C-ohm-parison

Welcome! Today, Saadia, Jasmeen, and Palveen will teach you shocking things!

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In your opinion, what source of electrical energy is the BEST?    Considering all of the factors above and any others you may have come across, list one source of electricity and justify what is the best method.

Personally, I believe that coal would be the best energy source for us. Of course, there are downfalls for using coal energy, there are also a ton of upshots. Coal is the cheapest source of energy. It is by far, cheaper than biomass, and wind, but solar can sometimes be slightly less cheaper. However, problems with solar include that it is not as efficient as it could be. Coal also provides a stable source of energy (no Arab embargoes, no sudden scarcity like you experience with natural gas), and there is a very plentiful supply both in the U.S and in other foreign countries. Coal is also something that we can find in our country. We don't need to have it imported from another country. Creating coal energy, provides many jobs. Unlike other forms of energy (nuclear, natural gas, oil, hydroelectric), coal provides many jobs in removing coal from the earth, transporting it to the utility, burning it, and properly disposing of coal ash. Coal can be mined with little environmental impact. There has been tremendous strides in environmental responsibility with mining coal and burning coal. However, there still is pressure of global warming.  If we burn less fossil fuels, as practical matter, is our energy alternative? Nuclear? Hydro? Solar? There is no practical way to provide massive amounts of electricity needed to run our country through solar energy.

Coal provides 56% of the electricity used in the America each day. It provides 95% of Kentucky's electricity. Electrical rates in Kentucky are the second lowest in the nation - because of coal. If Kentucky's energy is running quite well, wouldn't it work this well for us as well?

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Solar: Efficiency

An average solar panel is 10-20% efficient, which is measured by how much energy is taken in and then produced from the solar panel. Despite the drawbacks, solar energy use has surged to about 20 percent a year over the past 15 years, thanks to rapidly falling prices and gains in efficiency. If the efficiency percentage grows then many countries could use solar energy as a main source. However, the solar panels need a lot of space in order for it to have maximized efficiency, but I believe there are many places that we could use for said panels.  Solar energy is the cleanest, most abundant, renewable energy source available. The amount of energy that the Sun produces hourly is enough to power the Earth for a year, making it a very reliable and abundant source that human should use to their advantage.

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More Zappers by Sarah Carmody

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James Cameron creates giant solar sunflowers for Malibu school Director says the design is a ‘beautiful way to express the spirit of what solar energy is all about.’

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These bladeless wind turbines shake to generate electricity.

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Solar: Economy

Solar panels can be permitted and installed faster than many other traditional or renewable power plants. Produces local, on-site energy, which reduces the need for extensive high-voltage transmission lines or a complex infrastructure, thus spending less money on said transmission or complex infrastructures. They are reliable over the long term, they are very durable and will very rarely have to be fixed or replaced. Due to the fact that they are built with no moving parts, fixed photovoltaic systems, they tend to last longer than other energy sources. Solar panels do not use human in the receiving of electricity so it is much more reliable, and can withstand many different weathers. In America, solar energy is now responsible for over 100,000 American jobs, in over 5,000 businesses in every state, but that number will increase as the use of solar energy does

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Which source of electrical energy is the MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly?  What are the by-products of this method and how does it positively or negatively impact the environment?

Solar energy is the best energy environmentally in Canada because it source, the Sun, has seemingly infinite supply of energy that we can use to generate our electricity. The energy that is used is not taking the limited supply from the materials that are used in making a solar panel has very little negative impact on the planet compared to sources like coal. Energy from the Sun is renewable and can be stored within large forms of battery or transferred directly to be used. In one hour, enough energy is sent from the Sun to power a planet for a full year, if we can continue to grow the use of solar panels, many countries could begin to rely off of the Suns energy radiation. Its efficiency percentage is growing more each day that helps make Earth a cleaner and safer place to live. 

Just like all renewable energy sources, solar energy has intermittency issues: such as not shining at night, but also during the daytime there may be a cloudy day, or rainy weather. Therefore, intermittency, and unpredictability of solar energy makes solar energy panels less reliable solution. Solar energy panels require an additional equipment (inventor) direct electricity(DC) to alternating electricity (AC), in order to be one the power network. To have a continuous supply of power, especially for on-gird connections, certain panels require, not only inverters, but also storage batteries; thus increasing the cost for panels considerably.

Solar panels provide a clean, green energy. During electricity generation with  Solar Photovoltaic PV) panels there are no harmful green house gas emissions thus solar PV is environmentally friendly.

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Solar: Enviornment

Solar energy is the best energy environmentally in Canada because it source, the Sun, has seemingly infinite supply of energy that we can use to generate our electricity. The energy that is used is not taking the limited supply from the materials that are used in making a solar panel has very little negative impact on the planet compared to sources like coal. Energy from the Sun is renewable and can be stored within large forms of battery or transferred directly to be used. In one hour, enough energy is sent from the Sun to power a planet for a full year, if we can continue to grow the use of solar panels, many countries could begin to rely off of the Suns energy radiation. Its efficiency percentage is growing more each day that helps make Earth a cleaner and safer place to live.

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Coal: Efficiency

Currently, the average global efficiency of coal lies at 33%. However, improvements are in development to help to increase that number, as more efficient power plants reduce carbon emissions. Any improvements to be made will allow more electricity to be produced from lesser amounts of coal (improving the thermal efficiency of the power plants). Most power plants nowadays are not very efficient, therefore these improvements will help to completely eliminate low-efficiency power plants, as a 1% improvement in efficiency leads to a 2-3% reduction in carbon emissions.

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Coal: Economy

Coal mining contributed about $5.2 billion directly and indirectly into Canada’s GDP in 2011. In recent years, the industry has seen remarkably strong growth in revenue and capital investment. Between 2001 and 2010, revenue grew by 14.6% and during the same time frame capital investments grew by 19.3%.

Approximately 42,000 people are directly and indirectly employed by the coal industry, and employment levels continue to increase steadily.

As represented by the facts above, it is clear to see that coal has a highly positive affect on our economy. It supplies jobs, and is the cause of significant increases in economic numbers. The coal industry is highly successful, and it continues to show incredible growth with each passing year.

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Coal: Environment

Unfortunately, while coal is a convenient source of energy, it is not environmentally friendly. In order to extract the coal from the Earth, a process known as surface mining needs to take place. Surface coal mining can severely alter the landscape. Coal companies can sometimes remove entire mountain tops to expose coal, and the waste is often dumped in valleys and streams. Surface mining can raise multiple environmental challenges, including soil erosion, dust, noise and water pollution, and negative impacts on local biodiversity.

Along with surface mining, when coal is burned, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury compounds are released. Mining, cleaning, and transporting the coal releases additional emissions, which are extremely harmful to our health and the environment. Other harmful gases emitted annually from power plants include:

- 114 pounds of lead

- 4 pounds of cadmium

- 720 tons of carbon monoxide

- 220 tons of hydrocarbons

- 225 pounds of arsenic

Large quantities of water are needed to remove impurities from coal, and when coal companies remove water from a lake or river, fish and other aquatic life are affected. 

Soil close to coal power plants can become contaminated with various pollutants from the coal, and take a long time to recover.

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Coal: How Does It Work

To produce energy from coal, a long process needs to be put into action. First, coal is first milled to a fine powder, which increases the surface area and allows it to burn more quickly. In these pulverised coal combustion (PCC) systems, the powdered coal is blown into the combustion chamber of a boiler where it is burnt at high temperature. The hot gases and heat energy produced converts water into steam. The high pressure steam is passed into a turbine containing thousands of propeller-like blades. The steam pushes these blades, causing the turbine shaft to rotate at high speed. A generator is mounted at one end of the turbine shaft and consists of carefully wound wire coils. Electricity is generated when these are rapidly rotated in a strong magnetic field. After passing through the turbine, the steam is condensed and returned to the boiler to be heated once again. This process repeats in a continuous cycle, with electricity being the outcome.

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Watch this if you want to know what biomass energy is, and how it works!

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Watch this video to learn more about what wind energy is, and how it works.

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Biomass: Economy

Unfortunately, while biomass is extremely beneficial to the environment, it does not have a massively positive impact on the economy. It brings in very little money, and is only useful to rural economies. However, there are still some positives that bio power brings to the economy. It will reduce energy dollars, and the money previously spent on energy can be used to support front line services. Income from the sales of biomass will help to enhance rural economies, as stated before, and the production of biomass can provide jobs for farmers.

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Biomass: Environment

Biomass can provide a large chunk of the renewable energy needed to reduce emissions of heat trapping gases, to levels that will help avoid global warming. Without low carbon bio power, it will be more expensive to transform a clean energy economy. However, if not managed carefully, biomass can be harvested at unsustainable rates, which can lead to damaging ecosystems, emissions of harmful air pollution, consumption of large amounts of water, and the production of greenhouse gas emissions. But, most scientists believe that there is a wide range of biomass and biofuels that are safe to produce, and cause minimal harm, while reducing the overall risks and impacts of our current energy system.