What is the best way to produce electricity?

We have gotten used to relying on electricity to always be there. We count on it to power our entire world. Whether its a light bulb or a computer, its hard to imagine life without it. Just think about how you are restricted during a power outage, weather at work or at home. In fact, we rely on it enough for each person on average to consume 2,881 kilowatt hours every year. That`s enough to power over 28,000 average light bulbs for an hour. If you live in a developed country that number is 3 to 10 times greater. There are many ways to produce all that energy and each solution has its own advantages and disadvantages. The main ways we are making electricity right now definitely have the latter.

The electricity industry, because of the ways it produces energy, is by far the largest contributor to human-made greenhouse gasses emissions every year. The pollution from the industry exceeds 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. We can`t afford to keep these numbers up without serious consequences to the planet and us as a species. The solution is a greener way to produce electricity. These solutions already exist in the form of renewable energy, we just haven`t fully committed to them yet

Fossil Fuels

Our main source of electricity comes from fossil fuels. This includes coal and natural gas. These fossil fuels are the reason that the electricity industry is the largest polluter in the world. In order to transform these nonrenewable fuels into electricity, you need to commit to a lot of pollution. Also, these resources won`t last very long. It might be decades or centuries before they run out, but when they do, we are going to need another solution. If we continue to pollute like this, that solution might have to be moving to a new planet.

Coal Power Plants

From: solarfeeds.com

Coal is the most used fuel for the generation of power. It is used to make 40% of the world`s total electricity, but the reason that its used is not because its clean. Coal is one of the worst polluters out there. It is responsible for the largest part of human-made increase to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It emits way more pollution than oil, natural gas, and any other resource that you can think of. The main reason that coal is used so often is because it is found almost anywhere. It is mined in over 100 countries on 6 different continents and there still is over 860,000 million recoverable tons of it left. Coal is priced at $60.90 USD per 1 ton.

Natural Gas Power Plants

From: consumerenergyreport.com

Natural gas is a substance that is mainly used for electricity and heating. It can be found underground close to a coal or oil reserves. For it to be able to create electricity, unlike coal, it has to be processed. Processing the gas has many by-products including carbon dioxide. Although it still pollutes, it is a lot cleaner than coal. There is about 180 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas left underground. The issue is that a lot of it is located in unstable regions unlike coal, which is found mainly in stable places. The cost of natural gas is $2.47 USD per 1 million British thermal units (BTU).

Nuclear

A significant portion of our electricity comes from nuclear power. It is a better solution to producing energy because it doesn`t pollute the air as much as fossil fuels do. There are some downsides to going nuclear though. Nuclear technology produces a very dangerous waste that needs to be sealed and kept in storage. It can be disastrous if it leaks out. Also, reactors, the main part of nuclear power plants, are very dangerous if something goes wrong. Another negative thing about nuclear power is that it can also be used to manufacture weapons that are capable of destroying entire cities.

Nuclear Power Plants

From: wikipedia.org

Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity and heat. They provide between 13 and 14% of the world`s electricity. Nuclear technology is also used to propel ships and rockets sent into space. The fuel for nuclear plants is uranium. There is over 5,000,000 tons of it still left underground at a price of $50.75 USD per pound. A big reason why nuclear power is less polluting is because the uranium it needs has lower processing emissions. There are nuclear power plants in 31 countries across the planet despite the risk of a disaster if something goes wrong. The last time something like that happened was in 2011 at a plant based in Japan. Because of the incident, many countries are banning or reconsidering using nuclear power.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is a greener way to produce electricity. The problem is that there is many forms of it available. Some are more reliable than others but they all have something in common. They all significantly reduce greenhouse gasses emissions. The main problem is that they are not constant for very long. For example, the sun doesn`t always shine and wind speeds constantly change. It would be difficult to rely completely on renewable energy but studies show that it is possible if you combine the different types.

Wind Farms

From: renewablepowernews.com

A wind farm uses the natural power of the wind to rotate giant blades attached to wind turbines to generate electricity. A wind farm is typically a large area with hundreds of turbines connected together. Each turbine costs about $3.5 million. The space between the turbines is usually used for agriculture but wind farms can also be built offshore where no real space is taken up. The great thing about this technology is that no greenhouse gasses are emitted during operation. Wind farms sound like a great alternative to fossil fuels but the downside to them is that they are not very reliable short term because of the wind always changing.

Solar Power Plants

From: wikipedia.org

Solar power plants use hundreds or sometimes thousands of solar panels that capture and convert the sun`s energy into electricity. They are a good option because most power plants use panels that can rotate and track the sun`s movement to produce electricity all day. The largest of these plants are in the US and Spain. Many individuals also use solar panels on a smaller scale to power their own homes. The main benefit of solar power is that it doesn`t produce greenhouse gasses. The only setback is that this technology is not as reliable as fossil fuel and nuclear plants because the sun`s energy is not constant. Also, you can`t use solar power to generate electricity at night.

Geothermal Power Plants

From: esmap.org

Although there are many different kinds of geothermal power plants, they all use the natural heat found under the Earth`s crust to generate electricity or heat. They are usually built where the crust is thinner for easier access to the heat. Geothermal electricity is used in 24 countries on 6 different continents. A big benefit of this technology is very low carbon dioxide emissions. Geothermal plants produce only about 1/8th of the CO2 that coal power plants produce.

Hydro Power Plants

From: cairiconstruction.com

Hydro power is the most common form of renewable energy. It generates 16% of the world's total electricity. There are many different types of hydro power plants including dams and underground complexes but they all generate power using the force of falling or flowing water. The amount of electricity produced at a hydro plant is flexible. The energy produced also comes at a low cost and produces no direct greenhouse gasses. These are the reasons that hydro power plants exist in over 150 countries worldwide. The only obvious downside to hydro technology is that it requires structures like dams which have the potential to harm ecosystems.

If you look at the chart above, you can see that renewable energy is a realistic option. It is economically justified and in most cases even better than other options. Power plants fueled by renewable energy do cost more to build than plants fueled by fossil fuels, but are fossil fuels a good idea? I think that the pollution they put out every year is way too much for the cost of the electricity that they produce. We should turn away from these sources of power and towards either nuclear or renewable energy.

There are some issues with going nuclear though. Nuclear power plants cost a lot more to build and the cost for the electricity that they produce is higher. Also, they might not directly pollute the air but that doesn't mean that they are a good option for the environment. Unlike renewable energy, nuclear power plants require fuel to produce electricity. The uranium that they need has to be mined and transported to the plants which produces a lot of pollution. Nuclear plants also produce a very dangerous waste that is hard to dispose of and has to be stored with the risk of a disastrous leak.

Renewable energy has to be the best way to produce electricity. The concept is relatively new and is already competing with proven ways of producing power like coal and natural gas. The competition is going to get even fiercer over time as research and improvements to renewable energy will inevitably come. The cost of building and producing green energy have been declining and the emissions from it have stayed at zero. If this keeps happening, hopefully renewable energy will eventually be responsible for 100% of the electricity that we produce and consume.

If you would like to see what professionals in the field think, you should watch the video below. It features Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson debating about if what the world needs is nuclear power or renewable energy.

 

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil-fuel_power_station#Coal
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_new_nuclear_power_plants 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_reserves 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_power_station 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_electricity
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectricity 
• http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CGsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.synapse-energy.com%2FDownloads%2FSynapsePaper.2008-07.0.Coal-Plant-Construction-Costs.A0021.pdf&ei=9Y7aT9mMGuTi2AWeqp3TCA&usg=AFQjCNEdoVR2K4vfjN92uHVH9X6cMO3tBQ 
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• http://www.hydrofoundation.org/research-FAQ.html 
• http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/faqs.html
• http://solarcellcentral.com/cost_page.html  
• http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/frequently-asked-questions/ 
• http://www.industcards.com/ppworld.htm
• http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/eng4431
• http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/geothermal.htm
• http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com/articles/pros_and_cons_of_solar_energy.html  
• http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_wind_turbines_pollute 
• http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/thermal-coal-capp/
• http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=uranium
• http://www.photius.com/rankings/population/population_2007_0.html 
• http://thinkersbebo.com/Articles/pollution_stats.htm
• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/debate_does_the_world_need_nuclear_energy.html