Why Not Solar Power Or Other Alternatives Essay, Research Paper

Why not Solar power or other alternatives?

The world’s natural resources are being consumed at an alarming rate. As these resources diminish, people will be seeking alternative sources by which to generate electricity for heat and light. The only practical short-term solution for the energy-crisis is nuclear power. Nuclear power, however is not as safe as burning coal, gas or oil in a factory it is in fact, much more dangerous. The dangers associated with a nuclear power plant far out weigh the benefits to society as a whole and in part to the community living and working around the power plant. About 20 percent of our nation’s total electrical consumption per year are supplied by nuclear power from the 100 or so nuclear power plants throughout the country.

Even though atomic power has been in use for over 50 years it was primarily a tool of war and destruction when the war ended need for atomic bombs diminished. The scientists who created the weapons were out of jobs. They then turned this destructive power into huge plants generating “clean and cheap ” electricity for the country. It was called progress.

This progress also brought with it sickness, mutations, cancer and eventually death to those exposed to high levels of radiation. Government declared that nuclear power is safe and efficient. Also have big Oil corporations who have a lot of money invested in nuclear power and want to see as many plants as possible put into and kept in operation. The truth is that accidents do happen at nuclear power plants and at other facilities all the time. An accident at a nuclear power plant has the potential to be much more devastating than an accident at a coal or gas plant because of the radiation that could be released. An example of this is Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania where there was a partial core meltdown in March of 1979 and an “acceptable” amount of radiation escaped into the atmosphere. However no amount of radiation is acceptable if released as a result of an accident at a nuclear power plant.

The amount of energy that reaches the earth from the sun on any given day is far greater than that consumed by Americans in any given year. To harness this and turn it into something that is much needed and very useful would be a great alternative to nuclear power plants. Having no moving parts, producing no pollution, consuming no fuel, and operating at environmental temperatures, solar collectors are very clean and efficient. They produce a practically free form of electricity and would provide electricity at a very low price.

Nuclear power plants average a build time of 10 years and cost millions of dollars. This means that vast implementation of nuclear reactors in the near future is virtually impossible and unrealistic. Solar power receptors on the other hand cost a fraction of the price and take less time to manufacture than nuclear plants. Although nuclear power has its drawbacks and limitations, still seems to be the primary choice for energy production today due to the rise in population and to general energy consumption around the world as well as to the lack of technology in the other fields of energy production.

It is a wonder why solar power has not been mass implemented already to power our country and the world. The materials used to build solar collectors (silicon, plastics) are readily available. Silicon makes up the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust. These panels could be placed virtually anywhere on the roofs of houses and buildings or into the sides of the buildings themselves. Solar power could be a reality today. However, oil companies such, as Exxon who are the leading researchers in nuclear and solar technology, would rather have the nuclear because it would produce more money than the solar. Solar power is a cheaper source of electricity because you cannot turn off the sun. The same oil monopolies buy out smaller companies that are developing feasible solar power plants to keep them from being implemented and to maintain the hold on the fossil fuel market.

Solar energy and thermonuclear fusion are great alternatives to the nuclear reactor but these will not be mass implemented until well into the next century. That does not solve the problem for today. To keep the number of nuclear power plants as low as possible people need to conserve, energy change lifestyles and recycle more of their wastes. We need to be less dependent on electricity and electrical products. Government policies and guidelines must implement conservation. To have any affect at all on the amount of electricity that is consumed. “Anything that slows down the development of solar energy, the one cheap limitless source of energy that cannot be shut down by war or embargo, is undermining the national security of the United States”.

Nuclear power has been a constant in all of our lives due to the many problems it has and to the many accidents that occur. Nuclear power is a dangerous and deadly tool that should not be taken lightly. Sadly this is exactly what has happened in regards to the accidents at Three Mile Island and again at the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union. In both cases inexperience and ignorance played major roles in the accidents. Hopefully this may never happen again and nuclear power will be phased out to the safer fusion reactor and the very appealing solar power generator.

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