Alternative / Renewable Energy Source Summary

Type of energy Where it is from Advantages - Potentially infinite energy supply. - Once the solar panels are - Energy from sunlight is built the energy they captured in solar panels produce does not cause and converted into green house gases or other electricity. pollutants. - Single homes / buildings can have their own electricity supply. - Solar energy can only be harnessed when it is daytime and sunny. '- Manufacture and implementation of solar panels can be costly. Disadvantages

Solar

- Though they are tall, turbines take up little room, - Manufacture and implementation of wind and the land below them can farms can be costly. still be used. - Wind turbines (modern windmills) turn wind - Potentially infinite energy energy into electricity. supply. - Once the wind turbine is built the energy it produces does not cause green house gases or other pollutants. - Dams create water reserves as well as energy supplies. - The strength of the wind is not constant. This means wind turbines do not produce the same amount of electricity all the time. There may be times when they produce no electricity at all. - Some local people object to on-shore wind farms, arguing that it spoils the countryside. - Costly to build.

Wind

- Can cause the flooding of surrounding - Energy harnessed from Hydro'- The lakes that form communities and landscapes. the movement of water electric behind dams can be used for through rivers, lakes and Power (HEP) recreation or to water crops. dams. - Dams have major ecological impacts on '- Once a dam is built, energy can be produced at a local hydrology. constant rate - Biofuels energy is the energy contained in plants and animals, or organic waste like wood chips, manure or sewage. - An organic material, which can be burned to provide energy, for example heat, or electricity. - After treatment with chemicals it can be used as a fuel in some types of automobile engines.

- It is a cheap and readily available source of energy.

- When burned, it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including some greenhouse gases (though less than fossil fuels).

Biofuels

- If properly protected and conserved, biomass can be a - Biomass is only a renewable resource if long-term, sustainable crops are replanted. energy source. - Growing biomass crops produces oxygen, and uses up carbon dioxide. - Some biodiversity may be lost when natural ecosystems are destroyed to make fields for growing biofuel crops.