Fossil Fuel #1: Coal Pros: cheap, plentiful, easy to ship and store. Cons: dirtiest of the three fossil fuels; by-products include sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, two main chemicals that cause acid rain and are linked to asthma.

Grinds coal to a fine powder Burns coal at such high heat, it converts into steam Large air filters that separate pollutants like SO2 & NOx Used to “scrub” pollutants with H2O & limestone Releases gaseous air pollutants Steam moves through hundreds of blades at an incredible speed Increases the voltage of the electricity Then, an electromagnetic reaction creates electricity A coal plant running at full capacity needs two million tons of coal per year and produces 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide. Video

Fossil Fuel #2: Oil Pros: easy to combust; produces high energy upon combustion. Has other uses such as plastic; easy to transport because it is a liquid; constant energy source. Cons: expensive to transport – pipelines are very expensive to build and maintain; transported overseas by large oil tankers. Refining oil and then burning it as gasoline in motor vehicles produces air pollution

Fossil Fuel #2: Oil Every gallon of gasoline used in a car creates 19 pounds of carbon dioxide. Car exhaust causes four of the six major air pollutants: ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter. Drilling is harmful to the environment and disturbs habitats for wildlife Oil spills cause massive environmental disasters.

Fossil Fuel #3: Natural Gas Pros: Carbon footprint is about half of coal’s carbon footprint. Allows coal plants to replace turbines powered by coal with those powered by natural gas. Domestically abundant. Cons: still pollutes the air with nitrogen dioxide; fracking is environmentally harmful

Fracking 8

RENEWABLE ENERGY A natural resource that can be replenished with the passage of time. Renewable resources are part of the earth’s natural environment. Little to no air pollution emissions. Improved public health and environmental quality. More reliable and resilient energy system.

Renewable Energy #1: Wind Renewable Energy #1: Wind How It Works: wind spins the turbine blades, powering an electric generator. Pros: no air pollution. Wind turbines are tall so it’s possible to use surrounding land for other uses.

Renewable Energy #1: Wind Cons: Wind is not constant in many places so it doesn’t work everywhere. Need sustained winds of 14 mph to be effective. Need large open space for wind turbines so finding appropriate available land can be difficult. Wind 101

Renewable Energy #2: Solar Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. 9

Renewable Energy #2: Solar Pros: no air pollution; can capture and store solar power for nighttime use; quiet; sun’s energy believed to be unending. Cons: upfront costs are high; can only be captured during daylight hours; are only about 16% efficient. Solar 101

Renewable Energy #3: Geothermal How it Works: Heat from the earth – magma below the earth’s crust, cooler water seeped into the ground, meets the heat and is captured as steam – steam used to turn turbines to create electricity. Geothermal Heat Pumps

Geothermal Pros: quite clean, emissions are low, typically just water vapor; geothermal energy is unending. Geothermal is available around the clock whereas wind and solar are intermittent and weather- dependent. Cons: geothermal must be fairly shallow in order to reach it (2 to 3 miles); we currently do not have drilling technology to go deeper.

Geothermal

Corporate USA Goes Renewable Apple’s energy-intensive data centers already use 100% renewable power. Sun Chips uses solar power to produce 1.1 million bags of chips daily at their plants in California and Arizona. Kohl’s distribution center in Findlay, Ohio uses wind turbines to generate electricity for the facility.

US Energy Consumption by Source

What Do You Know About Energy? At 97%, which state leads the country in of energy from natural gas? A.Rhode Island B.Pennsylvania C.Alaska Which state leads the country in wind power? A.Illinois B.Texas C.Hawaii Which state gets 98% of its energy from coal? A.West Virginia B.Nebraska C.Ohio

What Do You Know About Energy? True or False: The United States used more coal in 1925 than The United States has the most nuclear reactors in the world. Which country has the second most? A.Russia B.France C.Japan True France True or False: It is possible to split a water molecule for energy.True