Alternative sources of energy and identifying the most promising source of energy, including feasibility study of the source.

摘要

Statement of the problem. The alternative sources of energy are renewable energy sources which have been proven to be technically and economically feasible for commercial production. They are mainly available as nonpollutant electric power sources. Nevertheless, quantifying the cost of energy from power generating technologies such as alternative sources of energy is very essential to comparing their economic characteristics to those of competing technologies such as fossil fuels, and determining the impact on consumers. Although a great deal has been done to determine the feasibility of alternative sources of energy, there is a degree of confusion regarding which source is the most feasible source for a particular climate, and which methodology should be practiced to compute cost of energy, how different methodologies compare and differ, how cost of energy is presented, and how these cost estimates are applied or utilized. This study will illustrate and aim at reviewing the feasibility, commercial availability, environmental issues, political, legal and ethical issues, as well as institutional management issues of wind energy as a viable alternative source of energy. The dissertation concludes that due to future need for increased energy supplies given the increase in the global population, it is recommended that further study should be done in all potential alternative sources of energy, specifically the three additional sources mentioned in this dissertation which are Ocean, Solar Pond, and Geothermal.;To achieve the goals of the study in order to identify wind energy as the most promising source of energy, three research questions were addressed. These questions were (1) What is the most promising alternative source of energy for Southern California among wind energy, ocean energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy? (2) Does the most promising source of energy identified in the research question 1, have economic feasibility? (3) Does the most promising source of energy identified in the research question 1, have commercial availability and reliability?;Procedure. Through a detailed literature review reported in Chapter two, it was determined that wind energy is the most promising alternative source of energy and in Chapter three using the information obtained in Chapter two, a detailed feasibility study was performed which investigated all aspects of the source regarding its technical, financial, political, legal, and global issues.;Findings. In Chapter four; although findings indicated that alternative sources of energy are economically feasible and commercially available; however, institutional management issues are preventing commercialization of these sources. Therefore, it was concluded that an outreach public awareness program was necessary to boost marketing and commercialization of alternative sources of energy.