What is the earths best choice as an energy alternative because it's reliable, renewable, and?

Question

doesn't cause pollution?

Solar-hydrogen energy or Wind energy

Answer 1

Solar is the consensus choice of scientists and engineers who have done the research. It is by far the most powerful and is completely safe with no byproducts at all. Others are promising but none is sufficiently powerful enough in the long term to meet our energy needs. Our current technology does not make solar economically viable, but the technology will improve.

Answer 2

Nuclear is not only not renewable, but the problem of storage of the highly toxic waste for the duration until the end of the human race as the piles of this waste continue to grow has never even been addressed. All man made containers break down over time when exposed to long term radiation.... This is within my single lifetime much less 10,000 years from now...

There is no single renewable source which will work on it's own. There needs to exist peak storage which a solar/hydrogen might supply in addition to hydro pumped storage. Wind is clean and cheap, but cannot be relied upon without other backup. Hydro is reliable, but lacks peak capacity.

The problems with renewable energy which need to be solved are storage and continuous supply. It takes a long time to ramp up a combined cycle gas turbine to full power so a traditional plant cannot simply be switched on and off as needed. Solving that technical problem will be critical in establishing a long term total renewable long term solution. It is a problem that can be solved within the next 30 years.

Photo voltaic is the single most expensive of the renewable sources. The production of these cells/plates requires vast quantities of water and energy and creates toxic waste primarily heavy metals arsenic, etc.

Solar reflector steam generation is the best for the large scale solar option at this time

Answer 3

None of the alternative energies have the same energy output of our current hydrocarbons.

There are a number of problems with hydrogen fuel cells. Many of these are engineering problems which could probably be worked out in time. But there is one basic flaw which will never be overcome. Free hydrogen is not an energy source; it is rather an energy carrier. Free hydrogen does not exist on this planet, so to derive free hydrogen we must break the hydrogen bond in molecules. Basic chemistry tells us that it requires more energy to break a hydrogen bond than to form one. This is due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and there is no getting around it. We are working on catalysts which will help to lower the energy necessary to generate free hydrogen, but there will always be an energy loss, and the catalysts themselves will become terribly expensive if manufactured on a scale to match current transportation energy requirements.

Solar and wind power suffer from four fundamental physical shortcomings that prevent them from ever being able to replace more than a tiny fraction of the energy we get from oil: lack of energy density, inappropriateness as transportation fuels, energy intermittency, and inability to scale.

Answer 4

shall we start up with renewable...All are renewable, yet fossil gasoline takes tens of millions of years to resume and Nuclear could require we shuttle to different planets to resume. sturdy... All are sturdy yet different limits sidestep the image voltaic and wind from use in some aspects. The transport of capability from sunny and windy to cloudy and calm aspects comprises huge lose of capability. ALL reason some air toxins with fossil being the worst. yet nuclear radiation is often seen air toxins and could desire to be lots worse, for human beings, than something. cost is the element that determines the answer. If we don't start up right this moment to swap Fossil gasoline and the ordinary source of capability the cost will proceed to upward push till it reaches a point above each and every of the others. the main suitable answer could be a rapid use of image voltaic, wind and geothermal the place ever attainable. relatively appropriate use of Nuclear the place the previous won't paintings. And an emphasis by potential of the government to velocity examine on convalescing and advancing non-polluting forms of capability.

Answer 5

Solar photovoltaic cells are best. But even a perfectly non-polluting energy source will contribute to Global Warming in some small way. Although, it would replace technologies that are somewhat worse.

Answer 6

Nuclear Power is by far the most renewable and most cost efficient method of producing power. It's two main problems are radioactive waist and the chance of a meltdown. These are just technical problems and they can be overcome.