Are Renewable Sources of Energy the Answer after All?
Sunday, December 20th, 2009Clean, renewable sources are the answer. ‘Unlike other major energy transitions, such as wood-to-coal and coal-to-oil, moving from oil to alternatives will be forced and rapid,’ writes Charles Cresson Wood, President of Post-Petroleum Transportation, a consulting firm. The Cost of Conventional EnergyIn the last six years, uranium prices have moved from $7 a pound to $80 a pound. Coal has moved from $22 a ton delivered at the plant to $55 a ton, and natural gas has gone from $2 per million BTUs to $12 per million BTUs. A lot – it could even power your home. What once seemed like a distant daydream consigned to books about the future is becoming an everyday reality for an increasing number of people. Big companies such as BP have installed solar panels at a number of their gas stations as far away as New Zealand in an attempt to reduce their dependence on external electricity supplies. The reason behind these kinds of decisions normally comes down to two main factors: firstly, once initial setup is complete solar generated electricity is completely free ; secondly, there is a reduced impact on the environment as less fossil fuels need to be burned in order to generate the electricity. What steps are involved in setting up a solar powered home? The main step required is obtaining solar panels and placing them somewhere that gets good sunlight. One of the small, but still important ways it is being used is in solar post lights. Often, people want to light their driveways or backyards. Aside from running expensive extension cords to lamps, using battery after battery, or running lines in underground pipes, there really weren?t many choices to power their lamps. Click here!