subject: Solar power versus nuclear energy, advantages and disadvantages [print this page] Solar power versus nuclear energy, advantages and disadvantages
Developed countries have always used large amounts of energy to fuel their industrial and technological growth, but in recent years developing countries have become major consumers of energy due to their need to develop rapidly. Electrical energy is usually generated in a power plant that converts other forms of energy into electricity. Each system has advantages and disadvantages, but many of them raise troubling environmental problems.
The main feature of nuclear energy is the high quality of energy that can be produced per unit mass of material used compared to any other type of energy known to humans.
Under normal operation, a nuclear power plant releases very little contamination of any kind onto the environment. However, nuclear power plants do produce several types of nuclear waste. This low radiation waste can be removed simply by placing them somewhere that is not accessible for a few years. However, high level radiation is present and this radiation equals to about one tone per year for a big nuclear power. This high radiation nuclear waste poses a huge problem to get rid of it. You can expect it to be a dangerous element for decades, centuries, even millennia. So these nuclear factories must find ways to get rid of it, while at the same time keeping residents extremely safe. Typically, most of these wastes are stored in temporary storage houses that require constant and careful attention. Accidents in nuclear power plants pose a serious risk of environmental contamination. Since the Chernobyl accident, for example, and recently in the Japanese nuclear plant following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami released large amounts of radioactive contamination has made nuclear energy a dangerous business.
Advantages of Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy, for example in the European Union generates a third of the electricity produced in this area, thus avoiding the emission of 700 million tones of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere. Also other emissions of caused by fossil fuels are reduced, thus improving air quality.
Disadvantages
There is a high risk of contamination in case of accident or sabotage. Radioactive waste that is produced is difficult to store and is active for a long time.
Advantages of Solar Power
Solar energy is obtained by capturing the light and heat emitted by the sun and using it as thermal energy and solar power.
The power of radiation varies with time of day, weather conditions and location. One can assume that in good conditions , direct beam radiation is in the value of approximately 1000 W / m at the surface.
The direct radiation reaching the solar focus is direct light, without intermediate reflections or refractions. This light energy can be reflected and concentrated to provide electricity to two-thirds of the world population.
The SolarBeam Concentrator uses a reflective surface to direct light from the sun onto an absorber that is 10" x 10" to produce solar thermal energy, up to 10kW (34,140 BTU's) and in the future, solar power of up to 4kW/hour. This revolutionary system can be purchased as 1 system or as hundreds of systems. The SolarBeam is the only parabolic concentrator that can be purchased by residential and commercial applications. It is sold through distributors around the world. For more information, check out the videos at: www.youtube.com/solartronenergy
