Advantages and disadvantages
Of renewable energy sources:
1. Eolic energy is inextinguishable, clean and free. Its main inconveniencies are its lack of continuity (there is not always wind) and being an agent of change in the environmental landscape upon installing its aerogenerator towers.
2. Solar energy, just like the wind, is clean and free, but intermittent (it reduces its power on cloudy days) and expensive technology is needed for its transformation into electric energy.
3. Hydro energy is also almost infinite and ecological, but among its drawbacks one can find periods of drought and the high environmental impact caused by the creation of reservoirs.
4. Biomass does not emit gasses that cause a greenhouse effect and its use as a fuel in internal combustion engines reduces the use of conventional engines that cause high levels of pollution. Its main disadvantage is that it needs a large amount of biomass in order to achieve the same amount of energy as other sources.
Of non-renewable energies:
1. Oil, coal and natural gas are widely used the world over. Also, they are used directly, burning them (combustion) to produce heat and movement, in ovens, stoves, boilers and motors. Its main disadvantages are that they will run out in the mid-term and their use produces the emission of gases (greenhouse) that pollute the atmosphere.
2. Nuclear power plants emit minimal amounts of pollutants into the air. Its drawbacks are generating highly dangerous nuclear waste and producing serious environmental catastrophes.
Impact on the environment due to the use of non-renewable energy sources
Studies reveal that the environmental impact of non-renewable energies compared to renewable ones is up to 30 times greater. Some of the most relevant negative effects are:
– Acid rain: it forms when the humidity in the air combines with nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, gases emitted from industries, electric power plants and vehicles that burn petroleum derivatives.
These gases increase the acidity of rivers and lakes, which translates into important damage to aquatic life and changes in the composition of soil (their acidity increases), causing the loss of important nutrients for plants, such as calcium.
– Greenhouse effect: atmospheric phenomenon that allows the planet’s temperature to be maintained by retaining part of the energy that comes from the sun. But nowadays, it is more accentuated and is causing changes. This is caused by the increase in the emission of certain gasses, like carbon dioxide and methane due to industrialization.
– Polluting spills: they cause accidents like the death of species in productive areas; (forests, agricultural and rivers), mainly caused by oil, coal and natural gas.
– Dangerous radioactive waste: produced by the process of nuclear fission, causing alterations that are usually irreversible.
