The Changing Importance of Alternative Energy Sources:

AIM: Examine the changing importance of other energy sources.

Renewable/Sustainable Sources of Energy: 1. Biogas Energy & Biomass

Energy 2. Wind Energy

3. Tidal Energy & Wave Energy

4. Hydro Electric Power

5. Geothermal Energy

*Task #1: Use the map on page 44 of Study Guide to locate the places in the world with the highest

potential for your assigned energy source. Make notes on where these sources are located and there potential (try to be specific e.g.- China 10 million tones Oil Equivalent) (If your source is not listed use the guidelines below)

WIND POWER: 2006 - $17.9 billion. 2010 - $60.8 billion

Tidal Energy & Wave Energy = Year 2006 - 15.6 million, Year 2016 – 69.3 million Solar = Year 2006 - 15.6 million, Year 2016 – 69.3 million – Trend - Vast improvement in solar power technology - Asia as the highest concentration of regions with the most solar energy. - Former Soviet Union, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand as very low areas

with high solar energy - North America, Southern Africa and South America have adequate amounts of access to solar energy - The current source of solar energy on Earth in general does not produce a significant amount of energy as a

renewable source of energy compared to Biofuels

Geothermal & Tidal/Wave Energy= Solar Geothermal Solar energy

In North America, South America, and Southern Africa there are about 10 million tons of Oil Equivalent

In North Africa/Middle East there are about 7.5 million tons of Oil Equivalent In Europe and the Former Soviet Union/Eastern Europe there is about 5 million tons of Oil

Equivalent Together, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand have about 2.5 million tons of Oil Equivalent China, India, and Oceania have about 25 million tons of Oil Equivalent

Next, use the table graph on page 44 to look at both the potential percentage change and potential change in absolute terms ($$) for your energy source (2006-2016) (If your source is not listed use the guidelines below)

Tidal/wave = Solar Hydro Electric = Fuel Cells Geothermal= Total

Potential percentage change: 226.5/55.4 = 408.8447653, or about 408.8% change Absolute change: 226.5 – 55.4 = $171.1 billion

*Task #2: Using this electronic document- create a case study for your assigned type of Renewable Energy (Except Solar- Everyone does Solar)

Your case study should:

Explain how electricity is produced by the energy resource? Show and describe the Global Pattern of usage/potential of the resource

The advantages and disadvantages of the resource.

Focus on the use of the energy resource in one country and tell:

What percentage of the country’s energy comes from that source?

What future plans are there for the energy resource in your chosen country? What targets about the use of renewable energy resources have they set?

Give a detailed look at one example/location of the energy resource use.

Place all information for your resource in the space below in order to create one giant document on Renewable Energy Resources that your peers can use and learn from.

Renewable/Sustainable Sources of Energy:

Biogas Energy & Biomass Energy

Resources for use:

Study Guide 44-46

http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/renewable_energy_potential.jpg

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/cow-carcasses-heat-swedish-homes.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

**Place information here**

Wind Energy:

Study Guide 44-46

http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/renewable_energy_potential.jpg

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

**Place information here**

How is Electricity Produced by Wind Power

In order to understand how electricity is produced by wind power, we must first understand how wind is created. The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others. As the warm air rises, other air blows in to replace it – thus we feel a wind blowing.

Therefore, we can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower with a large properly on the top. The wind blows the propeller round, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

To maximize the amount of electricity produced by wind power, wind farms or many of these tall towers are created. There are three main factors that can influence the amount of electric produced by wind power:

1. Height of towers: The buildings are tall in order to get the propellers as high as possible, up to where the wind is stronger.

2. Strength of Wind: A strong wind will cause the propeller to spin faster and thus generate more electricity.

3. Length of the propellers: A propeller needs to be large in order to extract energy from the largest possible volume of air.

Global Pattern of Usage/Potential of the Resource

The best places for wind farms are in coastal areas, at the tops of rounded hills, open plains and gaps in mountains. In order for the wind farm to be cost effective, an average wind speed of approximately 25 km/hour is needed.

From the diagram above, we can that regions above 23.5 degrees north (Tropic of Cancer) of the equator generally have high wind speeds. For example, the central parts of North America, the northeastern tip of Canada, the coastal regions of Western Europe, most parts of Greenland, and Central parts of Asia all have wind speeds over 7.5 m/s. However, the regions below or at the equator generally have lower wind speeds. For example, most parts of Latin America, Central and Northern part of South America, Southern Half of Africa and Australia all have wind speeds lower than 6m/s. While this general pattern is relatively accurate, the Southern tip of South America presents itself as an anomaly. It is south of the equator, but it has an average wind speed of over 9 m/s.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Power:

Advantages DisadvantagesWind is free and can be captured efficiently using

modern technology.The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies

from zero to storm force. This means that wind turbines do not produce the same amount of electricity all the

time. There will be times when they produce no electricity at all.

Once the wind turbine is built, the energy it produces doesn’t cause green house gases or other pollutants.

Many people see large wind turbines as unsightly structures and not pleasant or interesting to look at.

They disfigure the countryside and are generally ugly.Although wind turbines can be very tall, they only take up a small plot of land. This means that the land below

can still be used. This is especially the case in agricultural areas as farming can still continue.

Wind turbines are noisy. Each one can generate the same level of noise as a family car travelling at 70 mph.

Remote areas that are not connected to the electricity power grid can use wind turbines to produce their own

supply.

When wind turbines are being manufactured some pollution is produced. Therefore wind power does

produce some pollution.Wind farms can be tourist attractions as Many people

find wind farms an interesting feature of the landscape.Large wind farms are needed to provide entire

communities with enough electricity. For example, the largest single turbine available today can only provide enough electricity for 475 homes, when running at full

capacity.

Case Study: Wind Power in Spain

Introduction

Spain is considered the world leader in using wind power as a renewable energy source. In the past decade Spain has relentlessly invested in wind power, along with other renewable sources, making it the third-biggest supplier after the United States and Germany. From just over 200MW in 1997, the Spanish market has been steadily increasing at annual rates of more than 30%. Last year, Spain reached a record level of 2,065MW installed.

Currently, 15% of the country’s power is supplied by wind energy. However, in November 8th 2009, high winds across Spain meant that for over five hours, over 53% of the country’s power came from wind energy, which set a new record in wind energy production. Although most of the wind was used immediately, 6% of it was stored, and 7.7% of it was exported to France, Portugal and Morocco.

Future Plans

In order to meet its goal of generating 30% of its electricity needs from renewable power by 2010,

with half of that amount coming from wind power, Spain wanted to implement a series of changes and focus

their resources to make the energy gathered from wind power more efficient.

Firstly, the Institute for Energy Saving and Diversification (IDEA) wants to expand renewable energy sources by phasing out non-renewable energy sources, mainly nuclear energy. While José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s Prime Minister, a strong believer in renewable energy, has hinted his Government may phase out nuclear plants, his actions are also strong opposed. Nuclear energy produced 20.9 per cent of Spain’s energy needs last year and critics claim the country cannot dispense with a source which supplies almost a fifth of its power.

Secondly, research concerning the production of hydrogen from the use of water by a wind farm is occurring at a newly installed laboratory in the Universidad Pública de Navarra under an agreement between Energía Hidroeléctrica de Navarra, Stuart Energy Systems of Canada, and Statkraft of Norway. The lab will replicate the power generation environment of a wind farm and examine the effects of an electrolyzer. “An initial phase of the experiment will utilize a budget of 180,000 euro, with later phases evaluating the use of hydrogen in public buses in the city of Pamplona, and a wind turbine designed specifically for hydrogen production”

Thirdly, According to Graber, an area of needed improvement for the wind power sector includes “more-

detailed prediction of meteorological information that could increase efficiency of wind turbines, allowing electric

companies and wind-farm operators to predict with a high level of accuracy when wind will pick up and slow

down” (2005). Additionally, three factors will control the further progress of wind power development in Spain:

the capability of the wind farms network to hold all the electricity harnessed by wind power, predominantly in off-

peak times, the cost of energy, and the environmental effect that the abundance of wind farm development in Spain

could turn out. The Spanish wind power industry will be confronted with the following issues in the immediate

future:

formulating its development to be congruent with required supply agreements by the national electricity

supply operator

guaranteeing that the installation of wind farms occurs with recognition of the environment

synchronizing wind power development of the 17 autonomous regions

trimming down the investment costs to acquire sufficient returns with declining energy prices in the

upcoming years.

Local Case Study: Maranchon Wind Farm

Introduction:

The Maranchon Wind Farm in the Castilla la Mancha region, located in the center of Spain, is currently the largest wind farm in Europe. It consists of seven smaller wind parks with a total capacity of 208 MW.

Aims:

A new law introduced in 2007, covering both green power and energy efficiency, has the aim that by 2012 all the electricity used by households in Castilla la Mancha will come from renewable sources. The present contribution is

70%.

Environmental Benefits

Renewable energy has been encouraged in Castilla la Mancha because it helps to reduce the region’s output of polluting gases. The operators of the wind turbines, Iberdrola Renewables, also ensure that the local environment is protected by regular monitoring of flora and fauna in the area, including the activities of birds.

Economic Benefits

It also creates jobs and new economic activity. One result is that numerous companies have established operating and production bases in the region, including Iberdrola Renewables, General Electric and Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, which this year opened a 30,000 square metre blade factory.   Iberdrola Renewables is the leading developer of renewable energy in Castilla la Mancha, where it has already invested over €2.4 billion. This has helped create more than 500 jobs in the region, both directly and through sub-contracts to local businesses.  The Company has a capacity of 1.981 megawatts in this region. Nationally, the Spanish Wind Energy Association ( AEE) says that the wind power sector already provides about 40,000 jobs. At Maranchon, 50 people are employed in operation of the wind park, maintenance, environmental

Tidal Energy & Wave Energy:

Study Guide 44-46

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

**Place information here** Tidal Power

Tidal barrage, Rance Estuary, France – largest tidal power station in the world

Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations - not realistic source of energy for most countries

Process of generating to electrical energy:

– enquires movement of a huge volume of water into and out of the barrage across the mouth of a river estuary, twice daily. The rise and fall of tides daily will turn the turbines build on the barrages to generate electricity

Case Study UK: The country has 8 out of 20 of the world’s places to build tidal stationsCurrently there hasn’t been a tidal station in UK, ones present are only prototypesIf UK utilizes the tidal energy technology, this can result 20% of the electricity to come from tidal energy

Plan - Severn Barrage" from Brean Down in Somerset to Lavernock Point in Wales 1. at least £15 billion to build

2. would provide over 8,000 Megawatts of power (that's over 12 nuclear power station's worth), another says it would be equivalent to 3 nuclear power stations

3. Affect ecosystem - huge numbers of birds that feed on the mud flats in the estuary when the tide goes out would have nowhere to feed

4. loss of up to 75% of the existing intertidal habitat5. 4.4% of UK electricity supply (17TWh)

Advantages:6. Do not produce wastes or pollution7. Tides are predictable8. Reliable source of energy9. Not expensive to maintain

Disadvantages:10. high cost of development11. limited number of suitable sites12. environmental damage to estuarine sites13. long period of development14. possible effects on ports and industries upstream

Wave Power

- Not Common

How it works: the waves arriving cause the water in the chamber to rise and fall, results air is forced in and out of the hole in the top of the chamber turning the turbine

Advantages

The energy is free - no fuel needed, no waste produced.

Not expensive to operate and maintain.

Can produce a great deal of energy.

Disadvantages

Depends on the waves - sometimes you'll get loads of energy, sometimes almost nothing.

Needs a suitable site, where waves are consistently strong.

Some designs are noisy. But then again, so are waves, so any noise is unlikely to be a problem.

Must be able to withstand very rough weather.

Hydro Electric Power:

Study Guide 44-46

http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/renewable_energy_potential.jpg

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

Case Study Three Gorges Dam page 46 Study Guide

**Place information here**

Geothermal Energy

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/geothermal-heats-up-in-beijing.php

Study Guide 44-46

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/geothermal-power-earthquake.php

**Place information here**

When tunneling through the Earth’s crust, the temperature will rise 1°C for every 30-50 meters that you go down. In some volcanic areas, molten rock is close to the surface. The heat given off by the molten rock can be used for geothermal energy.

How it produces electricity: Water is pumped down injection wells. It then filters through cracks in the rocks in the hot region, and flows back up the recovery well due to pressure. When it reaches the surface, it turns into steam. The steam is either used to drive a turbogenerator, or it is passed through a heat exchanger to heat water to warm houses e.g. in Ireland. Steam must be purified before going into the turbines.

Advantages:

No pollution, does not contribute to greenhouse effect. Power stations do not take up a lot of room, so not a lot of impact on the environment

No fuel needed

Energy is essentially free. Energy will be needed to run the pump, but this can be taken from the energy generated

Disadvantages

- Not many places that you can build a geothermal power station at. Rocks must be a suitable type, at a depth where we can reach. Rock must also be easy to drill through

- Geothermal site may run out of steam

- Dangerous gases or minerals may surface, and can be difficult to safely dispose of.

- Potential to cause earthquakes.

A majority of the geothermal power stations are located in volcanic areas. Iceland (421 MW, or 26.5% of electricity generation), Philippines (1969 MW, or 23% of electricity generation capacity), and the US, where 4,000 MW are under development(that's still only 1% of the country's energy capacity).

Japan

Survey for geothermal energy began around 1950, first power station started operation in 1966 After 35 years, 16 geothermal power plants in 14 geothermal power station sites are currently operating

Authorized rated output = 530MW, or 0.2% of the whole Japanese power capacity of 250 GW.

Japanese geothermal power generation capacity accounts for 6% of world, and ranks six; behind USA, Philippines, Italy, Mexico, and Indonesia

Heat of geothermal energy is used too

Heat from hot springs is used as a heat source for AC, greenhouses, fish culturing, road thawing, and hot water supply for some facilities e.g. swimming pools.

Total direct heat consumption in Japan = 1,000 TJ

String of new projects started in 2009 includes a geothermal power plant to be built in Yuzawa in Akita Prefecture, in northern Japan, by Mitsubishi Materials and J-Power.

Japan has the potential to be the global leader in this field.

There is a target of a total output of 120,000 kW from hot spring water-powered generation in 2020.

Unfortunately, Japan’s geothermal plants were most built pre 1996. The only one built after that was built in 2000. In 2009 it dropped to 8th place in the world in terms of geothermal usage.

Global pattern of geothermal energy:Geothermal energy is prominent in volcanic areas. This is because there is heat close to the surface of the Earth, making it easy to reach the heat. However, the rock above the location must also be easy to drill through; if the rock is too hard then it is hard to reach the heat source.Areas such as: the West cost of the Americas, countries that are along fault lines such as Icelnad, and the countries bordering on the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean, e.g. the Phillipines, are examples of countries that use high amounts of geothermal energy. On the other hand, countries that are nowhere near fault lines have use no geothermal energy. These regions include inner Africa, Australia, and norther Central Europe.Japan is an anomaly country, in that although it is mostly a volcanic area and thus has the highest potential for being the leader in this area, it is only the 8th place in the world in terms of geothermal energy usage. This is because of the lack of development in technology in this area. As of right now, the number of plants and the geothermal technology can only generate 0.2% of the countries energy usage.

Yanaizu-Nishiyama geothermal power plant in Japan:

http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200413/000020041304A0431285.php

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VCN-3YRVP7K-7&_user=10&_coverDate=04/01/2000&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1465299090&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5f1f2db8ce46d3f95b9b4b14fa93a494&searchtype=a

http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/grsj/geothermalinJ/Res&PP/P_Plant/yanaizu.html

*Task #3:

Also- EVERYONE SHOULD LOOK AT SOLAR POWER

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/27/sahara-europe-solar-power

http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/renewable_energy_potential.jpg

Solar- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics#Current_development Looks at potential in Europe

Solar power technology takes its next step- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8370642.stm

Some facts on solar power- http://www.solarbuzz.com/FastFactsIndustry.htm

http://www.solarbuzz.com/StatsGrowth.htm

Study Guide 44-46

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy#Solar_energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#Solar_power

**Place information here** How Electricity is Produced by the Energy Resource

1. Solar Cells

Known as photovoltaic or photoelectric cells, solar cells convert light energy directly into electricity. In a sunny climate, a PV solar cell can run a 100W light bulb from just one square meter of solar panel.

2. Solar Water Heating

This process uses heat from the Sun to heat water in glass panels on the roof. Thus, not as much as or electricity is needed to heat up water. Special black painted pipes are used to pump water into the panel, and due to the fact that black color absorbs more heat, the pipes get hotter when the Sun shines on them. The water is then

pumped in at the bottom so that convection helps the flow of hot water. This helps out the central heating system and cuts fuel bills.

3. Solar Furnaces

Solar furnaces are the most advanced type of solar water heating panel. Researchers claim that it can supply 90% of the UK’s typical home’s hot water needs from April to November.

Known as the “Thermomax” panels, solar furnaces are made using a set of glass tubes. Each of these tubes contain a metal plate with blue coating to help it absorb solar energy from IR to URV, so even a small amount of sunlight can provide a decent output of electricity. The tubes are actually vacuums thus; the air has been removed to reduce heat loss.

Solar furnaces also use a huge array of mirrors to concentrate the Sun’s energy into a small space and produce very high temperatures. Note: The one at Odeillo, France, can achieve up to 3,000 degreees Celsius.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Advantages Disadvantages

Solar energy is free, it doesn’t need fuel and it doesn’t produce any waste or pollution. Furthermore, sunlight

is extremely abundant! There are 89 petawatts of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface – that’s 6,000

times more than the 15 terwatts equivalent of average power consumed by humans.

It is still very expensive to build solar power station. Even though the cost is coming down as technology

improves, in the mean time, solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of electricity they produce.

In countries with an abundant supply of sunlight, solar polar can be used to supply electricity to a remote place

Solar power doesn’t work at night!

Solar polar is handy for low-power uses such as solar powered garden lights or batter chargers.

Can be unreliable unless you're in a very sunny climate.

PV installations can operate for many years with little maintenance after their initial set up, so after the initial capital cost of building any solar power plant operating

costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies.

A solar energy installation requires a large area for the system to be efficient in providing a source of electricity.

This may be a disadvantage in areas where space is short, or expensive (such as inner cities).

Global Potential for Solar Energy

From the diagram above, one can see that regions between the 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator, or in other words between the tropic of cancer and Capricorn, have the highest potential for solar energy. For example, regions such as South America, Southern Africa, India, China, Asian and Oceania have more or equal to 50 tons of oil equivalent. However, countries that are above 23.5 degrees north or below 23.5 degrees south of the equator generally have a smaller potential for solar energy. For example, regions such as Northern Europe, Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have a potential for solar energy that’s lower than 10 million tons of oil equivalent. While these general trends are relatively accurate, there are a few anomalies in this diagram. For example, most parts of North America is above 23.5 degrees north of the equator, but it’s solar potential is approximately 50 million tons of oil equivalent. Furthermore, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand are between 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator, but their solar potential for solar energy is only 10 million tons of oil equivalent.

Case Study – China

What percentage of the country’s energy comes from that source?

n/a

China invested $34.6 billion towards clean energy It is also the world leader in solar photovoltaic manufacturing and production, providing more than 40% of the world’s solar photovoltaics. They have the world’s largest market for solar hot water. China has become a world leader in the manufacture of solar photovoltaic technology, with its six biggest solar companies having a combined value of over $ 15 billion. Around 820 megawatts of solar PV were produced in China in 2007, second only to Japan.

What future plans are there for the energy resource in your chosen country? What targets about the use of renewable energy resources have they set?

There are numerous recent developments and plans announced by industry players.

A new thing film solar plant developed by Anwell Technologies in Henan provinces using its own proprietary

solar technology, which signed an agreement for a 500MW solar project/power plant in a desert.

Chinese President gave a speech at the UN climate summit on 22nd September 2009 in New York: China will

adopt plans targeting to use 15% of its energy from renewable sources within a decade

About 50 MW of installed solar capacity was added in 2008, more than double the 20 MW in 2007, but still a

relatively small amount. The government has announced plans to expand the installed capacity to 20 GW by

2020. 

By 2020, the government is committed to raising the share of renewable energy (excluding hydroelectric power) in the energy mix to 6%, from the current 1.5% - will improve solar energy

Case Study

Projects - Jiangsu province – the home of Suntech – announced 1bn yuan (£92bn) of incentives aimed at building solar energy generation capacity to 260 MW megawatts by 2011. This is extremely ambitious given that the target for the entire country next year is 300 megawatts.

Solar Power

3 types of processing methods of solar power:

1) Solar cells convert light into electrical energy. With the current state of technology this method is ineffective

2) Solar Water Heating – Heat from the sun will heat water in glass panels on roof, the heated water is stored.

3) Solar Furnaces - use a huge array of mirrors to concentrate the Sun's energy into a small space and produce very high temperatures.

Case Study – China

1. China is the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) panels, which turn sunlight into electricity. But 95% of these are exported.

2. Sunshine Regions – e.g. Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia

3. Projects - Jiangsu province – the home of Suntech – announced 1bn yuan (£92bn) of incentives aimed at building solar energy generation capacity to 260 MW megawatts by 2011.

4. Action to support use of solar power - Since last year, a glut in supply of PV panels has pushed prices down by more than 30%, cutting profits of domestic manufacturers such as Suntech.

5. By 2020, the government is committed to raising the share of renewable energy (excluding hydroelectric power) in the energy mix to 6%, from the current 1.5% - will improve solar energy

Advantages

- Solar energy is free - it needs no fuel and produces no waste or pollution.

- In sunny countries, solar power can be used where there is no easy way to get electricity to a remote place.

- Handy for low-power uses such as solar powered garden lights and battery chargers, or for helping your home energy bills.

Disadvantages

- Doesn't work at night.

- Very expensive to build solar power stations, although the cost is coming down as technology improves. In the meantime, solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of electricity they'll produce in their lifetime.

- Can be unreliable unless you're in a very sunny climate. In the United Kingdom, solar power isn't much use for high-power applications, as you need a large area of solar panels to get a decent amount of power. However, technology has now reached the point where it can make a big difference to your

*Task #4:

Nuclear Power

Study Guide page 45

List the advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear Energy

Advantages:

- Cheap, reliable, and abundant source of electricity- Plentiful supply of uranium

- No need to rely on unstable regions such as the Middle East for energy needs, as uranium is found in the USA, Canada, South Africa, and Australia

- EU favors nuclear power; 40% of EU electricity will be provided via nuclear

Disadvantages:

- radioactive material and so the nuclear power industry is faced with hazards of waste disposal and problems of decommissioning old plants and reactors

- rising environmental fear concerning the safety of nuclear power and nuclear testing are based on experience e.g. Chernobyl, 1986

- recession in the 1990s and 2000s has reduced demand for energy i.e. less development is required

- EU, for example, has a diverse range of energy suppliers; the threat of disruption of any one source is therefore less worrying than it used to be

Optional Readings

http://people.bu.edu/sobieraj/articles/RenewableEnergy_Sep06_SciAm.pdf

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/environment/energy/