WAOL course
| INTRODUCTION | REFERENCE | PERIODICAL ARTICLES | NON-PRINT |
| TOPIC ANALYSIS | BOOKS | INTERNET SOURCES | REVIEW |
"The more we get out of the world the less we leave, and in the long run we shall have to pay our debts at a time that may be very inconvenient for our own survival. " by Norbert Wiener in "The Human Use of Human Beings"
In my pathfinder, I look into the issue of renewable energy and the question, "Is using renewable energy around the world a wise choice, at this time?" Since hunters and gathers roamed the earth, energy has been needed in various forms: fire for cooking, horses for plowing, fuel for vehicles, and electricity to run and heat the world. Energy consumption is steadily increasing in the world today and the need for energy will continue to increase in the future. The question then turns to how the world will continue to meet the energy needs of today and the future. Fossil fuels roughly make up eighty-five percent of the world's commercial energy; however, fossil fuels are non-renewable and environmentally harmful. Because of the environmental harm of fossil fuels, people have looked toward an environmentally benign resource that is inexpensive, meets energy needs, and helps the planet; renewable energy has been touted to fit the bill. However, in the search for a better energy, has the negative side of renewables been hidden? For my pathfinder, I want to look at the pro/con side of renewable energy and conclude if using renewable energy, at this time, is a wise choice.
I started with a very broad subject (energy
conservation) and learned quickly that there were too many keywords and phrases
and search results. My experience with identifying keywords and subject headings
was an ongoing process as I revised my topic. Renewable energy was still a large
topic but I knew I wanted a pro/con approach, so I searched for more negative
aspects using more negative keywords (problems, issues, etc). This still gave me
a large amount of good information, but I also had found arguments against
renewable energy. Using phrases also helped narrow down my findings. Reading the
articles also gave me input on more keywords to use, as well as key phrases.
Searching by relevance, not date, also gave my better results. I also just
learned through trial and error, with a good dose of luck. I found my Library of
Congress Subject headings in the "Big Red Books" at the library; I found my
headings after searching under "Energy," "Conservation," and "Renewable." Once I
had the results from my searches, I was better able to search other information
retrieval tools.
National Renewable Energy Lab
(NREL)
http://www.nrel.gov/
The NREL is the nation's leading center in
renewable energy research. They study and develop new renewable energy
technologies, as well as releasing pro publications about renewable energy; in
their words, renewable energy is more environmentally benign than fossil fuels,
there's no shortage of renewable energy, and using renewable energy would "keep
the dollars home," instead of overseas.
Contact Information-
National
Renewable Energy Lab
1617 Cole Blvd
Golden, CO 80401-3393
Telephone:
303.275.3000
http://www.nrel.gov/
Energy Administration Agency (EAI)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/
The EAI is a government site that covers
government energy statistics. It analyzes energy and the issues behind energy.
It covers national and international energy consumption and comes out annually
with an energy paper.
Contact Information-
Energy Information
Administration, EI 30
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585
Telephone: 202.586.8959
Email: wmaster@eia.doe.gov
http://www.eia.doe.gov/
Dependence on fossil fuels has
grown to the highest levels ever; fossil fuels provide roughly eighty-five
percent on the world's commercial energy. World use of renewables is also rising
as renewable technology begins to generate more energy capacity. However,
renewables are still not generating at peak capacity. At this time, geothermal
and wind energy each provide less than one percent of the world's total power.
World Watch Institute. Vital Signs 1997. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Tester, Jefferson W. and Drake, Elisabeth M. "Energy." The Encyclopedia of the Environment. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.
This is a good article for my pathfinder because
it gives a good history of renewables, as well as recent graphs, statistics, and
explanations about what renewable energy is, how it is used, and why it is
important.
Fox, William K. "Energy." Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993.
This is a good article for my pathfinder because
it discusses different energy concepts, gives a wonderful graph of non-renewable
and renewable energy, what processes they go through, as well as what is made up
of each resource (i.e. biomass is wood and other vegetation). The article also
describes different energy sources (both non-renewable and renewable) and
explains how each are formed and used in today's society.
Brower, Michael. "Cool Energy: The Renewable Solution to Global Warming." Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.
Dr. Michael Brower is a physicist with a
bachelor's degree and a doctorate in physics, who has specialized in energy
technology. His book, "Cool Energy," addresses the near and long-term use of
renewables and the role they could play in addressing environmental problems.
Bowers also addresses the environmental problems with renewables. I found a
review of this book when searching the Internet and then checked the book out to
see if it was relevant to my topic. The book a good, knowledgeable source that
works well with my pathfinder.
Boyle, Godfrey. "Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Godfrey Boyle is quite knowledgeable about energy
and was co-director of the Energy and Environment Research Unit. Boyle writes a
very good, very informative book about renewable energy, discussing the reasons
why renewable energy is so important and so needed. Each chapter ends with more
resources to learn more about renewable energy. I found this book in the King
Country Library catalog and then checked the book out. The book is highly
reviewed and is a good source for my pathfinder because it is simple, easy to
understand, but is also informative. The book also has graphs, illustrations,
and tables of information.
Griffin, Rodman D. "Alternative Energy." CQ Researcher: 10 Jul. 1992: 575+ SIRS Database. SIRS Madarin, Inc. Seattle Central Community College Lib. 14 May 2001. < http://sks.-pw.sirs.com>
This is a good article is good for my pathfinder
because it discusses renewables and why renewable energy is such a major topic.
The author discusses the controversy over renewables and explains what energy
source is the most-used, how much energy renewables can expend, how far
renewables could go to meet the world's energy needs, and also acknowledges the
drawbacks of renewables. The author also discusses different US government
policies towards energy, the issues of energy, and why fossil fuels have
remained the top energy resource. The article is well supported by an extensive
bibliography and a knowledgeable writer.
Mills, Mark P. "A Closer Look at Renewable Energy." Consumer's Research Magazine: Mar. 2000: 10+ Business Source Elite. EBSCO Industries, Inc. Seattle Central Community College Lib. 14 May 2001. < http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=bse>
Mark P. Mills is a physicist and the president of
Mills-McCarthy Associates of Chevy Chase, Md., a technology-forecasting firm.
Mills discusses the four perceptions (renewable energy is abundant, natural,
free, and better) that people have of renewables and then discusses each point;
his position is that all energy is abundant, all energy is natural, no energy is
free, and not all renewable energy is better. This is a good article for my
topic because Mills has made tables, as well as energy equations, that show how
much energy and resources renewables need to run and why it is, at this time,
economically infeasible for renewables to be a contender against fossil fuels,
which expends a large amount of energy in a small amount of fuel--the opposite
of renewable energy.
Pimentel, David, Rodrigues, G., Wang, T. Abrams, R., et al. "Renewable Energy: Economic and Environmental Issues." Bioscience: Sep. 1994: 536+ Proquest Direct. Bell and Howell Learning and Information. Seattle Central Community College Lib. 14 May 2001. < http://www.umi.com/pqdauto>
David Pimentel is a professor in the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. The article was in a
peer-reviewed journal and discusses renewable energy in an environmental and
economist approach. Pimentel makes the point that though renewables are not
environmentally benign, compared to non-renewables, they are the better choice.
He then sites sources and studies that mention solutions to the environmental
problems (i.e. flow schedules may be altered for hydroelectric dams to preserve
fish, wind farms can be built away from nature reserves to save birds, and
locating solar cells on roofs and buildings would reduce the need for additional
land). This article ties in well with my topic and discusses the problems of
renewable energy but then offers solutions that could make renewable energy more
environmentally marketable at this time. The article was written for a more
profession audience and is quite factual and knowledgeable, as well as having an
extensive bibliography.
Bradley Jr., Robert L. "Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not "Green." Cato Policy Analysis No. 280 (1997). 23 May 2001 < http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-280.html>
Robert L. Bradley, Jr. is the president of the
Institute for Energy Research in Houston, Texas, as well as authoring the book
Oil, Gas, and Government: The U.S. Experience. Bradley discusses the problems
with government energy policy regarding renewable energy, as well as the
environmental and economical disadvantages of renewable energy. His point is
that, at this time, renewables are not the best source of energy, not until they
become cheaper and more environmentally benign. Bradley uses such examples as
bird deaths due to wind power propellers, hydroelectricity destroying natural
habitats, solar electricity needing a large amount of land and releasing toxic
chemical pollution, and biomass releasing carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide into
the air. The article offers an important perspective to my topic on whether or
not renewable energy is the answer to conservation. The article has extensive
notes, contact information, statistics, and tables.
Using Renewable Energy Sources. 1998. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). 23 May 2001 < http://iisd1.iisd.ca/business/renewable.htm>
This is a site that discusses the individual
renewable resources and how they can be used. It has graphs of how much each
renewable costs per kWh, examples of successful renewables programs, facts
sheets, and different links to learn more about renewable energy. The site has a
bibliography and also gives a contact number if you want to email the authors.
International Energy Outlook 2001. 7 May 2001. Energy Information Administration (EIA). 24 May 2001. < http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/>
The International Energy Outlook 2001 is a
plethora of information. It covers energy consumption, renewables, and
environmental issues towards world energy use. It mentions statistics, graphs,
and facts, different countries energy use, energy comparisons, and it is all
supported with bibliographies. What is really helpful is that the report covers
the whole world, not just part of it. This is a very good source for my
pathfinder.
When I first began my pathfinder, I started with
the topic "Energy Conservation" and slowly narrowed it down to a more manageable
topic. Through searching the Internet, different databases and library catalogs,
I narrowed my topic to "renewable energy, is it a wise choice? I learned tricks,
how not to and how to write in my keywords and how to re-search search results.
I also learned that by searching for keywords within the document instead of
reading the whole thing, I saved time. Through reading information on my topic,
I learned new topics on my subject, new issues, and new keywords.
Timesaving search strategies became vital in
organizing my topic. Because I came across so much information in my searches, I
immediately made sure the site that I was searching was valid and useful to my
topic. I liked using search engines more than other search tools, they seemed to
find better information on my topic, and I always tried to use relevance, not
date, for how hits were ordered, and I stopped looking at different search hits
after four or five pages of results (it saved time and information on following
pages would most likely come up with different sources).
I came across many varied and different types of
information (good and bad) in my searches. I found that more sites showed the
good side of renewables, extolling how useful and excellent renewables were. It
was harder to find sites that gave a more equal side of renewables, showing both
the positive and the negative issues.
Finding information on my topic was a long
process that involved using many different types of information resources.
Reference sources gave good overviews of my subject, but didn't go into deep
detail. Databases gave a good number of search results on renewable energy, but
they didn't always give an author or the author's occupation (troubling if one
wanted to know how knowledgeable an author was). However, one could search
strictly peer-reviewed journals, which helped cut down the number of hits.
However, I found that the Internet was the best source to find pro/con points on
my subject; government sites also worked well. The only major drawback was that
the amount of information that flooded in was overwhelming at times and I really
had to focus my topic. Yet, the Internet was easy to use, one could search it to
find information on different authors, and it gave a wide variety of sources and
opinions. However, just like any other reference source, the Internet also had
bad sites that mean to deceive the researcher. Like any other reference
material, the Internet should also be used with caution (perhaps even more; it
is not peer-reviewed like some journals are).
The whole purpose of this project was to conclude
on whether or not renewable resources are a wise choice, at this time, to be
used. Renewables do have problems; they do harm the environment and we don't
even know the long-term impacts they may cause because we haven't studied or
used them long enough. Environmentally speaking, we need to compare the
environmental effects of non-renewables (fossil fuels) with renewables and
decide which is more environmentally benign. At this time, and with the papers I
have studied, renewables are the better energy source; if anything, they should
at least supplement more energy than they are right now, slowly weaning us off
fossil fuels. However, there is another dark side to renewables that is
potentially more troublesome: economics. Renewables are more expensive. They are
expensive to build, they expend less energy than non-renewables do, and this
increases the price of their energy. Most people are not, and will not, be
willing to weigh the environmental effects against the higher price of
renewables. So, before renewables can be a true contender in energy, policies or
technologies must change to make renewables less expensive and more
environmentally benign.
Please send comments to H. Peterson
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