Describe 4 criteria you would use to compare energy sources.

Question

Describe 4 criteria you would use to compare energy sources

Answer 1

Funny that it is hard to give right scientific definition of energy, although we use its benefits every single day.

I do understand that it is my own opinion about important 4 criteria for energy sources use, and other people could give different answers.

First, we need to understand that for us on planet Earth the only source of energy that exist - is the star in our solar system - the SUN!

If we want to compare the energy sources, we:

Number One.

Have to determine are they renewable or not. If they are not renewable, we need to consider available supplies, and for how many years we are not going to experience shortage of them.

Number two.

Have to know how much energy is delivered per unit of energy source. Say for the same mass, gasoline delivers approximately

1. 2 times the energy of coal
2. 2 times the energy of methanol (wood alcohol)
3. 1.5 times energy of ethanol (drinking alcohol)

From the other hand the following fuels beat gasoline in energy per unit of mass:

1. natural gas is 1.3 times better
2. hydrogen gas or liquid is 2.6 times better
3. Uranium or plutonium fission is 2 million times better
4. hydrogen fusion is 6 million times better

Number three.

Have to know how safe is to use one or another source of energy. I am very disappointed that politicians of many countries do not want to use the atomic energy after Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents. Now we have new technologies and designed very safe nuclear reactors like pebble bed modular reactors. Everybody have to understand that without using nuclear sources of energy we will be unable to meet our increasing energy demands. The most important: the nuclear reactor cannot in principle explode like a nuclear bomb!

Number four.

Have to know what is the impact of certain energy sources on the environment and what is the cost of production say of 1 MJ of energy from different sources of energy. A fuss that we have right now in the world about the elimination of the fossil fuels and its "critical impact" on climate change is too much exaggerated. As of today, 80% of all energy production is from the fossil fuels and nuclear energy. To go completely "green" is unrealistic, if we want to have the same comfort living as we accustomed to. Today it is cheap to have energy from water, coal, oil. Unfortunately cost of energy production from photovoltaic elements and wind is still expensive and depends on many issues.

Hope that my point of view will help you a little bit better understand the issue.