30 11/7/10
Lecture - Energy: Renewable Energy
Biofuels Solar power Wind power Nuclear power
Wind power
Particular interest here, projects in Benton & White counties, one proposed for Tippecanoe. Clean energy source, also income to farmers Also _________________ must coordinate with other energy suppliers to maintain constant supply.
Wind energy potential
____________ potential very high in some areas
Wind Energy Cont'd
Wind Farms - Large concentrations of wind generators producing commercial electricity.
Negative Impacts (to some):
______________________ in remote places Destroy sense of isolation (faint jet-like sound) Potentially _________________________
Nuclear power
Nuclear fission releasing energy by splitting large atoms into smaller atoms.
Points to remember
All our nuclear power comes from _________________ . Common fuel: uranium-235 (Number 235 indicates isotope = type of uranium) 0.7% of uranium ore is 235 isotope, rest is left in tailings (toxic).
Nuclear fusion releasing energy by combining (fusing) small atoms into large ones.
1
11/7/10
Half life
Danger of nuclear material (including waste) is measured half-lives. in Half-life = amount of time required for substance to lose half its radioactivity. Longer half-life = _______________.
Advantages of nuclear power
1. Extremely powerful source of energy. 2. No greenhouse gases produced. 3. No sulfur compounds, no ozone, etc.
Problems
1. Tailings left over after mining uranium are toxic. 2. Boom! Famous accidents: 3. Expensive
Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania; Chernobyl, Ukraine
Problems 2
5. Nuclear waste
-Half lives measured as 10,000+ years. -Security risk
4. __________ fuel supply?
Sold as "cheap" by energy companies, but construction of plants is very expensive, paid for by taxpayers and ratepayers If production increased, ______________ is mineable
Nuclear waste repository
Waste is now stored in locations where it is produced: colleges, hospitals, power plants. In 2002, gov't selected permanent storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In 2009, Obama administration said site "no longer an option for storing... waste"
Radioactive Waste Management
About 100,000 tons of low-level waste (clothing) and about 15,000 tons of high-level (spent-fuel) waste in the U.S.
2