Sustainable energy for Australia

The population of Australia is around 21,450,000 (2008).
Think of that as 21,450,000 people who want to eat toast in the morning, all needing a toaster to 'toast' their bread.
On average a modern day toaster uses 0.1 kW (kilowatts) in around 3 minutes; which is around the average toasting time.
So, times 0.1 by 21,450,000 and you get:
2,145,000 kW, a meaningless bunch of numbers, commas, and letters.

Now, fast forwarding to the more interesting part.
Obviously (if you've been paying attention in science class), this energy, or these kW(s) need to come from somewhere...

At the present moment, that somewhere is coal.
Right now, in Australia approximately 226 million tonnes of coal is burned per year, which powers around 85% of our electricity.
42.1% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are sourced from the burning of coal, for all these people wanting toast.

What I'm suggesting, is that Australia needs a more environmentally clean, more sustainable energy source.

Personally, I think that either solar, or wind powered energy would ultimately be the cleanest for the environment, both because they produce no carbon emissions, and because they only rely on natural sources.

Solar power.

Solar powered energy takes the energy from the sun's UV rays, and transforms the light energy, into electrical energy.
It is able to do this because of the silicon crystals inside each solar panel;
The photovoltaic cells on each panel have both a layer of neutrons, and a separate layer of protons. The sun's protons hit the solar panel, disembarking the neutrons from their fixed layer, which then are drawn to wires bythe magnetic field caused by opposing fields. The small wires then 'catch' these neutrons, which then are connected to a circuit to create an electric charge.
The pros of solar panels are:

• Clean - no carbon emissions
• No moving parts, so almost no maintenance, apart from an occasional clean

• The sun's energy is basically eternal (compared to how long we will be around), and so they are always collecting energy

The cons of solar panels:

• Very expensive, compared to coal
• so far only intake around 10% of the potential energy
• Can't produce any electricity without light

Over all, solar energy is very clean but still needs developing towards better intake of UV rays, and is quite pricey.


Wind power.

You may have seen these giant, usually white wind turbines along the countryside.
on the outside, these turbines consist of the main tower (the big pole), the rotor, and the blades.
When the wind blows, the blades catch the wind, thus turning the rotor. A shaft connected to the rotating 'rotor' is connected to a gear box, which then leads to the generator.
The generator spins a magnet, surrounded by conducting wires, or bars (usually copper). This then creates an electromagnetic field, which then causes an electric current to flow though the copper wires.

Pros of wind powered energy:

• No carbon emissions
• Very efficient
• they can produce energy at any time of the day, compared to solar
• renewable energy source
• You can build your own cheap wind turbines

Cons

• Noisy
• Inconsistent wind
• Can ruin landscapes
• Require a lot of work to build/install
• Commercial wind turbines are quite costly

For me solar, and wind powered energy are the cleanest, but not always the most efficient.
But, I think that they will gradually take up coal power plants, while improving themselves.