Comparing fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and solar power

Renewable Energy

The Law of Conservation of Energy:

The law of conservation of energy says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The total energy that exists in the world is constant because the total amount of energy is an isolated system (Giles 1964,-page 97). Since this is the case, energy can only be changed in its form, such as turning kinetic energy into thermal energy. Within the realm of the business world, this means that the form of energy matters, but that regardless of the form chosen the energy obtained will be the same.

Pros and Cons of the Following:

Fossil fuel, oil, natural gas, and coal

Pros: petroleum is relatively inexpensive, combustion of fossil fuels is a highly efficient way to produce usable energy, fossil fuels are stable and are more readily available, it is also inexpensive and timely to extract materials, provides 85% of all energy consumed in the United States, can be carried from one place to another easily and safely (Fossil 2013).

ii. Cons: non-renewable energy source, extraction negatively impacts natural habitats of plants and animals, emits hazardous gases, consumption of fossil fuels produce greenhouse gases, also contributes to pollution of water, air, and the land, some of the byproducts created are also highly toxic, depletion of non-renewable energy sources will ultimately increase their cost as time goes on (Fossil 2013).

b. Nuclear energy

i. Pros: nuclear energy produces more electricity than other renewable sources of energy such as wind power or solar power, electricity produced is also far less expensive for the consumer than other energy sources, also nuclear energy does not require the kind of ecosystem devastation of fossil fuels (Burgess 2013).

ii. Cons: nuclear power requires uranium which must be expensively mined, produces radioactive waste which is dangerous and does not biodegrade but is kept beneath the power plants in concrete basins where it remains radioactive for 1,000 years, stolen nuclear materials could be used to make weapons, meltdowns or partial meltdowns have occurred such as at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl which created injuries and deaths for many people both within those cities and through residual radiation, radioactive material can leech into ground water causing severe contamination, science has linked illness to communities which have a nuclear plant in their vicinity (Burgess 2013).

d. Wind power

i. Pros: completely clean energy source which does not require drilling or mining for materials, renewable and sustainable, costs are low, abundant supply of wind available, the power is essentially free once the structures have been paid for, can be