Case study: Economic and

Environmental Analysis of Renewable

Energy VS. Conventional Energy

What Are Types of Energy Sources?

What Are Types of Energy Sources?

What Are Fossil Fuels?

Fossil fuels are derivatives of plant and animal fossils that

are millions of years old. These are primarily formed from
the remains of the decayed plants and animals of the
carboniferous era. They form three energy sources: coal,
natural gas and oil/petroleum.

Problems of Fossil Fuel Dependency

Fossil fuels are the major energy source that are being
used in the world today. But there over-consumption can
lead to serious environmental issues such as air pollution.
They are non-renewable sources of energy as they are
derived from pre-historic fossils and wont be available
once they are fully used.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

1. Environmental Hazards:Environmental pollutionis

one of the major disadvantage of fossil fuels. It is a
known fact that carbon dioxide, gas released when fossil
fuels are burnt, is one of the primary gas responsible
forglobal warming. Rise in temperature of earth has
resulted in melting of polar ice caps, flooding of low lying
areas and rise in sea levels.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

2. Rising Prices:Most of worlds oil reserve is in Middle

Eastern countries. Any fluctuations in supply and demand,
and political instabilities would cause huge price rises for
industries and importing countries.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

3. Non-Renewable:As of today, fossil fuels are being

extracted at an exorbitant rate to meet the gap between
demand and supply and it is estimated that they will be
finished in next 30-40 years. Since they are nonrenewable, it is more likely that fuel expenses will face a
steep hike in near future.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

4. Coal Mining:Extraction of coal from areas that have

huge reserves is not only a difficult and dangerous task
but also poses a serious health hazard to the lives of
several workers who work there. The coal mining destroys
wide areas of land and results in ecological imbalance.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

5. Effect on Human Health:Pollutionfrom vehicles and

coal powered power plants can cause serious
environmental hazards. Pollution related diseases range
from mild to severe and can significantly affect ones
quality of life.

Why Go Green?

Renewable energy, wind, solar, geothermal,

hydroelectric, and biomass, provides substantial benefits
for our climate, our health, and our economy. Each
source of renewable energy has unique benefits and costs
and eliminates most of the problems associated with
fossil fuels.

Advantages of Renewable Energy

1. Minimal Global Warming: Apart from Biomass,

renewable energy produce very little global warming
emissions. Compared with natural gas, which emits
between 0.6 and 2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent
per kilowatt-hour (CO2E/kWh), and coal, which emits
between 1.4 and 3.6 pounds of CO2E/kWh,windemits
only 0.02 to 0.04 pounds of CO2E/kWh,solar0.07 to
0.2,geothermal0.1 to 0.2, andhydroelectricbetween 0.1
and 0.5.

Advantages of Renewable Energy

Advantages of Renewable Energy

2. Better Public and Environmental Health: Generating

electricity from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels
offers significant public health benefits. Wind, solar, and
hydroelectric systems generate electricity with no
associated air pollution emissions. While geothermal and
biomass energy systems emit some air pollutants, total
air emissions are generally much lower than those of
coal- and natural gas-fired power plants.

Advantages of Renewable Energy

3. Renewable: Throughout the World, strong winds,

sunny skies, plant residues, heat from the earth, and
fast-moving water can each provide a vast and constantly
replenished energy resource supply. These diverse sources
of renewable energy have the technical potential to
provide all the electricity the world needs many times
over.

Advantages of Renewable Energy

4. Price stability: The sun, wind and water are not

monopolized by any specific organizations/countries, so
the prices will always be stable as long as there is enough
supply

Advantages of Renewable Energy

5. More Jobs: Compared with fossil fuel technologies,

which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the
renewable energy industry is more labor-intensive. This
means that, on average, more jobs are created for each
unit of electricity generated from renewable sources than
from fossil fuels.

Advantages of Renewable Energy

6. More Reliable Systems: Wind and solar are less prone

to large-scale failure because they are distributed and
modular. Distributed systems are spread out over a large
geographical area, so a severe weather event in one
location will not cut off power to an entire region. Even if
some of the equipment in the system is damaged, the
rest can typically continue to operate.