We took the decision to write this article, which deals with the subject of the Sustainable production and consumption, from the lesson of the project.

After a thorough survey and conversation we finally end up that the use of goods and services which respond to the cover of the natural needs and contribute to the increase of the biotic level at the same time decrease the use of the natural sources, the toxic materials and the production of wastes and pollutants, in order to avoid the danger of the weakness to satisfy the need of the future generations (Soria Maria, 1994).

Alongside we appointed the alternative energy resources. We accepted that it is called the energy resources which can renew in a short time space their stored energy. These are the solar energy, the hydraulic energy, the geothermal energy, the biomass and the wind energy. Solar energy is considered as the summary of the different energy form which originates from the sun. These kinds of energy resources are: the light energy, the thermal energy and the different radiations of the sun.

The solar energy is practically inexhaustible, because it originates from the sun, thus there are no limits of place and time to exploit it. Even if a person is at a town or at a sequestered village, at a desert or into a rainforest, at the sea or at a mountain he is able to use the solar energy. Furthermore as the price of the fusil fuels presents fluctuations, because of their dependency on factors of the world offer and demand, the sun offers its energy on no return. It also has zero levels of pollutants and it is 100% clear and environmentally friendly energy source! However the solar panels are comparably more expensive, mainly because of the cost of the materials and the complexity of their design. This sometimes can be a dissuasive factor especially in the case when someone want to install them for personal use. Another very important disadvantage is that in fickle weather conditions the quantity of the sunlight. To sum up, the solar energy is very useful despite the fact that it displays some very important difficulties during its development.

The wind energy is also a renewable energy source. It is created indirectly from the sun radiation, because of the disparate heating of the Earth sun force which provoke the movement of great masses from one region to the other, creating in this way winds. It is a mild form of energy, environmentally friendly and practically inexhaustible. An advantage is that the ‘’ fuel’’ the wind is plenty, decentralizes and sets free. The economic benefits for a territory from the development of wind ‘’ industry’’ are impressive. Moreover the wind energy is a very cheap form of energy nowadays since it costs 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt per hour. The equipment is very simple at the construction and at the conservation and it has a long lifetime. Furthermore the modern wind turbines are considerably silent. If there was the ability with the modern technology to get exploited the summary of the wind potential of the earth, it is estimated that the produced electric energy in a year would be more than doubled than the needs of the mankind simultaneously. On the other hand an important drawback is that they demand, too much time for the research and the cartography of the wind potential of big areas, in order to be located the grace points. The wind systems have also a high cost of surveys and installment. Consequently it displays many advantages but it has a high cost of installment.

The hydraulic energy is another renewable energy resource, which is based on the exploitation and the transformation of the dynamic power of the water of the lakes and the kinetic power of the rivers to electric energy. Firstly the hydraulic stations are able to be turned on whenever it is required more electric energy on the contrary with the thermal stations (of fusil fuels), which demand much time of preparation. Furthermore, the ponds give the chance to satisfy some others needs such as the water supplies, the irrigation the halting of flounders, the creation of wetlands a rear for pleasure and sport centers. Another benefit is that it is a domestic source of energy and it contributes to the reinforcement of the energy supply in national level.

It is practically an inexhaustible and it contributes to decrease the dependent of conventional energy resources. However the cost of manufacture of a dam and the cost of equipment of the production of electric energy is unthinkable and too much time is required until the completion of this task. Moreover an intensive environmental distortion is caused at the location of the ponds. As a consequence the hydropower presents not only advantages but also disadvantages. According to the department which is responsible for the environment and the power, biomass is the vegetable and forestry rags, the animals’ wastes, the plants that are cultivated at the energy plantation in order to be used as a source of energy and also the urban wastes and the rags of the food industry and the agricultural industry and the fraction of urban wastes that are able to be dispatched. The advantages of using biomass is the independency of the country from import the energy from abroad, the storage of exchange and the creation of vacancies at the rural and provincial areas. In this way the phenomenon of urbanization can be faced. Moreover biomass fights the greenhouse and the acidification because during its combustion a negligible quantity of carbon dioxide and sulfur is produced. A drawback of biomass is that it displays a great difficulty in the procedure of the collection, storage, transport and transformation comparably with the other energy resources which have much more simplified procedures. Furthermore its production is not permanent but seasonal, consequently biomass is produced only in some specific periods and not always. Therefor it is a fact that biomass can contribute to save natural resources, however it is more expensive than the other renewable energy resources. Another unconventional energy resource is geothermal energy which springs from the interior of the Earth, it transported to the Earth’s surface with thermal induction and the entry of melted magma from the Earth’s deeper layers to her crust. First of all it has low cost of conservation, installment and equipment. Moreover the heat pumps do not display any damage from a prolonged use such as the conventional systems. Although during the borehole drilling mud is created which has to get dried and be removed from the area of the erection of the dwelling. Another very important disadvantage is that the open geothermal circuits require the provision of clean water. It is clear that the geothermal energy is adapted to people’s lives more easily nowadays.

To sum up, after this thorough survey, we ended up that the renewable energy resources cannot be used in order to cover the needs of the big urban centers because they depend on the season of the year, the altitude and the climate of the area where they are installed. Moreover the cost of their installment is exorbitant and it cannot easily be afforded. On the other hand they are very environmentally friendly, because they actually have no residues and wastes and they will never be depleted. It is necessary to institute to our lives the “green” forms of energy, in order to bequeath to the future generations a better planet.

Bibliography
energy Efficiency and renewable Sources: http://www.ener-supply.eu/downloads/ENER_handbook_gr.pdf
THE RES AND OTHER ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES: Author: Giannis VOURDOUMPAS Publisher: C. VOURDOUMPAS Year: 2006

By Filarakou Korina, Zikontala Katerina, Koukourikou Athanasia, Thomas Daltzis, Tsimpani Marialena
High School of Fryganiotis

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