1 / 9

The Great Energy Debate

The Great Energy Debate. Making sense of the energy sources available in the United States. Two Types of Energy Sources. Non-Renewable/ Fossil Fuels Coal Natural Gas Nuclear Petroleum/oil. Renewable Solar Wind Hydroelectric Geothermal. Understanding the electric grid.

dotty
Download Presentation

The Great Energy Debate

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Great Energy Debate Making sense of the energy sources available in the United States

  2. Two Types of Energy Sources • Non-Renewable/ Fossil Fuels • Coal • Natural Gas • Nuclear • Petroleum/oil • Renewable • Solar • Wind • Hydroelectric • Geothermal

  3. Understanding the electric grid

  4. Abundant and Cost efficient? • Non-Renewable • Coal is abundant and cheap • Natural Gas is abundant and cheap • Nuclear is abundant but more expensive • Petroleum is abundant at a reasonable cost • Renewable • Solar is abundant in most locations, but more expensive to harness • Wind is abundant is some locations, but more expensive to harness • Hydro electric only works in limited locations and expensive • Geothermal works in limited locations and is expensive.

  5. Reliabilty • Non-Renewable • Power from coal is steady, can be depended on day in and day out • Power from natural is steady, can be depended on day in and day out • Power from nuclear is fairly steady, there may be maintenance and catastrophic issues involved. • Power from petroleum is steady, not used as a main source of power • Renewable • Power from solar is dependent on the sun, night time production does not happen. Less reliable • Power from wind is dependent on the wind blowing consistently. Less reliable, needs a good location. • Power from hydroelectric is affected by the water level. During low levels, production drops way down. • Power from geothermal works on a smaller scale. Not really used in large production. Reliable all the time.

  6. Energy Outlook 2013

  7. Total Consumption of the resources available world wide BP Statistical Review of World Energy: 2013 Report

  8. So what is the problem? • Non-Renewables • Coal- dirty, pollutes the air, mining is dangerous • Natural gas- fracking can cause problems to the water supply, uses a lot of water to retrieve, flammable • Nuclear- melt downs, expensive, waste is radioactive • Petroleum- pollutes the air, spills during transport, pollutes the water. • Renewables: • Solar- production of panels and other components use dangerous chemicals, takes up land that could be used for farming, disrupts wildlife. • Wind- production disrupts landscape and wildlife, birds can hit the turbines, endangered birds and bat populations are the most concerning. • Hydroelectric- disrupts the natural flow of water, fish populations can be effected • Geothermal- drills into the earth, disrupts habitat of underground creatures.

  9. Green Energy vs. Brown Energy • Robert Bryce – journalist, author, editor at the Energy journal, author of “Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence"” • Bias • Argument • Evidence • Tyson Slocum is director of Public Citizen's Energy Program, covering climate change, coal, oil, fracking, nuclear energy, renewables and commodity market oversight • Bias • Argument • Evidence

More Related