Photovoltaic ; Alternative ways in which the world is moving to a clean energy future ?

Question

what's the importance of moving toward a more energy efficient, environmentally benign future.?

Answer 1

yeah, only if you learn to "FEAR-VOLCAN" just one of the many gods of the "otherworlds" which will soon be present and witnessed more [cleanly] than you first thought. {p.s.} i know you think i am just being foolish and making this up, but i can not.

Answer 2

Not as important as many doomsayers would have you believe.  There are real costs to society in the use of "green" energy, and someone will pay the bills -- and go without something as a result.  A photovoltaic system presenty costs about $10 per watt of capacity to install, and can generate at most 2 kWh of energy per year per watt of capacity.  That much energy is worth about 25 cents, so the return on investment sucks.   Subsidies from various sources can reduce the cost to an individual installer, but that merely shifts the burden to somebody else -- such as the taxpayers.

Answer 3

I think that more efficient nuclear power designs would help a lot. For instance, did you know that the soviet RBMK reactor design could be fed with unenriched uranium, and the fuel rods could be changed during normal reactor operation?

Answer 4

It's extremely important for the health of the earth, but getting there is the trick. For example, hybrid cars are very popular among conservationists, but (in general) manufacturing a hybrid causes more pollution and waste than manufacturing a normal car. So does the increased efficiency pay off in the long run? That's a matter of debate. Photovoltaics are still very interesting and this year some really amazing improvements have been made in the lab but haven't been made available to the public yet. For the most part, however, photovoltaic cells as a power source are still way too expensive to make sense for the average residential customer.

Answer 5

In every way that we can, we should be looking for ways to increase efficiency and improve our methods of energy production.  This is not a "green" initiative, but it is the goal of good, sound science.

The innovations that occur when scientists focus on creating technology that burns cleaner, is cheaper, and produces less waste will spur new industries to develop.  The oil based economy of the US will go through an adjustment period as new technologies replace more obsolete systems, but the end result will be a cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient energy source.

It is essential that we continue to pursue scientific advancement to assist in improving the world around us, and, as with any field of endevour, we must remain open to all possible solutions to our problems.  Solar energy has been a dream for generations.  With a concentrated research effort, we may be able to overcome the resistence from the current energy syndicates and make Solar Energy an affordable alternative for everyone.

Answer 6

In my opinion, alternative sources of energy won't be developed to effecient levels until there is economic incentive to do so.  Unfortuntately, until then it's just a novelty.