Free Psychological And Sociological Impacts Of Solar And Wind Technologies Essay Example

Should we thank technological advancements or criticize them? The former remains to be the better option as the benefits of technology surpass the negative effects it has on man. Technological advancement in the world is seen in various forms: from computers to telecommunication systems to automobiles to electricity among others. Production of electricity in the modern world occurs through various ways including hydro-electric power production, wind turbines and solar panels. Both solar and wind technologies have been found to have negative impacts to the lives of human beings. Focusing on wind technology and its impacts; research shows that a good number of companies site their wind turbines close to human residential areas. Although several individuals and organizations such as wind energy promoters, public authorities and health professionals are of the opinion that wind technology has no negative impact on the health of human beings; this is not the case as there are no evidences to support the opinions. In fact, various reviews such as the 2011 Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal articulate that the health of human beings can be exposed to great risk if wind turbines are located very close to where human beings live. Subsequently, the other technology used to generate power, solar panels, utilize solar energy to generate power and capture electricity for homes, buildings and cities and in the process have both negative and positive impacts on human beings. This paper discusses the psychological and social impacts of wind and wind technologies as experienced in the world today.
Solar energy, whether small scale or large scale has both positive and negative effects on human life, especially to those living or residing near areas where large solar panels have been put up to trap solar energy. Dependence is a psychological aspect that can be changed. In most countries, both small and large businesses and companies require energy to facilitate their operations. In achieving this, such companies have had to rely on oil so as to generate energy for the running of their machinery. As a result, the dependence of small and large businesses on imported oil has been escalating annually across the world. Much capital put aside for the purchase of foreign oil is often used to facilitate other vices such terrorism especially in the Arab countries that supply the oil. However, if small and large businesses around the world embraced new energy production policies and implemented more solar energy programs, the large amount of funds spent on foreign oil would have been avoided. Besides, terrorism would have declined as there would be no funds to fund the practice. In other words, the psychology of small and large businesses on foreign oil would be changed completely if solar energy is adopted. Due to easier accessibility, ready availability and inexpensiveness, solar energy would be embraced with vigor exhibiting a great psychological change among individuals.
Solar energy and production also has psychological impact on the residing population around areas where solar panels have been put up to trap solar energy. Without doubt, people use large and very high amounts domestically for lighting, operating their machines, cooling and for the functionalism of their electronic devices. Every individual has the necessary amount of space in their rooftops, and this has prompted them to adopt the option of venturing into the trapping and development of solar energy. The population residing near areas where the use of solar panels for energy production is the order of the day, have had meaningful, positive impacts on the feelings of others regarding solar energy. In fact, the psychology of the residential populations about solar energy has changed over time, and people have started to invest heavily on solar while frequently having discussions on the money-saving benefits of using solar energy domestically. Research and studies show that the psychology of people living in areas where solar panels have been installed has been altered through the visibility of the solar system as well as through the word of mouth. For instance, a number of people always have the perception that if neighbors install solar panels and appreciate the amount of money they save as a result of solar energy production, what would stop them from venturing into the practice? Most importantly, the psychology of people residing in areas where solar energy production has been embraced is often changed when they see their neighbors benefiting while at the same time saving a lot of funds from the production. It would be important to note that solar energy production has caused excitement among people across the world, and there has been a practice of more people joining the band-wagon. There has been an effort by several non-governmental and governmental organizations worldwide to make residential solar simpler, easily accessible and without complications or upfront costs. This has also contributed in one way or another in changing the psychology of people about solar energy.
Despite the psychological benefits of solar energy, research shows that solar energy together with wind energy have exposed human beings to mental health risks that have at times led to death. First, the use of solar has negative impacts of land use and can lead to thermal pollution which exposes the health of humans to risk. Definitely, when installing solar energy production, an individual must or has to purchase solar cells also known as photovoltaic cells which will help in the storage of solar energy. The impact of the photovoltaic cells is that they affect the natural ecosystem. For instance, when photovoltaic cells are used in cultivable land, there is a possibility that the land’s productive areas will be harmed and contaminated and this will expose the mental health of people who consume products from such lands to great risk. Solar energy production also facilitates more absorption of solar energy than would otherwise be reflected back by the surface back to space. There is a high possibility that this could expose human beings to complications such as mental health problems. In areas where solar energy production is taken seriously, there is extensive utilization of the land for the specific purpose, and this often affects thermal balance. Apart from the heat absorbed causing mental complications among human beings, it may also cause the destruction of a few species of living organisms in such kinds of harsh environments. In order to avoid such complications and risks, space solar power stations should be put in place although this may also expose human beings to serious radiation pollution thus endangering their lives. Renewable energy such as solar energy involves the use of solar cells, which although do not make noise during operation, cause noise pollution during the construction phase. The noise itself could have negative effects on the mental health of human beings. For instance, noise caused during the construction phase could lead to interference with communication, sleep disturbance effects, cardiovascular and psycho-physiological effects, performance reduction effects and effects on social behavior. All these put together would without doubt interfere with the mental capability of an individual. Moreover, exposure to noise during the construction phase of photovoltaic cells would cause stress and depression among individuals thus exposing their mental health to great risks. Renewable sources of energy not only entail solar energy but also wind energy.wind energy production also has a negative impact on the mental health of human beings. For instance, wind turbines are often known to produce an unwanted sound. Human beings often perceive such sounds to be annoying than any transportation or industrial noise. When people get annoyed because of wind turbines, there are possible implications which include stress, sleep disturbance, headaches, difficulty in concentration, irritability, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety, heart complications and palpitation among others. Thus, if the annoyance caused by wind turbines is chronic, it would result in the above-mentioned complications which would without doubt lead to interference with the mental health of human beings. There have been incidences where continuous exposure to irritability, fatigue and dizziness has resulted to individuals running out of their minds.
Apart from the psychological factors that accompany both solar and wind energy as renewable sources of energy, the two technologies have also had sociological effects. The social impacts of renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy focus on or deal with the social questions or problems and concentrate more on cultural and environmental factors rather than on individual characteristics and psychological factors. To start with, wind energy, considered as one of the renewable sources of energy has social impacts. Wind energy involves the use of wind turbines which turn the wind thus producing energy. However, the challenge is that the turning of the turbines results in great noise pollution. Today, around the globe, there have been complaints that noise resulting from wind turbines is on the rise. It should be noted that not all sounds are equal, and it takes a great capacity of sound to cause annoyance or disturbance to individuals. The physical characteristics of any sound such as the level of pressure, the spectral characteristics and variations of these properties with time determine whether a sound will be considered as noise or not. Research shows that wind turbines have a number of special characteristics which include amplitude modulation, audible noise, infrasound, tonal noise, impulse noise and night-time noise which cause serious distraction of human activities and operations. The modern turbines have increased in size, electrical power output and the amount of noise they produce. Similarly, it should be noted that the modern wind turbines have seen an increase in their amplitude modulation, and low-frequency noise. Without doubt, noise that results from the turning of wind turbines results to social problems. In areas where wind turbine are located, there are constant quarrels and complains of the noise coming from the turbines. As mentioned earlier, the noise from wind turbines causes annoyance among individuals and this often leads to social implications such as stress, sleep disturbance, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, irritability and anxiety among others. Noise from wind turbines also leads to social challenges such as loss of concentration and panic. Essentially, today, the establishment of wind turbines has faced great resistance from people since they are aware of the noise that will be caused by the wind turbines. However, since the world is turning to alternative sources of energy other than hydroelectric power and oil, measures should be put in place so as to ensure that modern wind turbines are structured in a way that they do not cause noise pollution. The other social impact of wind energy is that it results in radar and telecommunications interference. During the construction phase, wind power is structured in a way that it uses and turns kinetic energy from moving air into electrical energy. The location of the turbines is always an issue of concern as they are placed on houses, towers, hills or on top of highly raised areas over pastures, grasslands and lakes. The fact that wind turbines are often located on high topographies or areas leads to interference with radars and telecommunication systems. Most communication companies often locate their satellites in high areas where the wind turbines are located. The fact that wind turbines are huge interferes with the signals of communication companies. This is a social problem that can easily be avoided by ensuring that telecommunication companies and the wind energy producing companies have different locations for their activities and operations. Moreover, the fact that wind turbines are located in high points and often produce great noise leads to an interference with the communications systems. Cyclones are strong winds that cannot be avoided when it comes to wind energy production. However, although they are of benefit to wind energy producing companies, they are a great disadvantage to radar and telecommunications systems. This is because cyclones are strong and very destructive. They can result to the damage and destruction of satellites thus interfering with telecommunication systems.
The other social impact of wind energy though positive is the provision of employment opportunities to a number of people. One fact is that, when cities, companies, government or other organizations come up with the decision of establishing and operating wind energy facilities, such projects often lead to the creation of a number of jobs. For instance, the building of wind energy stations would need planning for the project and in this case workers will be involved in the planning, development and the implementation of the project. Besides, an established wind energy plants will offer opportunities for the management, operation, security and protection of the plants’ facilities and equipment. Essentially, a number of new job opportunities can be fulfilled by workers as a result of cities, governments and other organizations using wind energy to generate electricity for an area and this would result to a significant decrease in the rate of unemployment in a given area. The resultant implication of job opportunities will be improved economies of particular cities or countries.
Just like wind energy solar energy also has a number of social impacts, both negative and positive. To begin with, solar energy has a significant social impact on health of individuals in any given city or country, in which solar energy production has been adopted as an alternative source of energy. It should not be forgotten that the generation of energy from solar panels does not cause or lead to the pollution of the environment as it emits very little or no pollutants to the air. Apparently, cities and countries that have adopted solar energy as an alternative to oil and HEP enjoy cleaner and safer environments. This is turn has a positive health implication on the citizens and workers in such regions. Additionally, in regard to health, solar panels used in solar energy production emit very low amount of hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere thus no global warming is caused. Areas that use solar energy other than fossils have seen a significant reduction in global warming hence effects such as sea levels rising and storms intensifying have greatly diminished. Despite the positive impacts of solar energy, there are negative impacts that accompany the renewable energy source. Once solar energy is trapped through solar panels, it has to be store in solar cells which are also known as photovoltaic cells. The cells do not emit any pollutants during their operations. However, the cells often contain toxic materials or substances that if released into the environment, cause serious health problems and complications for human beings. Moreover, the release of the toxic substances to the environment could cause greater threats to the environment and other living organisms. In addition, though the solar cells and panel do not emit any substances to the air during their operation, there could be accompanying emissions during their manufacturing and transportation. The emissions during transportation and manufacture could pose great risks to the heath of human beings and other living organisms. Notably, though solar cells and panels do not cause noise pollution during the operational phase, the construction of solar energy plants is often accompanied by noise pollution which exposes the health of human beings to great risks. For instance, the noise pollution could lead to complications with hearing among several others.
Solar energy also has a social impact on the growth of economies of countries, cities or states. Solar energy contributes to economic development in various ways. For instance, the building of solar energy plants results in creation of job opportunities which in turn enables more people to find employment. The implication of this is that the workers and citizens working in the plants will have continuous sources of revenue and income thus contributing to the growth of the economy of a particular city, state or country. Moreover, it is worth noting that the manufacture of solar energy is less costly as compared to other sources of energy such as burning of fossil fuels, which is a renown traditional method used in the generation of electricity. Notably, if more countries and households turn to solar energy production, the bills of electricity will be less as compared to those accumulated when using fossil energy. When the amount of paid to cater for electric bills is less, more money will be pumped to any city’s or country’s economy. The other social impact of solar energy is that, like wind energy, it when companies and organization establish solar energy facilities, such projects often create and open up numerous job opportunities for people. For example, workers must always be recruited or employed to enable the planning, development and implementation of such projects. Besides, after the projects are built, more opportunities are created for the management, security and operation of the projects. This would in turn lead to decreased rates of unemployment.