Is the solar energy good for environment?
By sagarpatel
@sagarpatel (36)
India
May 19, 2008 11:59am CST
Most of the people believe that solar energy can solve problems of pollution on the Earth. But I have some doubts, have a look at them below.
(1) Making the devices that can generate electric power from the solar energy itself contains industrial processes that generate pollution! We have to use industrial processes to make such devices affordable.
(2) Suppose one day we succeed in getting most of the energy need of human being from the solar energy on the earth. But at that moment, what about the natural processes that uses solar energy? Such natural processes involve generation of winds, evaporation of sea-water and many other beyond our imagination.
So, I think the only way to avoid pollution and sort of energy is to limit our consumption of energy:)
What you say?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@Citizen_Stuart (2016)
•
19 May 08
Solar energy might be feasible on a large scale. Years ago, there were some studies done that suggested that it might one day be economically feasible to build huge (miles long) solar energy generating stations in geosynchronous orbit and beam the power to Earth using microwaves. The materials to make the solar cells could be mined on the Moon (and in energy terms it's a lot cheaper to ship materials from the Moon to GEO than from the Earth to GEO).
@sagarpatel (36)
• India
20 May 08
But what about the energy consumption? If you make large constructions, it will rather increase pollution due to production process of the required material.
One thing is clear, more complexity invites more pollution and nature destruction. Is it okay?
@Citizen_Stuart (2016)
•
21 May 08
For structures in space, using materials mined on the Moon, pollution will obviously not be a problem. Obviously receiving stations would need to be built on the ground, but that shouldn't be worse than conventional power stations, I should think.
@chaunce54 (55)
• United States
22 May 08
Your second point has no merit. There would still be plenty of solar energy left to drive the forces of nature. If we could harness 20% of the energy of the sun, we would have far more energy that we would likely ever need.
To those who say it is not economically feasible, I say with more research and development it can be. Wind energy is essentially solar energy itself, as the sun is what drives the wind! And I also think that the environmental impact of wave energy may be far too great for widespread use.
@dartman2 (124)
• Canada
21 May 08
Reducing our consumption of electricity is paramount. We should use as much passive solar energy to replace electricity. By replacing or supplementing existing electrical heating with passive solar (direct heating by the sun as opposed to turning the sunlight into electricity and then using this to heat), we can still reduce and then retain many electrical and electronic devices which have become "necessary" in our modern world. Another thing, I would like to see people sleep at night. Have you ever seen a night-time view of the earth and the incredible amount of electricity used to light the earth for no apparent reason? It's ridiculous! I also believe that every hand-held device that we need should be equipped with a solar cell so that any chance of free energy is routed to the battery. I am sure this would reduce the innumerable batteries that we consume. The difficulty with solar-generated electricity and, indeed, all electricity, is that it cannot be easily stored. Therefore, the immense battery business exists, thrives and pollutes.
