Disadvantages of Renewable Energy Sources and Technologies

Although renewable energy sources have many advantages there are many factors which should be considered while deciding which system to choose. Besides the differing costs of installation there are also different costs in the future use of certain renewable energies. There are also other issues, such as carbon dioxide emissions, which need to be considered. For that reason it's wise to take some time to compare the advantages and disadvantages between different forms of renewable energy.

The least expensive of all renewable energy systems are biomass burning stoves, however there is still the issue of emissions. Fuel and storage costs for biomass material, over a number of years, must be taken into account. On the other hand solar, photovoltaic and geothermal energy systems have a much bigger initial investment but neither of these require fuel to produce energy.

All forms of renewable energy systems are expensive when compared with fossil fuels. For that reason many households which are using solar, photovoltaic or geothermal energy systems still require traditional sources of energy.

Geothermal energy systems require electricity to drive the heat pump which results higher costs for the electricity produced, both solar and photovoltaic energy system don't have any additional electricity needs.