As all other energy sources solar energy also has its own pros and cons.
The various pros of solar energy are as given below:
• Pollution free – The most important advantage is that it does not produce any harmful gases or effluents during power production. This is important in current context of growing importance of ozone layer depletion and global warming etc.
• Renewable source of energy – solar energy is the harnessing of energy received from the sun, thus it is renewable, and does not get over when used, unlike other fossil fuels which become lesser and lesser over time and becomes extinct completely.
• Energy can be harnessed in remote areas – The best feature of solar energy is that it can be harnessed in very remote areas, where every other form of energy production is risky or not possible at all. An example of this is the production of electricity in satellites.
• Does not require special area/place to install – Installation of solar panels does not require special or large areas, the panels can be installed in the roof tops of buildings.
• Free source to produce energy – Solar energy need not be bought, it is free of cost. The installation process is the only stage where money is spent.
• Dependence on fossil fuel is reduced – the emergence of solar energy has reduced the high dependence on the fossil fuels which is becoming very costly.
• Reduces health costs – increased use of solar energy reduces the cost spent on health indirectly because there is no emissions like carbon, sulphur di oxide, etc and also acid rains.
• Independent working – once installed the solar panels work on their own and do not require any manual operation.
• Low to no maintenance – maintenance cost of solar panels is meagre. Sometimes no maintenance is required.
The cons of solar energy are given below
• Initial cost – the cost of installing solar panels on houses is very high. It is sometimes of the tune of $10000 or above for good efficient cells. This makes it to be looked upon in a disadvantageous position when compared to coal and other conventional power production methods.
• Time of production – energy is produced only when suns heat is available i.e., during the day, also during cloudy days the production of power is very low on nil during nights.
• Weather dependent – during rainy and winter seasons the production of power is very less. This creates problem in areas where the seasonal changes are pronounced, making the cost of installation a waste.
• Effect of pollution – in locations where the air is polluted power production is seen to be reduced because the efficiency of solar cell becomes less.
Every system, natural or man made has advantages and disadvantages of its own. Depending on the extent of disadvantage the system is exploited further or discarded. Though hydro power has a number of advantages, it also has some disadvantages. Some of the problems faced during the generation of hydroelectricity are given below:
ALTERATION OF SURROUNDING- Generation of hydroelectricity demands a vast area of land to construct dams and the hydro electric power station. To store water in dams, large area has to be evacuated first and then water is let in. This is not an easy job, because such vast barren land is not available in most parts of the world. They are occupied by human beings, plants and animals. All these have to displaced to construct a dam, and trees have to be felled. This causes a large damage to all the flora and fauna of the area, bringing about a destruction of the ecological balance of the place. The food chains of many organisms, micro and macro are also disturbed. This causes serious trouble to these organisms, sometimes causing the extinction of certain species altogether.
CHANGE IN PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF WATER- in the process of generation of hydro power water is used to rotate large turbines, in the process the water is also circulated along with the turbine. During such circulation a number of physical changes occur to the water such as
The rise of temperature of water- the temperature of water increases thus bringing about loss of water due to vaporisation. Decrease in oxygen content- large amount of water is present dissolved in the water. This oxygen is used by the aquatic organisms for their breathing process. Due to rotation the oxygen reduces bringing about reduction of biological oxygen demand for the aquatic organisms. This in turn reduces the number of flora and fauna present in the water. Rotation of water also changes the phosphorus and nitrogen content of water. The carbon content responsible for the temperature maintenance of water increases; this may increase the temperature of the water.
DAMAGE TO AQUATIC LIFE – When dams are constructed in the path of water the life of many plant and animal life in the water is damaged. This is evident in the case of salmon fish. Salmon fish generally migrate upstream to spawn, but due to dam construction they are hindered from travelling upstream. This reduces the population of salmon fish, which in turn affects the population of other animals feeding on salmon fish.
METHANE PRODUCTION – New researches have found that when water is stagnant for long periods of time the plant present in them start decomposing. This decomposition process releases methane, which is a green house gas and has the property of increasing the temperature of Earth.
Our forefathers have been using biomass for energy when they learned bout fire and use it for their cooking. Biological mass are materials that has been grown or has lived. Biomass can take the form of wood, straw, biological wastes, waste paper, organic wastes from food processing, to name a few. Biomass can be used to produce energy. When these materials are burned, they produce energy. Fire converts biological mass into heat.
What are the pros and cons of using biomass? Since biomass take the form of biological wastes, and the whole world produces so many biological wastes, these wastes can be used and burned to obtain biomass energy. If we use biomass to produce energy, that is, biological wastes to produce energy, we can lessen to a great amount all our garbage that has to go to our landfills. By recycling through use of biological wastes to produce biomass energy, we can help in the preservation of our nature. At the same time, we can also help our economy because we will not have to buy more fuels to operate our machineries and the like because we can make use of the many available biological wastes as a source for biomass and in turn to produce energy.
However, to comprehend the problems of biological mass as a form of energy, one needs to know the biomass cycle that exists on the planet. To simplify, the biomass cycle controls the amount of carbon in our atmosphere. The biomass, basically in the form of plants, takes in carbon to live and grow and the living creatures of earth efficiently act as a sponge for carbon. However, the efficiency of this sponge effects has limited capacity. It can only absorb carbon to some extent at a time. When there is so much carbon in the atmosphere, consequently, heat will be trapped thus creating global warming which has now being felt on all parts of the world. Even if burning of biological mass brings about a much smaller extent of carbon gases over a short period of time, we still are not cutting down or lessening our carbon emissions to the atmosphere. With the global warming being obviously felt now in almost all parts of the world, what we need is reduction of emissions of carbon gases.
But if we will compare biomass with fossil fuels as to which is a better energy source, biomass is still a better choice. Fossil fuels emit more carbon gases than the biomass fuels. Furthermore, with the growing amount of garbage the world has accumulated everyday, if we will use biomass to produce energy this will greatly decrease the amount of trash to be thrown into our landfills. In this way, we still help preserve our environment.
