RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. MAY 8 T H 2011
E DITOR : R AFI M AMDANI
Solar energy. The Next Big
Thing?
As the progress into and more eco-friendly
generation and time, other means of
generating electricity are being looked at
and one of the most promising means is
solar energy. Solar energy is not only
sustainable, it is renewable and this means
that we will never run out of it. It is about as
natural a source of power as it is possible to
generate. Not only are we able to refuel our
vehicles with it we can heat our water and
light our homes. Another fantastic point is
that solar electricity power plants and
personal solar panels produce zero
emissions and make no adverse mark on
the environment. I would say, the best thing
about solar energy is that not only the big
companies can get in on it; you can out
them on your roof, and all the extra energy
that you don’t use, you can feed back into
the grid and the companies will pay you for
the electricity you spare.
Nuclear Power. Friend or
Foe?
Nuclear power is a topic that is commonly
discussed among environmentalists and
scientists alike. For this article I will outline
some of the pros and cons of nuclear
energy. The pros of nuclear energy are
simple. The Technology is readily available,
it is easy to generate a lot of electricity in
one plant, and the carbon emissions are
relatively low. On the downside, nuclear
waste has to be looked after carefully for
approximately 10,000 years and is
extremely hazardous and can be
detrimental to the environment. Depending
on the demand, our scarce resources of
Uranium will only last the next 30 to 60
years. In the making of nuclear power
plants, radioactive waste is created. This
radioactive waste can be used to make
nuclear weapons and such. The more we
develop our knowledge about nuclear
power, the more we develop our
knowledge of nuclear weaponry.
RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWSLETTER
Hydroelectricity
How it Works.
Most people have heard of hydroelectricity
before. Most people know that it is a renewable
resource. What most people don’t know is how
it works. The concept is to build a dam on a
large river that has a large drop in elevation.
The dam stores lots of water behind it in the
reservoir. Near the bottom of the dam wall
there is the water intake. Gravity causes it to
fall through something called the penstock
inside the dam. At the end of the penstock
there is a turbine propeller, which is turned by
the moving water that is flowing through it. The
shaft from the turbine goes up into the
generator, which produces the power. Power
lines are connected to the generator that
carries electricity to your home and mine. The
water continues past the propeller through
something called the tailrace into the river past
the dam. This is a fairly efficient process and so
far I have only heard one con to it. This process
may disturb the fish population but new
measures are being developed to avoid this.
Biofuel
Fact or Fiction?
One of the newest additions to the
renewable resourced energy generation
family is Biofuels. Biofuels are simply
instead of us using fossil fuels, we use
organic fuel instead. This includes Biodiesel
and Flex-Fuel. One might ask, to switch over
to Biofuels would take a lot of organic
matter? “Replacing only five percent of the
nation’s diesel consumption with biodiesel
would require diverting approximately 60
percent of today’s soy crops to biodiesel
production,” says Matthew Brown, an
energy consultant and former energy
program director at the National
Conference of State Legislatures. “That’s
bad news for tofu lovers.” Biofuels may be a
fantastic idea and a great renewable energy
source but there is just too much demand
for energy for it to handle.
RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWSLETTER
LETTERS TO THE
EDITOR:
Dear Mr. Editor, I am writing
to you today to ask your
opinion on a puzzling matter:
What would happen if we
cannot manage and sustain
the generation of energy?
Here is one scenario, if we
could not sustain ourselves
power-wise, we would just
not have electricity.
Thoughts on the matter?
Sincerely,
Mr. .Green
Dear Mr. Green,
In my opinion, I see that
there is a problem, and to
this problem there is a
solution, or a failure to
succeed. If we cannot keep
up with the pace that we
have at the moment, there
will be a pivotal point in our
history where either we stop
having electricity, or another
means of energy is
introduced. The solution to
this matter, in my opinion, is
that we need to find and
implement a new means of
electricity generation to
replace the ones we are
using now. If we do not,
there will be drastic and
potentially unwanted change
and this is inevitable.
Sincerely,
Rafi
RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWSLETTER

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://timeforchange.org/pros-and-cons-of-
nuclear-power-and-sustainability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy

http://renewableenergydev.com/red/benefits-
of-solar-energy/

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.htm
l

http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/a
/biofuels.htm