College Research

Even though there is an increase of renewable energies, they are still an unreliable option. With wind power, the problem lies with how we cannot control when the wind blows. Plus, as stated by Norman Rogers, windmills are not as useful as activists say, because there are not many places where there is continuous wind (par. 6). This means there are hours during the day where there is no energy being produced for anyone to use. Still, many will say wind produces enough energy. Michael Dale, a research associate at Stanford, proclaimed, "Our analysis shows that today's wind industry, even with a large amount of grid-scale storage, is energetically sustainable” (qtd in. Shwartz par. 6). Basically, Dale is saying that companies are able to gather enough wind power to store and use at later times. However, in a real-world scenario, wind energy still cannot be relied on. Alex Fitzsimmons, a policy associate for the Institute for Energy Research, wrote that the PJM Interconnection, a grid operator in the US, reported that when they needed to use wind energy to power their grid, the energy accomplished worse than when wind power was not needed (par. 5-6). This shows how wind energy does not perform well outside of lab testing. Wind energy has issues that does not allow for wind power to be reliable, and this is true for both solar and nuclear power.

Solar power has the same problem as wind with how unpredictable each source can be. The sun, like wind, is a force of nature that humans do not control. Mark Shwartz would agree with this statement with his own on how solar power is promoted as energy that can be used at all times, but solar farms can only make power when the sun is out (par. 12). Therefore, there is no energy being produced at night or when it is a cloudy day, which cannot be controlled by humans. Of course, activists would argue that solar energy is still able to power any kind of equipment. Research compiled by the organization Greenpeace wrote how that the sun’s energy that reaches Earth can supply “global energy needs many thousand times over” (par. 7). The sun does produce large amount of energy that could fill the world’s energy demand. On the other hand, when the sun is not shining, solar power is useless. As Driessen addressed in his article “Solar and Wind Power are Unproductive,” the problem is that there is no efficient way to have the electrical energy produced by solar power to be stored during windy days, at night, or during the hours when power usage is at its highest (par. 8). Just one cloudy day can stop companies from producing power that day, and this can happen at any moment. Furthermore, nuclear energy is just as unreliable as solar and wind energy even if the created energy is not dictated by nature.

Nuclear energy does have advantage over wind and solar power since nuclear power can be more controlled, but it still can not be relied on. An issue that arises is the waste product nuclear plants leave behind. As the Friends of the Earth Scotland Company stated, nuclear power leaves a radioactive waste with no real long-term way to dispose of it; instead, companies are just letting future generations to deal with the waste (par. 16). This alone should lead anyone away from nuclear power, since plants will cause more problems down the line. Nevertheless, there are activists that would respond by saying how much promise nuclear plants have. Patricia Hill, a pro-nuclear power activist, said that nuclear power is the world’s best choice because nuclear power can run 24/7 without weather affecting power production on like wind and solar (par. 5). Yes, nuclear power can run at anytime, but the number of plants needed for nuclear energy to be dependable is a huge problem. While there are many plants across the Earth, the number is still insignificant. According to Helen Caldicott: “At present there are 442 nuclear reactors in operation around the world. If, as the nuclear industry suggests, nuclear power were to replace fossil fuels on a large scale, it would be necessary to build 2,000 large, 1,000-megawatt reactors” (par. 5). The only way to rely on nuclear power is with a large number of plants that is unrealistic to even discuss. In the end, with wind and solar power being sporadic options and nuclear power being problematic, society cannot rely on these options to power the world.