Energy & Electricity

WIND
1. wind turns blades - generator
2. spoils view
3. noisy
4. no pollution
5. can't meet extra demands - unreliable
6. high initial costs
  1. no fuel costs
7. no damage
HYDROELECTRIC
1. flooding of valley by building dam
  1. rainwater falls - go through turbines
2. no pollution
3. destroys habitats
4. ugly when dries up
5. in remote valleys = less impact
6. immediate response to high demand
7. reliable - unless drought
WAVE
1. wave-powered turbines around coast
  1. up and down motion - drives generator
2. no pollution
3. spoils view
4. hazard to boats
5. unreliable - without wind
6. no fuel costs
7. small islands - useful
PUMPED STORAGE
1. power stations - boilers - kept on all night - surplus
2. night-time electricity used to pump water up to higher reservoir
  1. then released quickly at peak demands e.g. teatime
Energy Sources & Power Stations
1. non-renewable
  1. coal
  2. oil
  3. gas
  4. nuclear
2. reneweable
  1. wind
  2. solar
  3. hydroelectric
  4. geothermal
  5. waves
  6. tides
  7. food
  8. biofuels
3. turbines
  1. 1. fossil fuel burnt = chemical → heat - water
    1. 2. steam turns turbine - heat → kinetic
      1. 3. generator - kinetic → electrical
4. nuclear reactors - nuclear fission
  1. uranium, plutonium
  2. fission = heat releases - steam -turbines
SOLAR
1. solar cells - generate electricity from sunlight e.g. calculators
2. no pollution
3. high initial costs
  1. free running cost
TIDAL
1. big dams across river estuaries with turbines in
  1. as tide comes in, fills up to several metres - driving turbines
2. gravity of Sun & Moon
3. no pollution
4. prevents boats
5. spoils view
6. habitats
7. tide heights vary - so will provide less energy than 'spring' tides
8. good for storing energy - peak demands
9. no fuel costs
GEOTHERMAL - volcanic
1. heat - slow decay of radioactive substances - uranium
  1. steam & hot water - drives generator
2. free energy
3. not many suitable locations - volcanic etc.
BIOFUELS - plants/waste
1. renewable - burnt to heat water
2. solids/liquids/gas
3. sugar fermentation - produce ethanol
Environment
1. fossil fuels - greenhouse effect - global warming
  1. sulfur dioxide - acid rain
    1. sulfur can be removed before
    2. clean emissions
  2. coal mining - scars landscape - "open-cast mining"
  3. oil spillages - serious environmental problems
  4. nuclear power = clean - nuclear waste - dangerous - difficult to dispose
    1. fuel = cheap - expensive power plant & decommisioning
    2. risk of catastrophe - Chernobyl disaster
  5. biofuels - carbon neutral - take in CO2 during growth
    1. forests cleared to make room - destroys habitats
      1. burning/decay of forest vegetation - releases CO2 & methane
2. carbon capture and storage (CCS) - reduce CO2/greenhouse effect
  1. collect CO2 before released
    1. pumped into gas fields & oil fields - safely stored
Power Stations
1. Set-up costs
  1. renewable = bigger power stations - same output = more expensive
  2. nuclear reactors & hydoelectric dams - lots of engineering - safety
2. Decomissioning/Set-up
  1. nuclear station = longest to set up natural gas = quickest
3. Reliability
  1. non-renewable = reliable renewable - depend on weather = unreliable - except tidal & geothermal
4. Running/Fuel costs
  1. renewables = low running costs - no fuel
5. Environmental issues
  1. fuel = waste pollution - using up resources
  2. atmospheric pollution
  3. visual pollution
  4. using up resources
  5. noise pollution
  6. disrupting habitats
  7. disrupting leisure e.g. boats
6. Location issues
  1. hydroelectric - hilly, rainy - floodable valleys
  2. wind - exposed, windy
  3. oil - coast
  4. nuclear - away from people, near water
National Grid - how electricity reaches home
1. power stations → homes/industry
  1. need high current or high voltage
    1. high current = loads of heat lost
      1. high voltage & low current = cheaper
2. transformers - step up voltage - efficient transmission - step down - safe usable levels
4. increasing demand - energy supplies increase
  1. more power plants
  2. energy-efficient appliances

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Energy & Electricity

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