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What Affects the Cost of Electricity for Business?
The cost of electricity for business depends not only on the market price of electricity itself. The final amo...
Energy consumption is linked to all types of human economic activity: heating homes, cooking food, transport, industry, and agricultural production.
The development of various energy reserves on a global scale has led to an unprecedented rise in living standards. Today, people are so dependent on energy that it is difficult to imagine how they would survive without it. We do not think about where energy comes from until the lights or heating are turned off. When that happens, we cannot live or work properly.
Energy sources are classified as follows:
1. fossil fuels (coal and oil shale, oil, natural gas);
2. nuclear and thermonuclear energy;
3. Renewable energy resources (energy from water, wind, sun, thermal waters, wood, peat, etc.).
Energy production has a significant impact on the environment. The combustion of fossil fuels and liquid fuels is accompanied by the release of sulfur, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide gases, as well as nitrogen oxides, dust, soot, and other pollutants. Open-pit coal mining, like peat extraction, leads to changes in natural landscapes and sometimes to their destruction. Oil and petroleum product spills during extraction and transportation can destroy all life in vast areas (water bodies).
The creation of infrastructure necessary for coal, oil, and gas production has a negative impact on landscapes, flora, and fauna.
Nuclear energy is potentially dangerous due to possible accidents at power plants, accompanied by the release of radioactive materials into the environment. Nuclear waste remains dangerous for hundreds and thousands of years. This issue is particularly relevant for Ukraine, which suffered from the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
In recent years, politicians and the general public have expressed concern about the worsening of global environmental problems such as acid rain and climate change, and have assessed the impact of these processes on the environment. And although energy can be obtained in more environmentally friendly ways using renewable energy sources (sun, wind, thermal waters, wood, and agricultural waste), it is important to realize that there is no way to obtain energy that does not harm the environment at all.
In this situation, energy conservation should be considered the most rational solution. It should become a priority in the development strategy of any country, as traditional energy sources are limited.
The negative impact on the environment of various types of activities related to energy production is as follows:
Despite their obvious advantages, renewable energy sources can also have a negative impact on the environment. The operation of stations that generate energy using renewable energy sources is associated with the removal of significant areas of land from circulation and is likely to be accompanied by various negative consequences for the environment in the future: changes in landscapes (wind turbines, solar panels), increased noise levels (wind turbines), soil contamination (geothermal power plants and biomass-fired plants), and harmful effects on other natural resources (tidal power plants). In addition, these power plants usually have low capacity and cannot be used everywhere (wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal and tidal power plants, methane tanks).
Wind energy is “mechanical” energy. It has been used since medieval times in windmills and sailing ships. Modern wind farms efficiently convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Electricity generated in this way is much more expensive than that produced by thermal power plants.
Since 1980, the capacity of wind farms has increased more than 3,000-fold, particularly in North America and Western Europe.
Wind farms do not pollute the air with chemicals, but they do create noise. Therefore, although placing a large number of generators close together promotes more efficient operation, many people find this unacceptable. These power plants operate most efficiently in strong winds, but are vulnerable to hurricanes.
The sun is the most powerful source of energy. Its capture is hampered by the need to allocate large areas for solar collectors and significant fluctuations in the amount of sunlight.
There are basically two ways to use this source of electricity. The first is to build solar boiler rooms. Water in them is boiled and evaporated using solar energy directed by mirrors, and the steam turns turbines. Solar boiler rooms require large areas; for example, one 80-megawatt power plant consists of 852 boiler rooms, each with a diameter of 100 meters. The second method involves the use of panels with elements that convert solar energy directly into electricity. These panels do not pollute the environment, but they create environmental problems when they become waste. Solar panels can be adapted to individual needs, making them suitable for use in households. They work most efficiently in the desert.
Geothermal electricity is also generated when steam turns a turbine. The water is heated to the temperature at which steam is formed by superheated thermal water located deep in the Earth’s interior. Thermal water does not usually come into contact with the water that heats the steam—heat is transferred through a heat exchanger. Thus, natural water returns to the interior, and reheated water returns to the turbine.
Such power plants are only profitable where thermal waters are located at relatively shallow depths. In addition, their construction sometimes causes seismic tremors.
Biomass energy can be produced by burning plant matter. This method is not harmful to the environment, as carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are negligible. This is because the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by plants during photosynthesis is the same as the amount released during biomass combustion. However, coal releases carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) and soot.
In addition, turbine efficiency is low, making this method quite expensive and the use of biomass often unprofitable. An alternative solution is to convert plant matter into gas, such as methane. This is then burned by gas turbines, which operate more efficiently. This method has a future in areas where there is a lot of agricultural waste. Methanol and ethanol, which are produced during the fermentation of biomass, can be used as fuel for cars.
Based on materials from the website OSCE – www.osce.org
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