Landscapes of Renewable Energy
Literature review
The energy issues are driving prolonged and disputed policy changes as well as economic and political conflicts and the overall socio-ecological disaster in the contemporary society. Primarily, historical and geographical forces have the far-reaching consequences amid widespread problems in pushing the present energy quandaries. Globally, communities face the conflagration of the capricious energy markets, profound uncertainties in providing the essential services and goods, social justice implication, economic risks, reduced supply of oil, geopolitical security, and climate change issues. For sure, energy is truly the most fundamental international resource as well as economic nexus, chipping in as the central issue of most large companies, parastatals, as well as national enterprises. Furthermore, the fossil fuel sector is currently straining to produce the growing amounts of energy from the geologic reservoirs which have become too old and depleting at a much faster rate or from new ones characterized by being energy intensive as well as very expensive to develop. Currently, various governments, as well as companies, are hastening to develop advanced renewable energy machinery that can compete on the cost basis with the fossil fuels. Moreover, renewable energy experts trust that once the price obstacles are won through the market manipulations as well as technological advancements, both energy issues and even environmental related problems linked to the current energy industry shall be tremendously reduced.[1]
Bioenergy, wind, hydropower, nuclear, solar, tidal, and geothermal are non-fossil sources of energy and possess renewable features, albeit with extremely varying aspects as well as environmental and social impacts. Considerable reconfiguration of energy generation landscapes is linked to each of the renewable sources named above. Bioenergy (which refers to the production of energy from the recently decomposed living plants through the process of biomass) and biofuels (which primarily encompasses biodiesel and ethanol) are a special focus of the current geographic studies. Furthermore, biofuels and bioenergy presently account for an estimated half of the renewable sources of energy in the US. Worldwide, installed capacity of solar and wind energy production capacity are growing between 30% and 50% every year with wind energy in the US expanding at 24% yearly since 2000. Presently, the global development of wind energy capacity is approximately 38 percent.[2]
Furthermore, the wind, just like other sources of renewable energies is comparatively less dense in line with the geographical concentration of sourcing hence poses challenges of scaling on the spatial supply of energy demands. Even though there is a colossal general support, domestic resistance is particularly very common in several wind projects. Establishing greater density wind energy sources typically tend to cause enormous consequences on the landscape processes. Research on this matter of the landscape of renewable energy gives a detailed overview as well as a series of dexterously illustrated case studies about oppositional sentiments, right from identities, sense of place, seen characteristics to economic contemplations that have formed part of cultural and social processes in many landscapes of the wind energy.[3]
Finally, hydropower is mostly considered as the controlled scope for the future growth because of environmental as well as social confines of this resource utilization. Moreover, bioenergy prospects can be observed as having same concerns. In fact, hydropower has been actively extended through policies such as the clean development mechanism initiated by the world bank as well as other agencies at international, global, and even local levels. Those kinds of outcomes are a robust notice that the natural resources of the renewable kinds of energy are economic, cultural, and technological appraisals of the landscape that are often shaped by human activities as well as instructional agendas.
The mini-proposal
The global structure of energy generation as well as consumption experiences systematic problems that have been decades in the making and that people are struggling to make new technologies to help solve this matter of energy demands. Just as depicted in the current studies about energy demands, people face huge hurdles to the continuing the recent energy bonanza through this period and beyond. Furthermore, the universal economy requires a vast, unremitting energy flow each day, the better majority in the type of renewable energy sources. The fossil sources of energy are steadily depleting.[4] Therefore, there must be effective ways of handling the matter as well as successfully tap new energy sources that the same supply can be tomorrow as it was today plus other sources such that the world increasing populace and economies. However, the transition between the new sources of energy shall be far away from seamless. The physical infrastructure especially of the contemporary society is well-designed to run majorly on powerful, cheap conventional fossil fuels. Unconventional fossil energy sources come with huge environmental as well as economic costs, considerably lowering the benefits of energy whereas renewable sources of energy fall short at matching several of the features people value in the fossil energy sources.
Problem statement
While research on energy geography has helped us understand more about the significance of renewable sources of energy and how it helps to solve the growing energy demands, further research is needed to shed light on how renewable sources of energy can be sustained for further use. Furthermore, sustainable energy shift is a transition from fossil to sustainable energy systems characterized by renewable sources of energy as well as efficient use of energy. The transition needs adjustments especially in the spatial arrangement as well as land use as such prompting the land use. In fact, just from the definition, sustainable energy landscape must encompass a physical environment, which may evolve on the grounds of domestically existing renewable sources of energy without compromising the landscape biodiversity, quality, and food production.
Thesis statement
The research seeks to expound more in the niche of the landscape especially in sustainable energy change from fossil energy and particularly how the effective approach may assist in creating significant sustainable renewable energy landscapes.
Research question
What role does the landscape play in creating sustainable renewable energy?
Hypothesis
There is a relationship between landscape use and effective creation of sustainable renewable energy sources.
Study area
The study area for this particular research shall mainly be confined in the Post Carbon Institute suited in Santa Rosa California USA. This shall provide the researcher with the much-needed information as well as analysis on matters that pertain to energy scarcity, climate change, and other issues associated with sustainability and even long-term environmental issues. The researcher shall also stand to get the much-needed information on fossil fuels, renewable sources of energy, water, and population. The study area gives the right place to gather the essential data that shall be used to carry out this particular research.
Data and methods
Selecting the correct research method is very vital to every researcher since it aids in tackling the questions and answering them rightly. Therefore, research methodology represents a way of establishing the outcome of a given problem on a precise matter or even a challenge that is typically known as the research problem. The objective of the research is to inform about action. Thus, this study seeks to contextualize its outcomes in the broader perspective of the research. The study should be of superior quality to generate the knowledge that is very applicable past the study setup with inferences that stretch beyond the relevant information that has been done on the topic. For the sake of this particular research, the study shall merely employ the grounded theory method to develop the hypothesis from the available information from the pieces of literature. Furthermore, this shall help in the evaluation of secondary data related to the previous opinions and research, and hence, this contributes to testing of the research hypothesis.
The collection of data is one of the essential aspects that forms part of any research study. Therefore, it must be conducted properly to help solve the problems that may by in any research. Furthermore, this study shall majorly employ both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data shall come from the study areas where interview, as well as questionnaires, shall be issued to the relevant official in the renewable energy plants. On the other hand, secondary data shall originate from the pieces of literature that discuss the research topic, books, and journals.
Anticipated outcomes
The study aims at exposing the significance of landscape in the transition from fossil energy to non-fossil renewable energy sources.
Bibliography
Angelis-Dimakis, Athanasios, Markus Biberacher, Javier Dominguez, Giulia Fiorese, Sabine Gadocha, Edgard Gnansounou, Giorgio Guariso et al. “Methods and tools to evaluate the availability of renewable energy sources.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15, no. 2 (2011): 1182-1200.
Breukers, Sylvia, and Maarten Wolsink. “Wind power implementation in changing institutional landscapes: an international comparison.” Energy policy 35, no. 5 (2007): 2737-2750.
Pasqualetti, Martin J. “Opposing wind energy landscapes: a search for common cause.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101, no. 4 (2011): 907-917.
Zimmerer, Karl S. “New geographies of energy: Introduction to the special issue.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101, no. 4 (2011): 705-711.
[1]Angelis-Dimakis, Athanasios, Markus Biberacher, Javier Dominguez, Giulia Fiorese, Sabine Gadocha, Edgard Gnansounou, Giorgio Guariso et al. “Methods and tools to evaluate the availability of renewable energy sources.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15, no. 2 (2011): 1182-1200
[2]Zimmerer, Karl S. “New geographies of energy: Introduction to the special issue.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101, no. 4 (2011): 705-711.
[3]Pasqualetti, Martin J. “Opposing wind energy landscapes: a search for common cause.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 101, no. 4 (2011): 907-917.
[4]Breukers, Sylvia, and Maarten Wolsink. “Wind power implementation in changing institutional landscapes: an international comparison.” Energy policy 35, no. 5 (2007): 2737-2750.