Greener Earth

Greener Earth

Marsha Johnson

INF 103

David Hendrickson, Ph.D.

November 27, 2011

Greener Earth

We have come to learn that there is no shortage of renewable energy, such things as the sun, wind, water, and even biomass. Clean energy sources can be harnessed to produce electricity, process heat, fuel and other valuable chemicals with less impact on the environment. Renewable energy development will also result in new jobs for people of the United States. That will also mean less oil we have to buy from foreign countries. If we can fully develop self-renewing resources, we will also keep the money here to help our own economy. Unlike fossil fuels, which dirty the atmosphere, renewable energy has less impact on the environment.

To start out with ocean energy is just one the ways to make this a Greener Earth. The world’s ocean may eventually provide us with energy to power our homes and even some business. Right now, there are very few sources of this type. The three ways we can tap into the ocean for energy are the ocean’s waves, its high and low tides, and with the differences in temperatures. Wave energy is a kinetic energy; in short this means the movement. This type of energy can be used to power turbines.

There is another form under ocean energy, it is called tidal energy. This happens when tides come into shore, they are then trapped in reservoirs behind dams. So when the tide drops, the water behind the dam can be let out in a hydroelectric power plant, like the one in the picture above. This has been used since about the 11th century. In order for them to work well, it needs large increases in tides. There are only a few places where the tide (240 megawatts) change occurs and is able to power 240,000 homes. Finally we have come to the thermal energy part of the ocean energy. It uses the temperature of water to make energy. This type uses the differences in the water temperature, ranging at least 38 degrees Fahrenheit between the...