NUCLEAR ENERGY

Current Energy: Nuclear Power

>Current energy resource being used today is

nuclear power

>There are about 400 factories in the world and around 100 of these are in the U.S.

>Nuclear power runs under the Rankine Cycle common among energy resources >Common Uranium used in plants is the Uranium-238. Uranium tends to have long lives and Uranium-238 is 99% of the Uranium on the planet >19.9% of the world’s energy comes from nuclear power >Efficiency: 89.9%

Nuclear Power: Pros vs. Cons

 PROS  Much energy can be produced from small amounts of fuel  Small amounts of waste  Nuclear power is reliable  CONS  Although not much waste is produced, it is extremely dangerous and must be buried or put away for a long time for it to be safe   Expensive to keep the plant safe: if a disaster does occur, then it can be catastrophic Uranium itself isn’t renewable, because once we have dug it all from the earth, it will be gone

IS IT WORTH IT?

        COSTS Over 100 billion dollars Each reactor costs around 300 million dollars Total price includes maintenance and operational cost In 2005, cost for energy was 1.72 cents per kilowatt-hour   POLLUTION Waste is toxic for over 200,000 years Radioactivity: produced material that continues to emit radiation  POWER PRODUCED 787 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity  EFFICIENCY Capacity for plants in the United States is 89.9%

Coal Plants

Deadly Coal plant facts

Pollution from coal-fired power plants increased more than 16 percent since 1992 and is likely to worsen as utilities competing in deregulated markets increasingly rely on older power plants, a new study says.

Air pollution from power plants alone contributes to an estimated 30,000 premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks, and tens of thousands of hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular The United States has the world's largest known coal reserves, about 267.6 billion short tons.

illnesses each year.

• Coal generates 54% of our electricity • Efficiencies as high as 40 percent • Burning coal creates 1.9 billion tons per year of carbon dioxide • Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion. • Coal power plants obtain approximately 2.0 kW-h per kg of burned coal • 2005 the average cost cents/10 Btu Dollars/tons 154 cents $31.20

Coal fire power plants



2005 Coal Production by Region

(U.S. Total: 1,131.5 Million Short Tons (1.7%))

Pros and cons



pros:

Abundant domestic supplies. The most competitively priced of U.S. energy sources. Coal is simple and safe to transport and store. Ash, sulfur, nitrogen, and metals emissions have been reduced under the Clean Air Act, but far from eliminated. 

cons:

Burning coal creates 1.9 billion tons per year of carbon dioxide. Mining and combustion pollute waters; surface mining (especially mountaintop removal) and underground mining can deface land, pollute soil, and obstruct, obliterate, or poison streams.

Conclusion

• Although coal has the most abundant amount of energy supplies it is also extremely harmful. Air pollution from power plants alone contributes to an estimated 30,000 premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks, and tens of thousands of hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular. Coal plants leave more than 159 million Americans live in communities with unhealthy air

Internal Combustion Engines

Background

• The engine works by the fuel coming inside the vault then being compressed then the fuel being lit by the piston. After the explosion the turbine gets pushed down making the wheels turn.

Pros VS Cons

• • • • •

PROS:

It is quick burning meaning that it is very quick and that it works very fast.

Powers up daily necessities like any type of vehicle.

It helps and lets humans have the ability to travel faster and beyond.

It is able to heat up the boiler in the rankine cycle.

• • • • • • • •

CONS:

Only uses 15% the gas put into it.

Causes great pollution.

Limited amount because to make combustion able liquids you need oil and it is approximated that it will end in the year 2059.

The gas mileage per mile is very low.

Around 85% of energy id lost to noise and heat and friction.

Destroys the environment.

All the bad gases are let out which help fight to break the ozone layer.

Conclusion

• Should be switched to a different type of energy source because it destroys more than it helps out and it also helps a lot to destroy the ozone layer by adding to pollution and it is bad because we need the ozone layer to survive. Also because only 15% of its energy becomes wanted energy.

Hydro Electricity

Facts About Hydro Electricity

Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. Hydroelectricity now supplies about 715,000 MWe or 19% of world electricity (16% in 2003). It is also the world's leading form of renewable energy, accounting for over 63% of the total in 2005. Although large hydroelectric installations generate most of the world's hydroelectricity, small hydro schemes are particularly popular in China, which has over 50% of world small hydro capacity.

How does it work?

   

Hydro Electricity Pros and Cons

Pros Cons Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source that does not produce greenhouse gases. Operation and maintenance costs for hydroelectricity plants are much lower than for thermal electricity power plants. Breakdowns are few because their • Usually a large area of land has to be flooded to ensure a continuous flow of water to the turbine. In some cases when a dam is built, large populations have to be relocated. In China, the Three Gorges Dam Project on the Yangtze River will displace more than 1 million people. mechanical design is relatively simple, and no excess heat is generated during operations. Hydroelectricity generating plants have a long life. When a hydroelectricity water storage dam is built, the water in the dam can be used as a source of drinking water and for recreational purposes such as • Dams affect river ecosystems. Rivers usually experience seasonal flooding that flush out river backwaters and deposit silt on riverbanks. Dams prevent those seasonal floods and allow silt and vegetation to clog up river backwaters. This causes changes to the environments, which may impact plant and animal habitats. boating and fishing.

Conclusion

Hydro Power is an integral part of the generation of electricity in Scotland. It is not a new technology and therefore has been optimised in this country. The way forward is no longer increasing the number of schemes, but instead to ensure efficient management and modernisation of the schemes. Optimising Pumped Storage wherever possible is also an important step towards hydropower realising its full potential.

WIND POWER

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

WIND POWER

•      Is the conversion of wind to energy By the end of 2006, generators were 74,223 megawatts Globally, wind power has quadrupled between 2000 and 2006 Windmills are an older technology that have been used before to pump water or crush grain Efficiency: 30.0% 30 cents per kilowatt with diesel engineered generators

WIND POWER: pros vs. cons

• • • • • PROS Sustainable Non-polluting Well proven technology, we know it will work Can be built moderately sized • • • •

CONS

Doesn’t produce power when the wind isn’t blowing: dependent Called noisy and “eye sores” Costly to build a wind farm

Biofuels- Alternative engery

Biofuels

Biofuels- liquid transportation fuels made from plants and other forms of biomass.

The two main types of Biofuels: Ethanol is a gasoline-type fuel made by fermenting sugars into alcohol. Biodiesel is a diesel-type fuel made by separating glycerin from animal and vegetable oil to create methyl esters.

More about Biofuels

Biofuels can reduce costly petroleum imports, cut greenhouse gas emissions, increase farm income, and boost rural development.

Biofuels are good for the environment Cars, trucks, and farm machinery can all run on low-volume biofuel blends without any change. E85 will produce lower Ethanol contains approx. 34% less energy per gallon than gasoline mileage than gasoline, and will require more frequent refueling Efficiency: 1.24

Power produce: 17% Cost: varies. Example: Ethanol made by corn cost an average of $2.10 per gallon

How Ethanol is produced

Most ethanol is produced using a four-step process: The ethanol feedstock (crops or plants) are ground up for easier processing; Sugar is dissolved from the ground material, or the starch or cellulose is converted into sugar; Microbes feed on the sugar, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as byproducts; and The ethanol is purified to achieve the correct concentration.

pros and cons

PROS  Biofuels can reduce costly petroleum imports  cut greenhouse gas emissions  increase farm income,  does not contribute to global warming  And boost rural development.

 Biofuels are also cleaner burning and reduce emissions of particulate matter  Biofuels are biodegradable and nontoxic.

 Farmers in both developing and developed countries stand to gain from the expanded use of Biofuels  Farmers produce them domestically, which will reduce dependency of foreign sources  Easy for people to use  You could fill you old cars with Biodiesel and it would still run  Cures addiction to petroleum CONS  There might not be enough farms to produce Biofuels  Challenges to meet the demands of providing enough crops  May require changing many of the remaining rainforests into space of open farm lands  May require taking away 60% of soy crops to make more Biodiesel products  May require more energy than they can generate  Could raise prices on global food  Bankrupts farmers  Many other farmers need to grow many other crops  Biofuels uses more energy then it can generate.

Conclusion

Bio fuels are more cheaper then regular gasoline

Biofuels are good for the environment

Biofuels are also cleaner burning and reduce emissions of particulate matter, a major component of urban air pollution. Biofuels are biodegradable and nontoxic.

Solar Power

Facts about Solar Power

Solar cells, also referred to as photovoltaic cells, are devices or banks of devices that use the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors to generate electricity directly from sunlight. Until recently, their use has been limited because of high manufacturing costs. One cost effective use has been in very low-power devices such as calculators with LCDs. Another use has been in remote applications such as roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, cathodic protection of pipe lines, and limited "off grid" home power applications. A third use has been in powering orbiting satellites and spacecraft. To take advantage of the incoming electromagnetic radiation from the sun, solar panels can be attached to each house or building. The panels should be mounted perpendicular to the arc of the sun to maximize usefulness. The easiest way to use this electricity is by connecting the solar panels to a grid tie inverter. However, these solar panels may also be used to charge batteries or other energy storage device. Solar panels produce more power during summer months because they receive more sunlight. The cost payback time may take over 10 years depending on the cost of grid electricity and tax rebates.

How does it work?

Solar Energy Pros and Cons

Pros Cons The 89 petawatts of sunlight reaching the earth's surface is plentiful compared to the 15 terawatts of average power consumed by humans.

Additionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m 2 ) among renewable energies. Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls.

Solar electricity is expensive compared to grid electricity. Solar heat and electricity are not available at night and may be unavailable due to weather conditions; therefore, a storage or complementary power system is required for most applications. Limited power density: Average daily insolation in the contiguous U.S. is 3 9 kW·h/m 2 usable by 7-19.7% efficient solar panels. Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy loss of 4-12%.

Fuel Cells

Alternative Energy

Background

• • • • • • • • • Fuel Cells: Principal Discovered by a German Scientist in 1838 Bush announced a program called Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI) The efficiency is that out of .7 volts used only 50% will become electrical energy and the other 50% will become heat.

United State has dedicated over one billion dollars on this project.

They chose fuel cells because oil companies will raise the oil price and gas will become too expensive meaning fuel cells will be at a lower cost.

A problem encountered by fuel cells is that if the energy source will not be durable.

Another problem is that to deliver it will be hard because the air compressors used to carry the fuels are not made for vehicle use.

Methanol fuel cell. The actual fuel cell stack is the layered cubic structure in the center of the image .

Pros VS Cons

• • •

PROS:

Very high efficiency of 50% that is converted into usable energy.

Not much pollution is let out into the atmosphere after the energy is used.

• •

CONS:

Fuel cells are very expensive.

Current Technology

Energy Source

Engine Nuclear Power Coal Power Hydro Electricity N 15% 88.9% 40% 80%

Power produced $ / KW hr.

Pollution

787 Billions 1,131.5 short tons 2080 megawatts $ 0.075

$ 0.0172

$ 0.07

$ 0.04

24 Tons/.5 Million/ Year No green house pollution 1.9 Billion Tons No green house pollution

Alternative Energy

Energy Source

Wind Power Solar Power Fuel Cells Bio Fuels

Efficien cy

30%

Power produced

74,223 megawatts 500 MV 19.7% 50% 33% 38 megawatts of steam power Plus 5 megawatts of electricity

$ / KW hr.

$ 0.30

$ 0.50

$ 0.05

$ 0.13

Pollution

No green house pollution No green house pollution No green house pollution Sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and possibly volatile organics.

Conclusion

• This conveys that fuel cells are very helpful and are necessary in our everyday life and that they can help protect the atmosphere but at the same time help us provide energy for our every uses like cars and other transportations.

References

• • • • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cells http://www.nrdc.org/air/pollution/ports/images/exec1.gif

http://www.cardesignonline.com/images/renault-clio-v6.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/4-Stroke Engine.gif

• http://www.google.com/search?q=power+p roduced+by+ethanol&start=0&ie=utf 8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

References

       http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nucl ear/newnukes/articles.cfm?ID=4167 www.google.com

http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/np-risk.htm

http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/nuclear.htm

http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=2&catid=10 6 www.wikipedia.com

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nucl ear/newnukes/articles.cfm?ID=4167