What Is Alternate Energy?
The term alternate energy refers to a number of energy sources that have not reached mainstream production yet. They are considered alternatives to existing sources for a number of reasons, not all of which are rational.

Historically we consider one of the oldest sources of energy as derived from burning wood to produce heat and to enable cooking. The wood stove was first replaced by the coal stove and later by natural gas and electricity. More modern forms of energy for cooking are the microwave, radiant heat and convection. The last three are electrically produced. So what is the alternate energy? Well, in heating, one of the latest forms of energy is derived from wood pellets. This is a situation where an energy source has come full circle.

But in the broader context, alternate energy is anything that is not coal, hydro, gas, petroleum or nuclear. Some would not put nuclear energy as a standard form of energy, and since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, it has been relegated to alternate status in many countries.

That leaves solar, wind, tidal, fuel cells, flywheels and a host of other energy sources squarely in the alternate category. But is that fair?

Surely solar power, with the increased efficiency of the photovoltaic panels and the large solar farms in Germany, Japan and the United States, is becoming a commodity and hence a standard energy source?

Do the examples of the wood pellets and solar power indicate a need to rethink what is alternate and what is standard? The time may have come to actually define the terms “alternate energy” in a more comprehensive manner and relegate the losers to one category and the winners to another.

Where to start? One school of thought looks to the future and says that energy sources that are largely untapped should be called Potential Energy, the sources that are running down, or have been left by the wayside would be called Depleted Energy. How would that work in practice and what are the ramifications of such a classification?

To start with, solar energy is the epitome of the Potential Energy source. Since 99.9% of the sunÂ’s rays that hit the earth are not harvested directly for energy production it represents a huge waste of a huge potential. It is also a completely renewable energy source, and here is another popular way to differentiate energy sources, renewable and non-renewable.

Where would that category place nuclear energy? Well, depending on the reactor type, it could be renewable or not renewable. The standard boiling water reactor uses enriched uranium and regular water. This presents a number of safety factors such as in a meltdown situation such as occurred at Three Mile Island, the water to cool the reactor also promoted the fission and hence the continued spiraling nuclear reaction that leads to a core meltdown. There isCanadianian reactor that uses natural uranium and heavy water. The CANDU power plant can be cooled down with regular water in the case of a runaway reaction, and to cool it down and stop the fission, the heavy water can be dumped.

So here we have a new classification of energy, safe and dangerous. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is probably one of the most dangerous forms of energy available on the planet. A supertanker loaded with LNG is a spark away from destroying a city the size of Boston. It has not happened yet, and maybe never will, but the potential is there since we know that LNG trucks have been known to blow up with loss of life. Yet LNG cars produce no pollution and require little rework to operate.

Then we have the hoary question of clean energy versus polluting energy sources. Clearly, coal-burning power plants are not clean. There are acid rain polluted lakes in Ontario and Quebec that can trace their demise to Ohio coal burners. But what about nuclear power, surely an energy source that keeps all its pollutants safely stored in a holding tank should not be considered polluting? Although solar power is absolutely clean in its production stage, some of the most toxic chemicals known to man are required to create the panels. Where does one start counting the cost? When does the pollution meter tick in?

Hydropower, the harnessing of large or even small rivers to turn turbines is considered an essentially clean energy source. And in a sense it is one of the cleanest, but then man exaggerates and turns whole regions into water catch fields, the James Bay project, the Hoover Dam and recent Chinese projects have dislocated the environment and caused human tragedies. Wind power has been banned in certain States that happily endorse solar.

Creating energy is a matter of compromise and acceptable risk. No matter which category you select there will always be insiders and outsiders. My personal favorites are personal energy and corporate energy. Personal is the energy I control and produce. Solar panels on my roof and batteries in my garage are personal sources of energy. A small biodiesel production facility in my garage is personal and allows me to produce up to sixty gallons of diesel fuel a day. A wind driven pump to pull water out of the ground and a large tree lot are other forms of personal energy. Corporate ends up enriching someone else, like Petroleum giants, a PUC or a local coop.

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