Alternative energy seems to be all the rage today, but a lot of people have are unsure of what it is or have different definitions. I hope this article clears things up,
alternative energy is commonly used to refer to sources of energy that are an alternative to coal, oil and natural gas. These fossil fuels have been the most common source of our energy for generations.
Our current perspective blinds us to the fact that the emergence of fossil fuels as the dominant form of energy happened only recently in world history. Wind, animals and hydropower were the dominant sources of energy until the mid-19th century.
A windmill by a ranch house is an icon of the American west because thousands of windmills were used to provide power to pump water before electricity was available.
Early in the 20th century nearly 1/3rd of homes in Florida used solar hot water. The availability of cheap electricity in the 1940's changed that. At one point electric companies were even giving away hot water heaters to encourage consumption.
As you consider the above and similar facts I think you can see that the dominance of fossil fuels has been very brief and very recent. As it becomes harder and more expensive to meet our energy needs with fossil fuel, we need to return to other sources.
With that background, here's my working definition of alternative energy: energy from a source other than the burning of fossil fuels (again coal, oil and its derivatives and natural gas).
While many people automatically assume that alternative energy sources are renewable, that isn't necessarily so. For example, burning peat for heat is an alternative energy, but it is neither clean nor renewable.
Concern for the environment has made people aware of the impact of burning fossil fuels. While price fluctuations and occasional interruptions and supplies makes it clear that we are also running out a fossil fuel. Factors such as these have led to the increased interest in returning to alternative energy sources.
Although most people think about solar panels and windmills when they think about alternative energy, the field is really much broader than that. it's very exciting to see all the research being done in areas such as biomass, tidal power, geothermal, solar chimneys and so forth.
I think we can safely expect that the use of all forms of alternative energy will increase until they become the new standard.
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If you want to find out all about alternative energy, a great place to visit is: Alternative Energy Primer
Get all the information and photos:: http://coringa.info/education/alternative-energy-whats-old-is-new-again
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