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Gjelard Karrica

Comp 1, 8:00 am

Miss Hall

November 27, 2007

Energies other than fossil fuel

Before dinosaurs, many giant plants died in swamps, over million years the planet was

buried under water and dirt, so the heat and pressure turned the dead plants into coal deep inside

the ground. Coal miners use giant machines to remove coal from the ground. For centuries

people have used two major sources of energy – one mainly for transportation and the other to

help people operate machinery and other appliances inside homes and offices. The first energy

source is gasoline and the second is hydroelectricity. There is a growing concern about the

environmental contamination caused by the burning of great amounts of fossil fuels and about

the increasing expense of finding them and processing them into easily usable forms. But, also

there are many types of energy that can replace gasoline and the traditional forms of electricity

such as ethanol, hydrogen and wind energy.

Ethanol is produced by fermentation of yeasts and other microorganisms. Products that

are used to make ethanol are corn and biomass energy or otherwise known as manure “is any

natural or artificial substance for fertilizing the soil,” or anything containing high amounts of

carbon. Ethanol is used in gasoline and other high-octane fuels. One process that is used the most

is enzymatic hydrolysis. This process includes biomass energy. When producing ethanol by using

corn (corn based ethanol), they extract the starch in the corn to make ethanol – only the starch

gets used. So, the corn kernels are left. Studies show that, a bushel of corn can produce up to 2.5

gallons of ethanol fuel. When farmers use this method they often keep the biomass in an airtight
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container to help speed up the fermentation process (Southern Iowa Bioenergy SIBE).

Ethanol is used extensively as a varnishes and perfume. Ethanol can be used as a total or

partial replacement for gasoline. Gasoline containing ten percent ethanol known as E10, and is

used in many urban areas that do not meet clean air standards. Some states promote more

widespread use of E10. Minnesota, for example, requires by 2008, almost all gasoline sold in the

state to contain 10 percent ethanol (Blunt). All vehicles that run on gasoline can use E10 without

making changes to their engines. According to producers of ethanol over ninety-nine percent of

the ethanol produced in the United States is mixed with gasoline to make E10. There is an

alternative fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, which is known as E8. But

regular vehicles are not modified to run on E85; they are specially manufactured as flexible fuel

vehicles (FFV). Flexible fuel vehicles can use any mixture of ethanol and gasoline up to E85.

As the second energy other than fossil fuel is hydrogen. Believing that, hydrogen is the

simplest element known to people. Hydrogen gas is lighter than air and, as a result, it rises in the

atmosphere. Each atom of hydrogen has only one proton. It is also the most plentiful gas in the

universe. This kind of energy sustains life on earth. It gives us light and makes plants grow. It

makes the wind blow and rain fall. Also sun and stars are made primarily of hydrogen. So now

hydrogen as a gas known as (H2) is not found by itself on earth. It is found only in compounded

form with other elements. Hydrogen combined with oxygen, is water (H2O). Hydrogen combined

with carbon, forms different compounds such as coal, and petroleum. Hydrogen is also found in

all growing things “biomass”. It is also an abundant element in the earth's crust. According to the

National Energy Education Development Project, hydrogen has the highest energy content of any

common fuel by weight about three times more than gasoline, but the lowest energy content by

volume about four times less than gasoline.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the primary user of

hydrogen as energy; it has used hydrogen for years in the space programs (Fung). Also with

hydrogen are made different kinds of batteries, and they are very efficient, but very expensive to

build that because of long and complicated procedure of dividing the hydrogen from other

elements. Like small hydrogen batteries or different called as fuel cells can power electric cars.

Or for instance large fuel cells (hydrogen batteries) can provide electricity in the places with no

power lines. In order to produce hydrogen cars will need a place to refuel the hydrogen car. So

probably it will be at least ten years until consumers walk in and drive a hydrogen car. But also

consumers will need to be educated very good how to use the hydrogen safely in order to avoid

the risks that hydrogen may cause.

As the third source of energy other than fossil fuel is wind. Wind is simple air in motion,

which is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. So since the earth’s

surface is made by different types of land and water, it absorbs the heat of the sun in different

rates. Since ancient times, people have used wind for different purposes. Like, people used wind

to sail ships in the oceans and rivers. But also in the early age people used wind milled to grind

wheat and corn, and also in some rural places people used win milled for electricity. Today, wind

energy mainly is used to generate electricity. Wind is called a renewable energy source because

the wind will blow as long as the sun shines. Like old fashioned windmills, but today’s wind

machines use blades and they are capable to collect more energy. The wind flows through the

wings or blade shaped machines, causing them to turn. The wings or blades are connected to a

drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. Even though with the modern

wind machines, there is still the problem of what to do when the wind isn’t blowing. At those

times, other types of power plants must be used to make electricity.

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Most of people know that today global is warming, and that because of very much

presence of the carbon dioxide (CO2) on the atmosphere, so the use of wind energy is very

promising and dose not cause pollution. There are two types of wind machines turbines used

today, and that based on the direction of the rotating: horizontal wind machines and vertical wind

machines. The size of wind machines varies widely. Small turbines used to power a single home

or business, which may require fewer kilowatts. Some large sized turbines have high voltage, and

they usually are placed in places where no home around is. Some people describe sound of wind

machines as being like a helicopter. Whereas, Randall Swisher, executive director of the

American Wind Energy Association, says that even in the wind machines farms, wind makes

more noise than the turbine itself. The big problem with wind energy is the fact that the machines

have to be placed in the windy areas. The people living in these areas object because they

generally do not like them having close. But today many countries are making wind machines to

produce energy; like Germany alone produces more than the third of the world’s forty-seven

mega watt (MW), (Kher, Hequet).

Beside all, consumers would find biomass produced ethanol is more cost efficient. Also

there is a plenty of hydrogen in earth but beside that might be dangerous to use. Wind energy is

by far the most promising. Farmers can have their own wind turbines on their farms and use the

electricity toward reducing their electricity bills and by using it to power generators. But, the bad

side of it is that wind energy amounts vary throughout season, time of day and even one year to

the next. However, they are all clean and renewable source of energy. Probably progressing into

the future many forms of traditional energy will be either limited or gone. So, in this way the

earth or atmosphere will not be destroyed.

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Works Cited

Energy Information Administration, “Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternative Fuels.”

The National Energy Education Development Project, Intermediate Energy Infobook, 2005.

“Ethanol Market.” - Missouri Governor, Matt Blunt 07/ 24/ 2006. Ethanol 2004. 3 Nov.2007.

< http://www.ethanolmarket.com/legislative.html >

“Fuel” The Columbia Encyclopedia of Colombia University Press.

6th ed. 2007

How Stuff Works.” How stuff works, Inc. Biomass, Hydrogen Energy” 1998-2007. Biomass

Energy. 2 Nov. 2007. < http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy5.htm>

Kher, Mark H. “War of The Winds.” TIME October 09, 2005: Wind Energy. 2 Nov. 2007

< http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1115667,00.html# >

London: Watt Committee on Energy, 2003. “The Taylor & Francis e- Library.” Biomass Energy.

June 1979-2003. SAU Tech. 26 Nov. 2007

“Southern Iowa Bioenergy (SIBE)” -Web Cast. 2000-2007: Ethanol. 2 Nov. 2007

< http://www.sibebiodiesel.com/ >

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