Energy resources

Energy resources

1. Wind

   • turbines are placed on open places, (eg coast or moors)
   • Each turbine has a generator, and when the wind rotates the blades they turn the generator and produce electricity
   • pollution (apart from manufacturing), spoil the view, noisy, unreliable (produce electricity 70-85% of the time), running costs low, initial costs high, no permemant landscape damage

2. Solar

   • generate electricity directly from sunlight, best used to charge devices that don't use much electricity, eg watches and calculators
   • can be used in remote places, and to charge road signs and satellites
   • no pollution, reliable in sunny countries, but only in daytime. cost effective even in cloudy countries, hight initial costs, no running costs. small scale production

3. Geothermal

   • possible in volcanic areas, or somewhere with hot rocks near surface
   • Source of most of the energy is the slow decay of radioactive elements, eg uranium, deep inside the earth
   • reliable, little damage to the environment, not suitable for all locations, high cost for building compared to energy produced

4. hydro-electricity

   • required flooding a valley and building a dam
     • water is allowed out through turbines, no pollution
   • big impact on environment due to flooding of valley, rotting vegetation releases methane and and CO2, loss of habitation
   • The reservoir can look bad when they dry up
   • Building hydro-electric power stations in remote valleys tends to reduce the impact on humans
   • They can provide immediate electricity for an immediate demand, reliable except during drought, initial cost high, minimal running costs
   • Used to generate on a small scale in remote areas

5. wave power

   • you need lots of wave powered turbines around the coast, these are all connected to a generator
   • no pollution, but disturbs habitats of marine life, spoiling the view, hazardous to boats
   • unreliable due to low waves when no wind, high initial costs, minimal running costs, no fuel costs, small scale but useful on small islands

6. tidal

   • they use a tidal barrage, they are big dams built across river estuaries, with turbines in them
   • as the tide comes in, it fills up the estuary and then the water is let out through the turbines at a controlled speed
   • tides are made by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon
   • no pollution, but they prevent access by boats, spoil the view and changes the habitat for wildlife
   • reliable, high initial costs, no fuel costs and minimal running costs, can be used large scale

7. biofuels

   • they are created by plant products/ animal shit, can be burned to produce electricity or run cars
   • carbon neutral (supposedly) because plants aren't growing at the rate they are being burned
   • reliable (because crops take a short time to grow and can grow all year round), cannot respond immediately to energy demands, therefore biofuels are continuously produced and stored
   • cost to refine biofuels is very high and some people believe that growing crops for biofuels means there wont be enough resources to grow crops for food
   • natural habitats destroyed when making room to grow biofuels, the burning of the vegetation produces CO2 and methane emissions

8. non-renewable

   • fossil fuels and nuclear energy are reliable, can be extracted fast enough that the power plants always have fuel in stock
   • the fuels could run out within a hundred years
   • high initial costs, moderate running costs, very cost effective
   • fossil fuels release CO2 when burned, this adds to the greenhouse affect and global warming. Burning coal and oil releases sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain and damages eco systems, this can be prevented by taking out the sulphur before burning the fuel
   • coal mining ruins landscapes, oil spillages cause environmental problems, nuclear is very dangerous and difficult to dispose of
   • overall cost of nuclear power is high and carries the risk of a major catastrophe