APES in a Box

BIOMASS
energy that is derived by directly burning plant material and animal waste, or by burning gasses
and fuels produced from plant material and animal waste
can be used to create electricity from methane harvested from decomposing municipal waste
Charcoal is produced by burning or removing moisture
- advantages: higher energy content/ unit of mass compared to wood, easy portability and
availability
- disadvantages: deforestation, negative effect on respiratory system of producers and
consumers of charcoal
Garbage Power energy can be produced by burning garbage directly to produce steam for
electricity generation or can be put into a landfill so methane can be harvested and burned to
generate electricity
Ethanol fermentation of plant material
mixed with gasoline to make gasohol
disadvantages: using food resources ot produce fuel, lower energy content than gas alone,
alternatives to water and fertilizer hungry corn are needed
Advantages: availability, cleaner burning than gas alone, infrastructure is in place already
Biodiesel removing oil from plants or algae the oil is then mixed with diesel or burned directly
in modified diesel engines
Advantages: better milage than conventional diesel, lower C and C! emissions
"isadvantages: land used for fuel instead of food, high land use, net energy highly dependent
on type of corn, higher #ox emissions than conventional diesel
Algae: source of oil for biodiesel
algae can be grown in tanks with little land disturbance
because of lower land use, food prices are not affected
C! from conventional power plants and factories could be used to $feed% algae in biofuel
plants
Burning Solid Biomass like wood, plant materials, dung and charcoal & produce heat home
cooking electricity
Advantages: availability of fuel, no net carbon increase if source is grown sustainably, relatively
lower cost of development
"isadvantages: air pollution from cooking in poorly ventilated stoves, harvesting leads to
disrupt land prone to erosion, habitats are disrupted from high land use'
ELECTRICITY GENERATION
(pin it with (team, )ind, *oving )ater
+ow to make (team & heat up water for it to boil to use pressure differences from steam to
spin turbine & coal, oil, solar, geothermal, nuclear ,controlled fission reaction & atoms
splitting-, burning biomass, natural gas
(pin the turbine & turns generator & makes electricity
GEOTHERMAL POWER
.sing heat stored underground to produce electricity, heat water, heat air, and cool buildings
small / of worldwide energy production
0eothermal Cool & air or fluid is used to conduct heat is pumped underground, that heat is
transferred into the soil and the fluid that goes back up is about 12 to 32 degrees
0eothermal )arming: fluid in heat exchanger is pumped underground taking the cold air from
the house and taking hair 12 to 32 degrees to warm the cold air
0enerating 4lectricity: Cold water is pumped underground it is later heated up and returned as
boiling water to produce steam and that will turn the turbine and create electricity
done on industrial scale in areas near plate boundaries and volcanic active areas where a lot of
heat is stored
Advantages: considerable renewable as is only taps a small / of 4arth5s geothermal energy
- lower greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels
- widespread application for heating and cooling
- home heating and cooling with geothermal energy can be done almost anywhere
"isadvantages:
potential for subsidence
potential for increased seismic activity from hydraulic fracturing
high start up cost
very deep well must be drilled fro electricity
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
$moving water% electricity production
hydroelectric dam is common less common is tidal energy
using the force of water that is either falling from a high elevation to a lower elevation or
removing tide to spin a turbine and produce electricity
Advantages
- efficient and predictable energy source
- high net energy
-downstream flood control
- reservoirs can be used for recreation
- reservoirs provide water for irrigation and municipal use
"isadvantages:
- +abitat destruction from creation of reservoir
- high initial construction cost
- disruption of fishing migration routes by dams
- high C! production from decomposition of organic material flooded by reservoir
NUCLEAR POWER
method of producing electricity by utilizing controlled nuclear fission ,splitting of atoms-
uranium ore is mined, enriched ,concentrating it-, and used in nuclear power plants
a nuclear fission reaction is initiated in a nuclear reactor and the heat from the reaction is used
to generate electricity
potential nuclear reserves are plentiful
62/ uranium reserve exist in Australia
.'( contains 7/ of reserves
Advantages:
- nuclear power plants emit very little C! with water vapor being it5s main emitted product
- low risk of nuclear incidents
- low overall environmental impact not considerable potential accidents
"isadvantages:
- low or even negative net energy yield
- high cost of building power plants, decommissioning power plants and of properly disposing
of radioactive waste
- potential for ma8or environmental disasters in the case of accidents
- extremely toxic radioactive waste is generated without an effective method disposal in place
- public resistance to nuclear power due to fear of incidents
SOLAR POWER
9hotovoltaic Cell
- thin layers of silicon imbedded with metals
- when sunlight strikes the 9: cell electrons are produced to make electricity
Advantages
- no direct emissions
- systems are expandable and portable
- little maintenance due to lack of moving parts ,8ust have to be cleaned-
- after initial costs production of electricity is inexpensive
"isadvantages
- high start up costs
- solar systems must either have battery storage or be $grid ; connected% still connected to
electrical grid & when the sun isn5t out
- re<uires sunlight
9assive (olar
- using the energy from the sun to directly air air or water , not producing electricity-
=he greenhouse attached to house & sun would strike greenhouse heating up the house and as
air falls to ground level it will fall into greenhouse
=hermal *ass: in the greenhouse you can dig down below floor level and fill it with something
that will absorb heat it will do that during the day and at night the thermal mass will radiant heat
for some portion of the night to keep the house warm
for summer close the vents
positioning the house or greenroom correctly
Advantages of 9assive
- little disruption of habitat or land disturbance
- relatively inexpensive
- low or no emission
- high net energy ,directly using the sun-
"isadvantages
- high initial cost for building material
- passive solar must be planned for during building design process
- only works when the sun is shinning
)>#" 9)4?
one of the fastest growing in the .'('
)indmill or turbine are turned by the power of the wind
the turbine is connected to an electrical generator that produces electricity as long as the turbine
is spinning
Advantages
- many sites are suitable for wind farms
- high net energy
- low cost electricity after initial investment
- easy to expand
- no direct emissions
- land can be used for other purposes as well
- little land disruption
"isadvantages
- initial cost of wind turbines is high
- re<uire maintenance
- minor noise pollution
- turbines can kill birds and bats