A comparative analysis of environmental impacts of non-fossil energy production methods

Abstract

Abstract. The widespread proliferation of other then fossil based energy production methods is a development, which inevitable comes in the next future. It is proven that the photovoltaic conversion or the use of heat of Sun radiation, the water energy, the utilization of the wind, the biomass production, the use of geothermal energy can all produce big amounts of energy for human use. In addition, the nuclear energy from fission is a technology, which has already long history and is widely used. However, these all, like the fossil energy sources, have great impacts on the environment. Nevertheless, the comparison of the environmental effects of these alternative energy sources is not easy. The effects are of considerable different natures and their spatial and the time distributions vary on large scales. The present work overviews the principles and the methodological prerequisites of performing a comparative analysis of the environmental effects for the nonfossil energy production methods. After establishing the basic principles for comparison, we shall go through all the non-fossil energy sources and analyze the most important environmental impacts of each energy production method. In conclusion, the comparison of the environmental effects will be discussed. Notes on the energy supply of contemporary societiesThe reliable energy supply of the human societies is an important major element of the sustainability of modern life. However, the sustenance of the continuous energy supply needs thorough planning and complex organization from the side of the available energy sources, of their transformations and from the side of the methods of distribution. Latest since the first energy crisis in 1973 every decision makers have known that the energy consumption of the World must not grow. In spite of this general revelation, the energy consumption has grown continuously. It was about 300 EJ in 1980 and around 540 EJ in 2012 for the societies of the World. Figure 1 shows the yearly per capita consumption of the inhabitants of the World since 1980. It reveals a surprising constancy around 70 GJ/person/year/ over the three decades from 1980 to 2010 (though the values show a slight (< 10 %) increase with the time). The main conclusion from these data is that the total energy consumption grows mainly because the number of the people in the World grows.a Corresponding