Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research Proposal - Essay Example Burning any fossil fuel produces Carbon dioxide which contributes to the "Greenhouse effect†, thus increasing the temperature of the earth. Coal is even more dangerous, the burning of coal produces more Carbon dioxide then oil or gas along with Sulphur dioxide. Coal also needs to be burned in huge amount on constant basis thus making it the most polluting commercial power generating source in the world (Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2008). However, in the recent years, it has been realized by scientists that the use huge amount of coal and other fossil fuels to produce cheap electricity has taken its toll on earth in the form of global warming, hence a number of more efficient and less polluting options have been considered and put into use by government around the world. There has also been a growing trend of exploring and using renewable energy options which produce zero pollution and are inexhaustible in contrast to coal and fossil fuel. One of the widely used renewable energy option is Hydro power. The purpose of this project is to establish whether hydro power can serve as a single source of energy for all the current and future needs of the world (Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2008). ... One of the major problems that the world is facing right now is the shortage of energy, particularly electrical energy. With the high predicted population growth rate, it is expected that the demand of electricity will far outweighs any other type of energy demand. The problem that this research will attempt to solve is to determine if one of the alternative sources of power, namely hydropower, is in such abundance that it can be used to meet the future electricity demands of the world. The purpose of the Study The purpose this project is to determine the ways in which hydropower can be used to generate electricity on a massive scale. A secondary objective of this research is to demonstrate how GIS can be used to establish the potential of hydropower for electricity generation for global demands. This project will use high altitude imagery, maps and other data available through NASA and other resources for its analysis with both qualitative and quantitative research method will be us ed to carry out the evaluation in an effort to determine the suitability of hydropower. Literature Review According to the figures provided in World Energy Outlook released by International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2009, global electricity demand is growing at double the rate of overall energy use and it is expected that it will see a growth of 76% by 2030 (International Energy Agency, 2008). While conventional methods of electricity production such as fossil fuels provide an economical and readily available way of electricity generation, the tremendous amount of negative impact that they have on the environment (green house effect and global warming) as well as their