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If we say that alternative energy comprises everything that is not based on fossil fuel consumption, the number of optional resources is impressive. This chapter will provide an overview only of the ones in use or development now, with each being further explored in subsequent chapters. There are, no doubt, alternative energy sources not included here, either because they are not yet at anything beyond a theoretical stage or simply because no one has thought of them yet.

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One of the biggest challenges the human race faces today is finding and using alternative energy sources. The push for means of generating electricity has been around for over 100 years, but when oil and coal-fired generators produced power inexpensively, the world put the search for alternative energy sources on the back burner for a number of years.

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With fuel costs at an all-time high, this would be a good time to start thinking about conservation, if you haven't done so already. Here are a few ideas to get started.

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Alternative energy research has led to the development of state of the art alternative energy sources for the home. One of the advantages of using alternative energy is that it is a renewable resource whereas our supply of coal and other fossil fuels is depleting. This advantage of renewable energy and alternative energies has many companies and people looking for different ways to power up.

Sometimes called renewable resources, alternative energy does not need fossil fuel or even the splitting of the atom to be produced. It is called renewable because the sources of it are constantly being produced. It does not cause the pollution that oil and gas cause. This kind of energy is not really new. What is new is that we now categorize these forms of energy as alternative energy.

The forms that alternative energy may take are fuel cells, geothermal energy, wind power, biomass, hydroelectric energy, solar energy and water energy such as wave and tidal energy.

*Fuel cells as a type of alternative energy is usually associated with electric cars, or hybrid cars. Electrochemical devices produce power through a chemical reaction. The primary benefit of fuel cells technology is that power is produced without the production of harmful pollutants. They are still very expensive to produce, however.

*Geothermal energy can be a powerful source of energy. It is ideal for small scale use to heat houses, businesses and small industry. On a larger scale, geothermal plants extract the heat from the earth and use it to create steam to power turbine engines.

*Wind turbines produce energy using the same principal as windmills. Blades are moved by the wind, and a shaft attached to the blades rotate a generator that produces energy. This energy is stored in batteries. Wind is, of course required to run this type of alternative energy, so the more wind you have the better it will work. Sites where there is a lot of wind, such as open farmland are good for wind turbines, or other locations that cannot be reached by powerlines.

*Biomass is organic material that can be converted to fuel. There are many types, such as animal waste, crops and grains, wood and other byproducts from mills and forests as well as from aquatic plants. One type uses the matter to burn to produce steam power; another type transforms the matter into a gas or liquid.

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Energy Tags: alternative energy, Fuel cells

If you are discussing just what alternative fuel is, there are two basic definitions that you can utilize.

When you are thinking in terms petroleum or fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, alternative fuel would refer to some type of fuel that is different. A fuel is actually a way to store potential energy that is stable and also easily transported from its place of production to its place of use. Most fuels are potential sources of chemical energy that can be used to power engines or heat buildings. Anything that fit that description and was not a standard form of fossil fuel would qualify as an alternative fuel.

When you think of fuel from an environmental point of view, alternative fuel more often refers to some renewable or sustainable source of power. This would be especially true of some fuel source that was considered to be ecologically benign. Uranium when used for a fuel for nuclear energy would fall into some middle ground depending on the mind set of the person providing the definition. While nuclear power is an alternative source of energy, it is hard to consider uranium as neither a stable and easily transportable fuel nor one that is ecologically benign.

Regardless of the exact definition of alternative fuel, one thing is certain and that is there is an increasing demand to discover, develop, and put into common use alternative fuels. There are several reasons why conventional fossil fuels are falling into disfavor as fuel sources. It is these sources of unhappiness with fossil fuels that is causing this search for alternatives. One major complaint of fossil fuels is the idea of global warming caused by greenhouse gases released by the burning of these fuels.

There are also major concerns about the supply of [tag-ice]fossil fuels[/tag-ice] and the fact that some experts predict that demand will outstrip supply within another decade. The fact that the volatile Middle East region is a major source of fossil fuels is another reason for a quest for alternatives. The desire for [tag-tec]alternative fuels[/tag-tec] that are more environmentally friendly is being spurred by an increasing recognition of the problem of world wide pollution.

The bottom line here is that an alternative fuel is any fuel source that is different than what we have built our industrial and technological society on. This alternative might be something that is cleaner or it may be cheaper. It may be more readily available without stirring political unrest or unfairly enriching one region of the world at the expense of another. It may very well be something that has not yet been discovered or fully realized. The one certainty is that we will need fuel to provide power and heat.

Learn more about alternative fuel companies at AlternativeFuelCompanies.com

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Energy Tags: alternative fuel