geyicong---75分.docx

The world has become over-dependent on fossil fuels which are limited and cause numerous environmental problems such as global warming and acid rain. A long-term alternative to the deployment of fossil fuels can be the utilisation of renewable energy which is more environmentally friendly and can be replenished in a relatively short period of time. This essay will examine how successfully developed nations have utilised different categories of renewable energies (hydropower, wind power, solar power and geothermal energy) respectively by using the three criteria stated below: the quantity and efficiency of energy output, the versatility of the energy produced and various costs of producing the energy, which may include environmental costs. Hydropower is the only renewable energy that is used on large scale at present (Middleton, 2008:359), and most sites suitable for exploiting this have already been developed (Seitz, 2008:141). Firstly, hydroelectric power accounts for virtually Norway’s all electricity production (Demirbas, 2005:175) and 25% of Canada’s total energy consumption (Energy Information Administration, 2005). Nevertheless, in 2007, electricity produced from hydropower satisfied merely 2.4% of total energy consumption in America, the number one energy consumer (EIA, 2007). In terms of efficiency, peaking hydropower plants, the ones with bigger capacity, can adapt to various demands of electricity by rapidly changing output levels, thus increasing the efficiency of energy production and avoiding the high cost of storing extra electricity generated (Harpman, 1999:390-1). Hydropower can produce not only electricity, but also direct mechanical energy used for crop processing (Demirbas, 2005:175). Moreover, the variable cost, the cost that would rise as output increases, is lower in comparison with thermal units. For instance, the variable cost for the operation of a typical hydropower plant was $5.89 per megawatt hour in 1995, while it was $21.11 for