Is It Too Late For Renewable Energy?

You cannot define renewable energy that easily. It is the general term used for a whole range of unconventional energy sources, so the definition has to be all-encompassing. As most experts put it, renewable energy is any energy source that occurs naturally and very widely.

Most renewable energy sources are dependent on nuclear power. This nuclear power comes from the sun. In a huge nuclear reaction, the sun produces energy in the form of light and heat and this reaches the earth as natural sources of energy. The sun is the ultimate source of solar power, wind power, biomass energy and so on. Fossil fuels may be categorized under biomass energy, but are limitedly available and have plenty of disastrous side effects.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory has a great renewable energy program that finds the upcoming energy saving building methods. We have realized that energy efficiency is the best way to go, and this is where people will be educated in this aspect.

They work together with the leading instances of the building industry, foreground endeavors to build using renewable energy and tell producers as well as consumers about what and how they can save money by using this form of energy. NREL also get together with agencies to set guideposts for buildings and other energy consuming gadgets.

Renewable energy use is beneficial for the environment in the polluted world of today. Wind and solar energy are two of the most prominent types of this energy. Biofuels, geothermal energy and wave or tidal power are fast becoming popular, though some of these may potentially harm the natural world.

Is there any difference between renewable and alternative energy?

Many people don't know the fine difference between the two. Renewable energy is fundamentally natural; it's the energy we get from the sun, wind or waves. Alternative energy, however, includes both bio fuels and nuclear energy sources which are not really healthy options for us to use.

The infrastructure we have is suited for fossil fuels, even though renewable energy or green energy more cost effective. Our government has not been busy taking any steps to change things and go in for green energy sources. With the present situation worsening every day, we have to get a change really soon.

If we try to find one positive thing about fossil fuels it could be that we can store the energy we get from them, which is more difficult with green energy sources. Solar power, for instance, is less effective in cloudy weather. Calm days there is not very much use of a windmill. This and initial costs to get energy from these unconventional sources are still a bit high, could be a small drawback as compared to traditional earth-killing sources of energy.

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Bill Gates thinks big, spends big in push for energy innovation

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is investing more of his own time and money in the search for clean energy and solutions to climate change.

Gates is moving into a third arena, after software and philanthropy, and is using his Kirkland-based incubator, BGC3, to fund related science.

"The more I learn about this problem, the more I see it as super critical," he said. "We need a breakthrough; we need multiple breakthroughs."

Gates spoke Tuesday to a sold-out audience at a fundraising breakfast in Seattle for the nonprofit Climate Solutions.

Gates said he has been meeting with energy experts, reading up on the latest science and investing in startups, such as Bellevue-based TerraPower, which is designing a new kind of nuclear reactor intended to run for decades on depleted uranium.

He also started the American Energy Innovation Council with a group of senior corporate executives, which has tried unsuccessfully to persuade U.S. political leaders to double government funding for basic research.

Science and market-based technology solutions have the potential for huge advances, Gates said.

"The capitalistic format ... is the main area where energy innovation is going to take place," he said.

Gates is unlikely to make energy a focus of the philanthropic work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which concentrates on needs of the poor, but certain things like biofuels for small farms in Africa or Asia might play a role.

His growing involvement in clean energy hasn't been without controversy.

He rankled some with comments that appeared dismissive of small-scale renewable energy at a conference last week in New York.

"If you're interested in cuteness, the stuff in the home is the place to go," he said in an interview with Wired Magazine. "If you're interested in solving the world's energy problems, it's things like big [solar projects] in the desert."

Gates might not give adequate emphasis to less exciting options, such as improving energy efficiency or rapidly deploying existing solutions, said KC Golden, policy director at Climate Solutions, but his focus on technology innovation is badly needed.

"Not surprisingly given his background, that's his primary emphasis," Golden said in an online conversation after the event. "It's not everything that needs doing, but it's great he's doing it."

Golden appreciates Gates' ability to think big.

"I want to participate in a real revolution, not make futile gestures," Golden said. "That's why retreating back to just private and local action alone won't work."

In his own speech, Golden acknowledged that even if the U.S. reduced carbon emissions to zero, the world would still be "swamped by just a few months of growth in the Asian economy."

Profitable solutions that can be applied globally are needed.

"What we can do is pioneer a new path to prosperity that works for us and billions of people across the world," Golden said.

Gates had some critical jabs at politicians, saying the optimism he feels when meeting with scientists fades when he thinks about "the political elements that should be in place" by now, such as pricing for carbon.

"The lip service that has been paid to energy innovation over the last few decades has been disappointing," he said.

The Energy Innovation Council's recommendations include establishing a national energy plan with concrete and measurable energy targets that various technologies and companies could compete to reach.

In making the case for increased government support for basic research and development, Gates said he and other business leaders met with President Obama.

"He said nice things, and I think he meant them," Gates said. "In a normal fiscal environment we probably would have been successful."

Still, Gates added that "I'm kind of stunned we can't get more bipartisan view on this R&D piece. It's about jobs and innovation."

While China has surged ahead in some areas, such as solar-panel production, the U.S. remains dominant in the power to innovate in the sciences, Gates said.

Innovation thrives where the top universities and best environments for high-risk startups are.

"I know of 100 great new energy ideas," Gates said. "I'd say 70 percent of them are based in the United States, even if they are looking at doing some manufacturing [in China]."

China is a necessary part of the solution because it's a much bigger market for energy than the U.S., he said.

Yet scientific innovation is an area where "the world counts on America to do well."

At the same time, it's important to take advantage of "practical, real-time solutions where we live," said McKinstry CEO Dean Allen, another speaker. About 70 percent of electricity produced in America goes to buildings and other physical infrastructure, Allen said. "What we've learned is 50 percent of the energy our customers use in their facilities is pure waste."

Eliminating energy waste from commercial and government buildings alone could cut emissions at a level equivalent to eliminating 200 coal-fired power plants, he said.

Allen raised a note of caution about too much reliance on "spectacular breakthrough technologies" as silver bullets. Much like reform in education, he said, "it's often not best to wait for Superman."

By Kristi Heim

Seattle Times business reporter

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015017753_gatesclimate11.html

California State Assembly Pushes Tough Green Energy Requirement

California has consistently led the nation over the past decade in its adoption of clean energy technologies. The Golden State ranked first in 2010 amongst all states in solar panel installations and has some of the toughest laws on the books regarding environmental causes. This week, the state assembly approved a measure that mandates utilities to increase the percentage of electricity derived from clean sources.

The bill would make utilities to provide 33 percent of their power from renewable sourced by 2020 and awaits approval from the governor. Currently, laws require utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from clean sources by 2020. However, critics of the bill say the mandate is unreasonable considering all of California's utilities failed to meet goals stipulating that 20 percent of their electricity come from clean sources by 2010.

Supporters of the bill, on the other hand, assert that in the aftermath of the nuclear crisis in Japan, the U.S. should be more focused on weaning itself off fossil fuels and other energy sources aside from wind and solar power. Moreover, environmentalists claim the mandate could create as many as 10,000 jobs in the state over the course of the next 10 years.

Governor Jerry Brown ran on a platform of increasing the renewable energy mandate, but it is unknown whether he will veto or sign the bill into law.

Read the original article on GetSolar.Com
By GetSolar Staff.