Hoover Dam (AZ/NV border, USA)
Saving the Planet
Alternative Energy Sources by Danny
Fahey
Some scientists have estimated that fossil fuels will run out not long after the year 2000. However, the exact time at which this is likely to happen depends on a number of factors : saving and conserving our energy resources, making our power plants and machines more efficient, and whether we are likely to find new deposits of the 'non-renewable ' resources such as coal, oil and gas. We can certainly increase the ways in which we use the renewable sources of energy. This page is all about alternative power sources and how we can fill the massive energy gap that will almost certainly appear in the near future..
Hydroelectricity
This is when a turbine is powered by moving water, falling from a reservoir . The turbine then turns the generator which makes electricity, from a process known as electromagnetic induction. The process starts by rain falling into rivers and streams which runs into a large lake created by damming a valley. As the water flows down large pipes through the dam, and it turns the turbine.
Hoover Dam (AZ/NV border, USA)
Wind energy
Winds blow across the Earth's surface every day. When the wind blows it turns the blades on the turbine, and the kinetic energy is converted into electricity. Sometimes the winds are strong and other times there may be very little wind. Therefore, it is not able to provide a continuous supply of electricity, and the demand is unlikely to be met by supply, when needed. On a small scale, however, generation of electricity can provide a local solution to a local problem , especially in remote parts of the world.
Energy from the Wind (near Palm Springs, CA)