Renewable Energy Technology
The UK has been in the top 10 countries that support energy resources (see Appendix 1). There are many different branches in the renewable technology. Among them I pointed out the following sources of free and renewable energy: hydro power, solar power, wind electricity, biomass electricity, geothermal energy. Hydroelectricity or hydro power is one of the sources of alternative energy. It is the most widely used source of energy in the world. It is about 1,3 % of the total UK energy production. People use the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. Water passes over large mechanical turbines, it makes them turn and the mechanical energy turns into energy. There are pros of using hydro power.
The main thing is the absence of pollution; the water moves steadily and there is no sharp energy output changes; the water can be saved, by shutting the sluice gates on the river-dams; the lakes, created for hydro power plant can be used also for irrigation and for water sports. The cons of using hydro power include high expenses on building dams (years are needed to make them profitable), also environment suffers from building dams, because flooding of the large areas of land is used.“In the UK, there is an increasing number of Offshore Renewable Energy Installations (OREIs) including wind farms, and wave and tidal energy devices. They can have negative impact on navigational safety and emergency response” (Maritime and Coastguard Agency,2014).
Solar power has more advantages than hydro power, because we can get it everywhere, it is renewable, silent, environmentally friendly, sustainable, reduces electricity costs. This renewable energy resource is recommended to African countries by UK Minister Grant Shapps (Department for International Development, 2015).The disadvantages of this source of energy include the fact that people should install solar modules in every particular place, where energy is needed, it requires place. Also installation of the solar modules is expensive. Potential problems are divided into external and internal issues. External problems include shade from the growing greenery and module soiling, critters can damage wires and birds can soil modules. Because of soiling we can lose 5 % of energy. Internal problems include module or cell damages. They also reduce energy output.
Wind Electricity
Sun gives us also one more renewable source of energy, that appears when the sun heats the surface of the earth. The masses of hot air move up and instead of them come cold masses of air. It causes wind. People use turbines to get electricity from the wind. These turbines can have 60 meter long blades and their height is about 20 meters. The largest wind turbine can provide energy for 600 homes. There are many pluses in using wind energy. This source of energy is clean and produces no pollution for the environment; it is renewable and cheap, because there are no expanses on production and transportation of such electricity; the minimal losses of energy while transportation, because a wind turbine …
