Braden Ottley

English 2010

The Power of Knowledge

Climate change is a growing problem in the world, and in our own neighborhoods. The
biggest source of CO2 in the atmosphere is not from cars, but from generating electricity, and we
need to do something about that. In order to be able to make wise choices on what to do about
the issue, we have to be well informed about the pros and the cons of
each of the different forms of generating
electricity.
In order to be able to compare our
most logical options for new power
stations, I will be comparing them all on
an even playing field. I will be talking
about the good and the bad about building a new 500 Mega Watt Hour
Sources of carbon
dioxide (CO2) in the
atmosphere (A Guide)

(MWH) power plant. To put that number into perspective, that is enough to
power over 500,000 homes (Richardson).

Lets start with the most common source of electrical power in the United States.
Representing 34% of all power generated in the United States: coal power. Coal power is about
33% efficient at turning the heat from coal into electrical power, and with improvements in
technology, that can be as high as 40% (High Efficiency). In order to build our 500MWH power

Coal

Natural gas

Nuclear

Hydropower

Wind

Solar

plant, we would need only

about 1 square mile of space,
6%

5%1%

which is very small (Nance),

but it should be near a

34%

railroad in order to make it

20%

possible to deliver all the coal

that is needed. Next we
would need to pay to build it,
34%
at the current estimated cost
for coal power of $3,5000 per
Sources of electricity in the Unites States in
2015 (What Is U.S.).

Kilo Watt Hour (KWH) (a MWH is 1000KWH)

(Schlissel), that would bring the cost of this

new plant to $1.75 billion. The next issue is the construction of the plant, for a plant this size it
will take about 4 years to complete (NEA). Now that we have the plant built, we need to fuel it.
At the estimated fuel requirement of 1.04 pounds of coal per KWH (U.S. Energy), that puts our
500MWH reactor at about 12.5 million pounds or 6,240 tons of coal per day. We also need to pay
for all that coal. The current price of coal is $42.30 per ton of coal (Coal Prices), which means
$263,952 per day on coal, and $96.35 million per year.
The next issue with our new power plant is the pollution it will cause. Based on rough
estimates, there is about 2.07 pounds of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere for every
KWH (How Much Carbon). That means that for one year, our plant releases about 9 billion
pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or 79 billion cubic feet. That is enough CO2 to

cover the entire state of Rhode Island to a depth of 2 feet and 4 inches. Another pollutant
released from burning coal is mercury. Throughout the United States coal power plants release
50 tons of mercury per year (Main). An issue associated with pollution is the effects on our
health, estimates show that coal pollution causes 13,000 deaths every year, along with 12,000
emergency room visits, 20,000 heart attacks, and over 200,000 asthma attacks (The Dirty Facts).
The last issue worth talking about is mining coal. In order to mine and process coal, you need a
lot of water. For every ton of coal you need an average of 1,900 gallons of water (Heimbuch).
That means for our power plant we are using 4.3 billion gallons of water per year processing the
coal. That is more water then 29,000 average American families use a year (Indoor Water).
Now lets move to Natural gas, the second most common source of power in the United
States. Natural gas is more efficient then coal, at about 32%-38% efficient, with new
technologies getting up to 60% (Johnzactruba). To build our 500MWH natural gas power plant,
we need a chunk of land about the same size as for coal, but instead of needing railroad tracks,
we would need to build gas lines to the plant. Next we need to build our plant. An average for
natural gas power plants the size we need is $1,023 per KWH (Sontakke). That means to build
our plant will take $511 million, and about 3 years to build (Natural Gas). The next issue on our
list is paying for the natural gas for our power plant. Natural gas currently costs $5.19 per
thousand cubic feet (What Is the). Our power plant uses about 10.11 cubic feet of natural gas per
KWH of electricity (How Much Coal), that means our plant is using 121,320,000 cubic feet of
natural gas per day, and 44.3 billion cubic feet per year. That much natural gas could cover the
Salt Lake Valley more then 3 feet deep (Salt Lake Valley), and would cost $629,650 per day,
$229.8 million per year.

The next issue with our power plant is the pollution that it causes. One thing that is
interesting about natural gas is that most of the more dangerous pollutants that are released are
actually released from the pipes during transport, not from burning it (Environmental). Natural
gas power releases 1.22 pounds of carbon dioxide per KWH (How Much Carbon). That means
our plant is releasing 14.5 million pounds of CO2 per day, and 5.35 billion pounds per year, or
126.75 million cubic feet per day, and 46.75 billion cubic feet per year. That much CO2 is 508
times as big as the The Great Pyramid of Giza (SOLUTION). Getting the natural gas also uses a
lot of water. Each fracking well uses an average of 5 million gallons of water (Fracking), and
there were 22,326 wells drilled in 2012 (Ridlington). That means that fracking wells in the US
used about 111.6 billion gallons water water in 2012, and that is assuming none of those wells
were fracked more then once. For comparison, the empire state building is 276.8 million gallons
(Sobering Fact), that is enough to fill the empire state building 403 times with water.
The next most common type of electrical generation in the United states is nuclear power.
For our 500MWH nuclear power plant, I will be talking about two different kinds, the traditional
light water reactor, and the Waste Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor (WAMSR) (I talk more about
the WAMSR in my previous paper). Nuclear power in general is about 30%-35% efficient, some
modern molten salt reactors (MSRs) are more, but that is an average (Wilson). Next we need a
place to put it. The light water reactor needs to be near a source of water, and needs about 1.3
square miles (How Much Land), while the WAMSR can be put where ever it is needed, and is
smaller. Next we need to build it, the light water reactor will cost about $2.7 billion (Sontakke),
and the WAMSR will cost about $1.7 billion (Templeton). Construction of the light water reactor
will take about 5-7 years (Oecd-nea), and the WAMSR would be built in a factory and shipped to

its destination, making construction time much shorter. The light water reactor uses conventual
uranium, which costs 1.64 cents per KWH (Costs). That is about about $71.8 million a year. The
WASMR runs off of nuclear waste, so it will be significantly cheaper. Neither of this two plants
produce greenhouse gases from operation, but they do both produce nuclear waste. The light
water reactor produces about 44,000 pounds of high level nuclear waste a year, but that waste
can be used to power the WAMSR. The WAMSR produces about a baseball sized chunk of
nuclear waste a year (Dewan).
There is also pollution and water usage from mining the uranium. The WAMSR runs off
of already existent nuclear waste so mining is not an issue. Uranium mining uses more water
then coal or natural gas. Another issue with nuclear power is nuclear meltdowns. A nuclear
meltdown is impossible with the WAMSR, and very uncommon with the light water reactor.
There are currently 438 nuclear power plants operating around the world, but only 2 in history
have ever had an uncontrolled nuclear meltdown (List of Nuclear Power). Most of the public
dislike of nuclear power has to do with misunderstanding of the technology.
The next most common source of electricity in the Unites States is hydroelectric power.
Hydroelectric power is by far the most efficient at about 90% for modern power plants. In order
to build our 500MWH nuclear power plant, it needs to be put on a massive river. This is a big
issue because there would be very few possible places in the United States where we could build
a dam this size. For comparison The average hydroelectric power plant generates only about
82MWH (Managing Water), and Hoover Dam generates 513MWH (Hoover Dam), so we need a
power plant that size. Counting for inflation Hoover Dam took $750 million to build, and 5 years

to complete (Dimsdale). The fuel for the plant is the water in the river, so once its built it is free.
There is no pollution associated with running the plant.
The biggest issue with hydroelectric power is the damage to the environment. The dam
can block the path of fish upstream, destroying many fish populations. Along with flooding the
area upstream, destroying whatever environment was there. Dams also lessen the flow of water
downstream, destroying ecosystems and making it hard for farmers who relied on the river to get
the water that they need to water their crops (Environmental Impacts).
Wind energy is the next most common source of electricity in the United States. Wind
energy is between 30%-45% efficient at changing wind energy to electrical energy, but since the
wind is not always blowing, a wind turbine is only generating its rated capacity 32%-47% of the
time (How Much Land). That means that without some kind of other power source also
generating 500MWH (nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric), it will only generate the needed
power less then half the time. We also need to build it in a large, open, hilly area to get the wind
speed needed. Now to building a 500MWH wind farm. A 2MWH wind turbine costs about $3-$4
million each (How Much Do Wind), so a 500MWH wind farm would cost $875 million dollars,
with 250 wind turbines spread out over 20,000 acres of land. Though about 99% of that land
could still be used for growing crops or raising cattle. A wind farm this size could be built in
about a year and a half (Wind Energy). There would be no price for fuel, expect for the price of
starting up other sources of power whenever the wind is too calm or too strong.
Some of the environmental issues associated with wind power are the effect of bird life,
the noise they generate, the shadow they cast, and the way that they look. There are often bird
and bat deaths cased from wind turbines, and a lot of people who live near them dont like the

way they sound or what it looks like having a

giant wind farm blocking a view. There are
very minimal carbon emissions from building,
transporting, and maintaining the wind
turbines.
The last source of electricity is solar power.

(Wind Farms)

Solar is very inefficient at converting sunlight to power, less

then 14% (How Efficient). In order to build our 500MWH solar farm, we need a very sunny area,
and about 7 square miles of space (How Much Land). That 7 square miles should be flat desert
land in order to be the most efficient. On average solar power is only generating at capacity
about 17%-28% of the time. This means that as with wind, there would have to be another source
of power to generate electricity when the sun is not shining enough. The cost of utility scale solar
power is about $1.33 per Watt Hour (Solar Electricity). That is only $665 million for our
500MWH solar farm. If we wanted to put it onto car ports to save space, that would cost $817.6
million and take up 1.2 square miles (Commercial Solar). For a farm this size it will take about a
year to install this many solar panels.
There are issues associated with solar power, though the myth that it takes more energy to
build a solar panel then it will ever make is false. In order to keep the panels in working order,
they have to be kept clean from any dirt or dust. They require a lot of heat to produce, and often
times that heat comes from burning coal. There are also toxic chemicals associated with the
development of solar panels, and at times there have been leaks of these chemicals into the
environment.

Effici Price to
ency Build
Coal

Space
Needed

Build Fueling Cost

Time Per Year

Pollution Per Year

33% $1.75billion 1 square

mile

4
$96.35million
years

79 billion cubic feet of CO2, 50

tons of mercury,

Natural
Gas

32%38%

$511
million

1 square
mile

5
$229.8million
years

46.75 billion cubic feet of CO2,

Nuclear
WAMSR

30%35%

$1.7 billion

1 square
mile

Baseball sized chunk of nuclear

waste

A dam on
a large
river

5
Free
years

Large amounts of environmental

damage

31.25
square
miles

1.5
Price to run
years other power
plants when
wind is not
blowing

Pollution from other power plants

that are needed when wind is not
blowing

7 square
miles

Pollution from other power plants

that are needed when sun is not
shining. Pollution from production

Hydroel
ectric

90% $750
million

Wind

30%45%

$875
million

Solar

>14% $665
million

Nuclear
waste, so
cheap

Price to run
other power
plants when
sun is not
shining

Summery of what I have talked about. X means unknown due to new technology, or no exact
numbers for a scale this size.

These are some of the basic facts associated with the most common sources of electricity
in the United States. I think it is important to be well informed of the pros and cons of each of
these sources of electricity, in order to be able to make the best decision for everyones future.

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