Pavel Hlinin’s Expanded Definition of Alternative Energy Sources.

To: Professor Ellis
From: Pavel Hlinin
Date: March 20, 2021
Subject: Expanded Definition

Introduction

For my expanded definition research project, I decided to focus mostly on alternative energy sources. I think that it is a great topic for my term research project because our reality changes rapidly and alternative sources of energy are important now and most likely will increase its importance in future. So, the term alternative energy sources are good term to work on.  Development of economies and globalization increase demand of energy. Many countries experience the shortage of energy at some point. Any national disaster or pandemic show that using only traditional sources of energy, cannot satisfy all needs. That makes the topic of alternative energy sources very important nowadays.

Definitions

According to Cambridge Dictionary, “alternative energy is energy from moving water, wind, the sun, and gas from animal waste” or “ alternative energy is energy that does not come from coal, oil, gas, or wood, especially energy from moving water, wind, the sun, or animal waste”.  According to  the article “Minimizing electricity cost by developing an effective combination of alternative energy sources” gives a more expanded definition of alternative energy term by adding a few more different types of alternative energy sources such as “solar power, industrial batteries, and diesel generators” (Yadavalli, V.S.S., 2020). At the same time a very interesting definition gives the website studentenergy.org. According to this website: “alternative energy refers to energy sources other than fossil fuels. This includes all renewable sources and nuclear” (studentenergy.org, 2020). That is interesting because usually a nuclear source of powers refers to traditional sources of energy.

Context

The article „The Importance of Renewable Energy Sources in Poland’s Energy Mix” written by polish researchers, tells us about the importance of renewable energy sources and gives extended explanation what is renewable and alternative energy sources. This article explains in detail which renewable and alternative energy sources exist and how it works. For example, the article says that alternative sources of energy are energy generated from solar radiation, wind energy, biomass, water, and geothermal sources. According to this article, “renewable sources of energy come in an unlimited supply, they do not emit greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, or only a negligible amount thereof, and they are less expensive than the conventional sources” (Marks-Bielski, Bielski, Pik, & Kurowska, 2020). The author refers the alternative energy to the term green energy. In Poland, the green energy presented by energy which is based on biofuels (80%) and wild energy (12%). Also, there are few other examples of green energy such as “energy originates from waterpower (2%), biogas (2.88%), and solar power (0.68%), and trace amounts of energy come from incineration of municipal waste, geothermal springs, and heat pumps” (Marks-Bielski, Bielski, Pik, & Kurowska, 2020). S.A. Dyatlov, in his article “Prospects for alternative Energy Sources in Global Energy Sector” , discuss various of alternative energy sources and their importance nowadays. Also, he tells why alternative sources of energy cannot fully compete with traditional sources. Mainly it is because this energy remains very expensive for the end user due to the inclusion of various environmental tariffs and fees in the price” (Dyatlov, 2020).

 Working Definition

The definition of the alternative renewable sources of energy is extensive and includes many components. However, all resources give approximately the similar definition. Thus, alternative and renewable energy sources are represented primarily by installations or devices that use the energy of the sun, wind, water, geothermal energy, or energy contained in water, air, or earth. In recent years, interest in alternative energy sources has been growing steadily. Their use is especially important in remote areas. Also, alternative energy sources have less negative impact on the environment in most cases. The alternativeity of these sources lies in the fact that today these sources are used as alternative sources to traditional sources in conditions when the use of traditional energy sources is not possible for any reason. The renewability of energy sources lies in the fact that, as a rule, these sources work cyclically and are restored to their own without additional help. The good examples of renewability give solar and wind energy sources.

      

References

Alternative energy. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/alternative-energy

Yadavalli, V.S.S (2020, December).   Minimising electricity cost by developing an effective combination of alternative energy sources. South African Journal of  Industrial Engineering. p.168

Marks-Bielski, R.,  Bielski, S.,  Pik, K., & Kurowska, K. (2020). The Importance of Renewable Energy Sources in Poland’s Energy Mix. https://go-gale-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/

Dyatlov, S., Didenko, N., Ivanova, E., Soshneva, E., & Kulik, S. (2020, January 01). Prospects for Alternative Energy Sources in Global Energy Sector. S.A. Dyatlov et al 2020 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 434 012014. Iopscience. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/434/1/012014