You know i can't refute anything Etch has said. It's totally true.

HOWEVER:

Quote:

The ONLY 'green' energies worth exploiting are solar and hydroelectric. And it is probably 50 years before solar is worth the cost involved

I refute this though! Hydroelectric is an extremely controversial way of collecting energy and papers have shown that it's pretty much a failure, even in the US. More to do with the actual water side of it than the generation of electricity. Large dams are not sustainable, silt up easily and exploit the usage of water upstream.

This is particularly the case in developing countries were rich landowners construct dams hog all the water while the people who live in the towns and villages by the waterside die of dehyradation or are forced to use contaminated water. There's lots of implications for it.

Solar is just like wind, it only works when there's sun. Note that you say it's the only worth while. Maybe in Texas it is but in Ireland were i live the idea of solar power is laughable, that is laughable on a scale of powering cities. Areas like Iceland as well or polar regions were it's dark 24/7 for half the year isn't going to be able to use solar - that's a given though.

Fusion is one of the better ways of generating energy - even though it's not renewable and since it doesn't work on a large scale it's not viable yet.

The other one which is actually viable and no one everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr talks about is geothermal. The earth is a sphere, we live on land ergo we can drill down into the earth were heat from the mantle can convert water into steam which can generate electricity. It's very expensive though but can you see any disadvantages of it apart from cost?

Quote:

Geothermal power requires no fuel (except for pumps), and is therefore immune to fuel cost fluctuations, but capital costs are significant. Drilling accounts for over half the costs, and exploration of deep resources entails significant risks. A typical well doublet (extraction and injection wells) in Nevada can support 4.5 megawatts (MW) and costs about $10 million to drill, with a 20% failure rate.[18]

However:

Quote:

Fluids drawn from the deep earth carry a mixture of gases, notably carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3). These pollutants contribute to global warming, acid rain, and noxious smells if released.

Could be problematic... IF it gets out and at least it's not as problematic as say radioactive material leaking from Japans nuclear reactors.