Advantages of Current Energy Systems

The current energy systems are those systems which are currently developed to help generate forms of energy which help to solve the problems like higher emission of dangerous gases which can cause some diseases like lung cancer, results to global warming and also depletion of resources. These current energy systems basically produce renewable energy for example windmill systems, solar power systems etc.  These current energy system shows have some advantages and that is why the world is currently moving to their adoption. Some of the advantages of these current energy systems are that this energy system provides very clean energy hence does not interfere with the ozone layer.  But still, these current energy systems have some disadvantages like they need a huge space for their operation, for example, to generate about 20 MW of electrical energy from solar one needs about 100 acres of space.  These current energy systems hence will help in the reduction of air pollution and also increase energy sustainability which makes mankind more energy reliable.

These systems give a foundation for energy independence

Most of the current energy systems like hydroelectric power system, solar power system and windmill makes human to reduce the higher dependence on the non-renewable sources of energy like fossils fuels. And these energy which is produced from these current energy systems are available in every country hence the country just needs to develop and harvest the energy. This is opposed to the non-renewable source which may be available in some specific countries or regions (Viswanathan 231).  Therefore by developing these energy systems, a country will work towards becoming energy independence with an expanded portfolio of energy to access. Even though these energy resources take some time to be fully developed but once they are well developed they can stay for a long period of time.

All of the current energy systems are aimed at reducing air pollution which affects the health of mankind. As opposed to the non-renewable fossil fuels which affect the ozone layer and result in deadly diseases like cancer, these current energy systems will provide very clean energy.  Reduced air pollution will also help in the reduction of drought as it will reduce global warming (Gevork B. Gharehpetian). When the drought is reduced there will be higher agricultural activities which will ensure food stability in the world. The use of these current energy systems will also help in the reduction of skin cancer which is due to the presence of UV radiation (Vikas Khare 302).  These radiations are blocked by the ozone layer from reaching us. Therefore by just using these current technologies a lot of problems will be solved this will hence result in development in a region due to the reduction of diseases.  A healthy nation will have enough labor to help exploit more resources which will result in development.

Disadvantages of Current Energy Systems

 Most of the current system uses technology in the production of energy as opposed to coal which needs to be extracted before it used.  Current energy system like solar assisted heat pump uses solar energy to heat water hence there is no extraction required (Nicolaos Lymberopoulos 213).  Some old energy system like the use of diesel must be extracted and then refined before they are used.  This hence makes them very expensive as they pass through a lot of processes which requires a lot of money as compared to the current energy system (Jrul 211). Natural gases also must be extracted then transported to where they are required.  Hence this makes the cost of the old energy very expensive and the current energy system gives cheap sources of energy (Salameh 110).  For other new current energy like solar and windmill, there is also no need of transporting the fuel.  The energy system traps the energy and used it without any transportation and extraction.

Since the current energy system does not depend on other factors like transportation which may be affected by poor in fractures hence it is very stable.  The old power system will highly depend on roads for the transportation of the raw products used for making fuel.  The road will also be very significant for transporting the final products, for example, the process of extraction of fuel (Yan 124).  But for the current energy system, once the technology has been developed then what remains is harnessing the energy. For this matter, this technology remains very stable as compared to the old energy systems.

The use of current energy system requires a massive space

As compared to the old energy system which could operate in a very small space, for example, a diesel engine requires relatively smaller space to generate a lot of megawatts energy.  But this is not true for the current energy system, for instance, the solar power system will require up to about 100 acres to generate just 20MW power which can be generated by diesel engine installed in less than 1 acre of land.  When this is compared with the Nuclear power system will only require a space of 1 square mile to produce 1000 MW (Smith 243).  Therefore the solar power system will require about forty five times the space needed by the nuclear plant.  

 Most of the current energy system requires storage systems to make it operates effectively.  For example, the solar power system will require some battery for storage of power to make them give consistent energy during cloudy days or at night. These extra storage systems may make the current energy system more complicated as compared to traditional energy storage.

Future Prospects of Energy Systems

Most of these current energy systems operate at some period of time to give the maximum energy and that is why they need some storage capabilities to make them supply continuous energy. For example, a solar power system only works when it is sunny, windmill operates best when there is wind and during the calm days the system will not give the maximum amount of energy required (Haugan 79).

The future energy system is anticipated to use renewable sources of energy which will be highly included with ICT that is highly automated to make them work effectively.  Most of the things like new sensors, meters will be automated (Perkins). The renewable energy system will incorporate more than one renewable energy source in the production of energy, for example, solar may be incorporated with wind and fuel cells. There will be new materials which may be used purely renewable materials.

Conclusion

The current energy systems are better in their operation even though they have not been fully exploited but in the near future, these systems will be fully exploited to help in the production of energy. The current energy system actually uses renewable energy sources which are very clean and relatively cheaper as compared to the old technologies.  But there is higher anticipation that the future technology will be more batter and cleaner. The future energy system will include higher use of ICT and smart sensors and smart meters which will help make the provision of energy more reliable and safer.

References

Gevork B. Gharehpetian, S. Mohammad Mousavi Agah. Distributed Generation Systems: Design, Operation and Grid Integration. manchester: Elsevier Science, 2017. Document.

Haugan, Gregory T. The New Triple Constraints for Sustainable Projects, Programs, and Portfolios. Amsterdam: CRC Press, 2016. Document.

Jrul, George. Renewable energy used in current energy systems. Liverpool: Springer, 2010. Document.

Nicolaos Lymberopoulos, Emmanuel Zoulias. Hydrogen-based Autonomous Power Systems: Techno-economic Analysis of the Integration of Hydrogen in Autonomous Power Systems. London: Springer Science & Business Media, 2018. Document.

Perkins, John H. Changing Energy: The Transition to a Sustainable Future. Beijing: Univ of California Press, 2017. Document.

Salameh, Ziyad. Renewable Energy System Design. London: Academic Press, 2014. Document.

Smith, Michael Harrison. The Natural Advantage of current energy systems in their use of renewable energy. Lioverpool: Routledge, 2013. Document.

Vikas Khare, Cheshta Khare, Savita Nema, Prashant Baredar. Tidal Energy Systems: Design, Optimization and Control. London: Elsevier Science, 2018. Document.

Viswanathan, Balasubramanian. Energy Sources: Fundamentals of Chemical Conversion Processes and Applications. Hawaii: Newnes, 2016. Document.

Yan, Jinyue. Handbook of Clean Energy Systems. London: John Wiley & Sons, 2015. Document .