Electric Power Generation 1 Some of the materials in this document have been used with permission from the KidWind Project.

Why Isn’t Electricity Listed In This Table? 2

Electricity Is An Energy Carrier Black Rock Solar Array at Pyramid Lake Museum Lump of Coal Spring Valley Wind Farm in Nevada 3

Common Energy Carriers 4

Electric Power Generation Plant Frank A. Tracy Generating Station Natural Gas-Fueled Power Plant 17 Miles East of Reno. 5

How Does Electricity Get To Your Home? 6

Step 1- Power Plant and Generator Mohave Generating Station, Coal-Fueled Power Plant in Laughlin, Nevada Generator 7

1. Heat is made when fossil fuels are burned. 2. Heat turns water into steam. 3. The steam makes turbine blades and shaft spin. 4. The generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy using magnetic fields around a metal conductor. 5. Before reusing, the water must cool. It is pumped to the top of a cooling tower, broken into drops. Up to 2% of water evaporates. Thermal (Steam) Turbine Power Plant 8

Transforming Energy – Thermal Power Plant 9

Step 2 – Step-Up Transformer 10

Step 3 – High Voltage Transmission Lines 11

Step 5 – Step-Down Substation 12

Step 6 – Distribution Lines 13

Step 7: Service Drop 14

Step 8 – Service Panel 15

Step 9 – Home Wiring, Outlets and Switches 16

Electricity Is An Energy Carrier 17

Does All of Your Electricity Come from Your Local Power Plant? 18

Other sources of steam for thermal power plants NuclearGeothermal 19

Solar Thermal Collector These high-temperature collectors concentrate sunlight using mirrors or lenses and are used for electric power production with steam turbine power plants. 20

Hydro and Wind Turbines 21

Solar Power TMCC solar array built by Black Rock Solar Numana Fish Hatchery array built by Black Rock Solar 22

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Electricity Consumption By Economic Sector 2010 U.S. Energy Information Administration / Annual Energy Review

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Tradeoffs: Environmental Impact of Non-Renewable Energy Sources 26

Hydropower Lake Mead has provided water for Hoover Dam since Does this look like a renewable or non- renewable energy source? 27

Coal Mining Coal companies also mine coal from mountains through a process called mountaintop removal mining where the top of a mountain is removed to extract the coal. Waste is disposed in nearby valleys and streams. Surface mining for coal – look familiar? 28

Coal Burning Great Smog of 1952 in London killed 4,075 people. Most victims died from respiratory or cardiovascular problems. China’s air pollution has cut life expectancy by an average of 5.5 years in the north of the country and caused higher rates of lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes. Reno, with an unhealthy layer of smog. 29

Natural Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking” A homeowner in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, holds up a glass of tap water containing high levels of methane, a concern for those who live near fracking sites. 30

Natural gas fire in San Francisco, CA in Killed 4 people, injured dozens of others, and leveled 37 homes. This natural gas rig burning out of control in the Gulf of Mexico caught on fire July 23 rd

Tar Sands The price of oil sands – devastated landscapes in Canada. 32

Nuclear Power Following a major earthquake, a 50 ft. tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors in Japan, causing a nuclear accident on March 11, All three cores largely melted in the first three days. Nuclear reactors were leaking into the ocean after this disaster. This is what happens to nuclear waste. 33