1. Electricity Production in the United States
Amy Urling
Science I

2. Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Energy
Renewable Energy: energy sources that will not be depleted by use (solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass)
Nonrenewable Energy: energy sources that exist as finite deposits in Earth’s crust and are not replenished at rates greater than we use them (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium) – 89% of U.S. energy production

3. Historical Uses of Energy
Solar: the food we eat is a product of photosynthesis
Hydropower: water wheels
Whale oil: burned to create light
Wood: before the industrial revolution, wood was the major source of energy (used for building and fires)
By the late 1800’s many forests in the U.S. had been deforested and coal overtook wood as the major source of energy
Oil and gas: overtook coal in the 1950’s

4. Fuel Sources for Electricity Production
Fossil fuels
Coal
Natural gas
Oil (petroleum)
Nuclear power
Hydroelectric
Wind
Solar
Geothermal
Biomass
Tidal power

5. U.S. Consumption of Major Energy Sources

6. Electricity Production in Vermont

7. How is (most) Electricity Produced?
Magnet, copper wire, movement
Turbogenerator

8. Fossil Fuels
Coal, natural gas and petroleum are the major fossil fuels. They are the result of organic matter trapped within the Earth’s crust.
Coal is still a major source of electricity in the U.S., however, it produces a lot of pollution.
Petroleum (oil) consumption has risen exponentially and as the resource starts to run out, prices will continue to rise and conflicts with oil-producing countries will increase.
Natural gas is currently the world’s fastest growing fuel because it is more plentiful than petroleum and a lot cleaner to burn.
The 800 mile long Trans-Alaska Pipeline is one of the largest pipeline systems in the world and delivers about 20% of the U.S. domestic oil production.
China: smoke stacks of the Mae Moh coal power plant. Villagers living near by have respiratory problems due to the air pollution and acid rain is damaging the surrounding agricultural land.

9. Nuclear Power
In the 1960’s and 70’s, nuclear power was thought to be the cure-all for the world’s energy needs.
Currently, nuclear power produces about 21% of the world’s energy.
Unfortunately, human error (meltdown at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island) has tainted the public perception of nuclear energy and no new nuclear plants have been built in the U.S. in the past 30 years.
Long-term storage for nuclear waste remains a problem.
VT Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Chernobyl Nuclear Accident

10. Hydropower
Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S. Hydropower does not produce any pollution, however, it can have detrimental effects to ecosystems, migrating fish (salmon), and people who live in the area that’s flooded.
Hoover Dam

11. Solar Power
Passive solar heating: a building is designed to capture the largest amount of sunlight in winter and the least amount in summer.
Active solar heating: requires a mechanical device such as flat panel collectors, large sun-tracking mirrors, solar dishes, or photovoltaic (PV) cells (such as in calculators, watches and satellites)

12. Wind Power
The wind turbine is a clean renewable energy source. The cost of wind energy has dropped by 85% during the past 20 years. One drawback of wind power, however, is the death of birds.
Wind turbines at Searsburg, VT – the largest windpower-generating station in the eastern U.S.

13. Geothermal Power
Geothermal power can be generated in areas where magma is close enough to Earth’s surface to heat groundwater. The steam from this naturally heated water is what drives a turbogenerator to produce electricity
Like all steam turbine generators, the force of steam is used to spin the turbine blades which spin the generator, producing electricity. But with geothermal energy, no fuels are burned, therefore there is less pollution.
20 plants are still operating at The Geysers in CA. Wastewater from nearby cities is injected into the field, providing environmentally safe disposal and increased steam to power plants.

14. Biomass
Biomass is an abundant fuel that includes crops, solid waste, sewage, wood chips, and liquid fuels derived from agricultural processes. More specifically these include methanol, ethanol, wood sludge, railroad ties, straw, tires, landfill gas, fish oil, etc. The biomass can be burned to directly provide heat for buildings or it can be burned to produce steam to drive a turbogenerator which produces electricity.
The 50-MW McNeil Electrical Generating Station in Burlington, VT uses wood chips for fuel.

15. Cow Power (biomass)

16. Tidal Power
The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy. In about 20 areas around the earth, there is enough change of elevation in sea level during each tide to produce electricity.

17. So where do we go from here?