Definitions and descriptions of these typesof alternate energy: solar,geothermal, hydro,wind,hydrogen,biomass?
I have a report due tomorrow… I need to define and describe the following alternate energy types:
solar, geothermal, hydro, wind, hydrogen, and biomass.
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September 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 am
Solar energy is energy that comes directly from the sun. There’s two basic forms of current solar, solar thermal and photovoltaic. Solar-thermal heats a liquid that causes pressure to build and that turns a turbine. (turbines spin in magnets creating electricity) Photovoltaic gets electricity from the sun directly. Silicon has the property that it sheds electrons when sunlight hits it. There’s no fancy mechanical hookup or anything. The only trick is to have a wire that collects the spare electrons that are electricity.
Geothermal is heat from the earth, this would be geysers, volcanoes and other trapped heated pockets within the earth. This heat creates pressure, that’s used to turn a turbine.
Hydro is water, dams mostly, where water is stored at a high level and released through a turbine that produces electricity.
Wind is the wind mills you see, that’s directly hooked to a turbine creating electricity.
Hydrogen is a gas, and I don’t think belongs on this list. It’s a fuel and not a type of alternative energy. If she wants it in there I’d say that it’s for direct burning through an internal combustion engine, or through fuel cells. Fuel cells take Hydrogen and run them through a membrane that strips electrons while mixing the Hydrogen with Oxygen. (H20)
Biomass is burning, or converting used plant material creating heat and turning a turbine to get energy. they can make a fuel from biomass that can be burned later.