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Compare And contrast 2 energy sources used today

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Compare And contrast 2 energy sources used today
Compare and contrast the use of at least 2 energy sources used today.
On a daily basis, we guzzle energy in almost every activity that we do. Human existence is undoubtedly driven by energy. It is required for sustained human development. Therefore, there is a necessity for energy upkeep for sustainability of the emerging population. Nuclear power and wind power are both sources of energy however they perform differently with regards to their economic feasibility, environmental effects and relative power output. This essay observes the characteristics of nuclear power weighed against wind power.
Firstly, in terms of cost, nuclear power is being criticized for its costly setup price. People tend to think that nuclear power is not a cost-effective way for producing energy. The expense involved in constructing a nuclear plant is higher than the construction of wind power plants. The nuclear plants cost around the $5,500 to $8,100 per kilowatt range (Romm, 2013). Nevertheless years of operating data prove that once these nuclear plants are running, the cost of the energy produced is less than that of wind power. Britain would need to manufacture 30000 wind turbines to create the same amount of energy as 12 additional nuclear reactors. Ultimately, building the nuclear reactors proved to be more cost effective (Swinford, 2013). Also there are now enough of improved designs which can cut back cost while providing more security and being more resourceful (Jogalekar, 2013). On the other hand, wind energy is not only driven solely with a renewable resource like wind, but it is also an inexpensive method of creating energy. This means it can be adapted by the rural areas of the world because it doesn’t require investing on exceptionally large scales of land when compared to nuclear power stations. But turbines need to be changed and repurchased making wind power expensive.
Moving on, even though nuclear plants and wind plants are a clean source of energy and doesn’t emit



References: Asaff, B. (n.d). Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy. Available: http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Nuclear_Energy. Last accessed 11th May 2014. Gold, R. (2010). Natural Gas Tilts at Windmills in Power Feud. Available: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704188104575083982637451248. Last accessed 10th May 2010. Jogalekar, A. (2013). Nuclear vs renewables: A tale of disparities..Available: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2013/08/22/nuclear-vs-renewables-a-tale-of-disparities/. Last accessed 11th May 2014. Romm, J. (2013). To Those Who Want To See Nuclear Power Play A Bigger Role In Climate Action. Available: http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/298686/those-who-want-see-nuclear-power-play-bigger-role-climate-action. Last accessed 11th May 2014. Swinford, S. (2013). Nuclear power station will avoid 'blight ' of 30,000 wind turbines, minister says. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/10395104/Nuclear-power-station-will-avoid-blight-of-30000-wind-turbines-minister-says.html. Last accessed 10th May 2010. The Schiller Institute. (n.d). The Beauty of Completing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Available: http://schillerinstitute.org/economy/phys_econ/2006/beaut_nuke_cycle.html. Last accessed 11th May 2014. World Nuclear Association. (2014). Nuclear Power in the World Today.Available: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Nuclear-Power-in-the-World-Today/. Last accessed 11th May 2014.

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