Essay Example on The world we live in revolves around the culmination of various energy Sources

The world we live in revolves around the culmination of various energy sources to operate the daily necessities of living such as food shelter electricity transportation and much more The following paper will evaluate the conventional energy technologies used as well as alternative energy sources and their impact on Earth Furthermore the chemistry behind the functionality of the energy sources will be analyzed One of the largest environment impacting energy sources used involves fossil fuel burning Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons that are produced from the remains of dead animals and plants Coal fuel oil and natural gas are common examples of fossil fuels A hydrocarbon is an organic compound that is made up of hydrogen and carbon When decomposed hydrocarbons supply a large quantity of carbon and hydrogen which when bonded could form chains The primary use of hydrocarbons is as a combustible fuel source Chemistry principles could be used to describe the burning of methane or the carbon in coal The reaction C O2 CO2 is the basic reaction of the burning of carbon which provides the greatest energy source 

This reaction occurs in coal natural gas and oil all of which are fossil fuels Energy within this reaction is only present because of the solar energy within the plants which are then processed for millions of years under the pressure in the Earth Carbon molecules in coal are attached thus there is only one C C bond for every C atom To determine the efficiency of this mechanism one must calculate the energy release from creating CO2 Carnegie Mellon University states that the net release is 152 kcal mole of carbon Therefore 1 kg of carbon gives roughly 11000 kcal The university also states that 44g of CO2 is produced for every 12g of carbon burnt The impact that carbon dioxide has on global climate change is substantial and is one of the major problems of the fossil fuel economy To put the environmental impact in perspective power plants that burn coal produce more harmful carbon dioxide than all cars trucks planes and other forms of transportation combined Fossil Fuels Affect the Environment 2018 Greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming as the sun's energy is trapped in the Earth's atmosphere The remainder of this paper will examine the alternative energy sources from the sun wind and ocean as these modes could help reduce the use of fossil fuels These renewable energy sources do not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is an imperative step towards helping the planet 

The Sun which would provide at least another 4 billion years of solar energy striking Earth daily harnesses a powerful energy source for electricity and could be one of the best options to combat global warming However for solar panels to be efficient a variety of factors must be met Majority of solar panels are made with a layer of protective glass over the cells that sunlight must pass through Reflection of the glass is to be minimal as well the amount of energy utilized depends on the angle of which light is passing through The user also must be aware of the positioning and angle of the panel upon installation The panel should be installed so that the maximum amount of sunlight is shining on it to maximize efficiency This would include avoiding shade and finding the optimal position on a roof Empire Renewable Energy 2018 Solar panels function through solar cells within the panels 

A single solar cell is composed of two kinds of semiconductors called p type and n type silicon Boron gallium are p type silicon and is created by adding atoms as they have one fewer electrons in the outer energy level Since boron has one less electron than necessary to form bonds with silicon atoms an electron hole is produced This is perfect because in an n type silicon there is one more electron in the outer level i e phosphorus Therefore binding with surrounding atoms could occur however one electron is not included in bonding The electron is instead allowed to freely travel inside the silicon structure Thus within a solar cell there is a p type silicon placed in conjunction with a layer of n type silicon The n type layer has extra electrons whereas the p type layer is excessively charged with positive holes Between the layers the electrons on one side navigate into the holes of the other side A junction is formed known as the depletion zone Once the holes are filled in this zone the p type now carries negatively charged ions and the n type side carries positively charged ions With these oppositely charged ions generated an electric field would impede electrons in the n type layer to fill the holes in the p type layer Upon sunlight striking a solar cell electrons in the silicon are released which leads to the formation of holes Having this occur in an electric field would move the electrons from n type to p type Solar panels are built with metallic wires which would allow the electrons to move from n type to p type by crossing the depletion zone previously discussed this generates the flow of electricity American Chemical Society 2017