S. homes!

5 Things to Know About Geothermal Power states that geothermal electricity in the U.S. could meet 10% of the country's electricity demand. Aside from generating electricity, geothermal energy is also often used in heating and cooling buildings through geothermal heat pumps. 

Finally, if we achieve the maximum projections of the 2019 GeoVision analysis, Geothermal Basics tells us that would be the "emissions reduction equivalent of taking 26 million cars off U.S. roads every year."

Advantages

Geothermal energy, like all the previously mentioned energy sources, have many advantages. The first - and most obvious - is, as always, that it's clean. It can be extracted without the burning of fossil fuels and results in little emissions. In fact, according to Geothermal FAQs, the production of geothermal electricity "produces only about one-sixth of the carbon dioxide of a natural gas power plant, and little—if any—nitrous oxide or sulfur dioxide."

One thing that is somewhat special with geothermal energy is how it can be used. Unlike most other energy sources, it can directly heat and cool buildings as well as produce energy. Geothermal energy can actually be considered as a possible alternative to your air conditioning and heating, and will probably help you save money through its use. 

Because of how geothermal energy is produced, it is available all day, every day, the whole year - unlike the other energy sources mentioned earlier that depend on the weather. In addition, thanks to the high-capacity factors in geothermal power plants, the power plants can operate at maximum capacity almost all the time. These two remarkable traits of geothermal energy make it, according to Geothermal FAQs, "a critical part of the national renewable energy mix."

Challenges

Like the other power sources mentioned on this page, geothermal energy, too, has its own challenges. One such disadvantage is its availability. Because of geothermal energy's means of production, where geothermal power plants can be is limited. They have to be on top of reservoirs, which are usually found on the boundaries of tectonic plates. Therefore, some countries might be able to rely on geothermal energy as a power source, but others probably won't. 

Another problem with geothermal energy is also thanks to it being produced on tectonic boundaries. It has the possibility of causing earthquakes. When geothermal energy is produced, digging is required. When the digging happens, the ground becomes unstable, and there is a small chance of an earthquake happening. It's easy to see how such a challenge might make people wary of using geothermal energy.

While geothermal is renewable (it can be created and replenished naturally), it isn't necessarily sustainable. It might not maintain the natural environment or meet the short- and long-term needs of a society. The water that geothermal energy takes from the ground and uses must be closely regulated. Should we take water faster than the Earth can make it, we would be in trouble. However, this can be avoided with good supervision. For example, once the water has been used, it can be re-funneled into the reservoirs.