The Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy Sources

Perpetual and renewable energy resources have their own advantages and disadvantages. Nuclear energy produces less air pollution, and they do not emit carbon dioxide or sulfur and nitrogen dioxides. Because of this, the use of nuclear power can help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 128 million tons per year. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 228). While nuclear power plants are now much safer and efficient than earlier plants, they still have health, environment, and economic drawbacks. For example, nuclear power is more expensive than other energy sources. Also, nuclear power plants have environmental impacts like the creation and release of heat pollution, radiation, and other contaminants that have been linked to increased cancer rates.

Solar power is another renewable, or perpetual, energy source. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 232). It is a good option because there is an unlimited supply of this energy source, and it is available all over the world and not just in certain locations and deposits. It is nonpolluting and it could be implemented basically anywhere. On the other hand, solar power is not continuous. When the sun sets, the energy source is gone until the sun rises again the next day. In order to offset this drawback a storage devise is required. Another drawback to this energy source is that the reflective panels used to absorb the sun’s energy can be blinding to passing traffic.

Wind power is another very clean renewable energy source. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 233). In addition to the cleanliness of this energy source it is also perpetual. Unfortunately, wind power is very unreliable and its strength depends on local weather patters, temperature, time of year, and location. In addition to its unreliability, wind power equipment is also very expensive compared to other energy sources.