Offsetting CO2 Emissions

Different Types of Energy Fossil fuels make up large amounts of our daily energy use However, there are energy that can take large chunks out of our fossil fuel use Many of these produce energy with little or no CO2

Different Types of Energy The following methods can produce energy with no CO2 emissions Nuclear Power Solar Power Wind Power Hydropower

Why Nuclear Energy? Nuclear power has a very good balance of safety, reliability, environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness The balance is often considered one of the best ways to produce energy

Why Nuclear Energy? However, if nuclear power has a problem there is a much larger risk for a large amount of people This risk is generally small It makes nuclear energy overall one of the safest energy sources

Why Nuclear Energy? Inside the US we currently have 103 operating nuclear power plants These plants provide around 20% of electrical power This power is mostly used to power the public

How It Works Nuclear energy involves chances at the atomic level through one of two basic processes Fission – One large atom of an element is split to produce two smaller atoms All power plants currently use fission

How It Works Fission creates two completely different elements out of the original large element This also releases a large amount of energy and free neutrons This energy is the energy harnessed

How It Works Fusion is the combination of two small elements (mostly hydrogen) Fusion takes two smaller elements and creates a larger element This is not currently used by power plants but is being researched

How It Works Generally two small molecules (Hydrogen 2 and Hydrogen 3) are combined to produce Helium This combination creates one element out of two elements This also produces a great deal of energy It is also the source of energy that powers our sun

Nuclear Power The goal of nuclear power is to slowly control a nuclear reaction Controlling a slow nuclear reaction allows humans to use the energy that is produced This energy has to be transformed into a secondary source of power

Nuclear Power Slow sustained nuclear reactions are used to create electricity through steam The energy produced from these reactions is heat The heat can be harnessed by boiling water

Nuclear Power High pressure steam is created by boiling water surrounding the reactions This water is used to power turbines that will generate electricity This process is not unlike using coal to power turbines

Solar Energy The energy delivered from the sun is vast The Sun’s rays have so much energy we could replace fossil fuels for a year if we captured all the energy hitting the US for 40 minutes The sun delivers 10,000 times the energy used by humans every year

Solar Energy Although it is an abundant source, it is also a diffuse source A diffuse source of energy is a source of energy that is widely scattered and can vary Think about the seasons and area needed to capture the sun Most energy from the sun needs to be collected over time and stored before it can be used

Solar Energy Heating water with Solar energy can be done with flat-plate collectors Flat-plate collectors are wide shallow boxes faced towards the sun The bottoms are painted black to collect the suns rays This lets solar energy heat the water in the box

Solar Energy These are popular in warmer climates In temperate climates (where the water might freeze) they can be modified to work in the winter The only deterrent to these boxes is the initial cost

Solar Energy The same principals to heating water can be used to heat small spaces These spaces can be used to heat large areas, like a home The heating of air through the use of solar energy is called solar space heating

Solar Energy The energy from the Sun can be captured and converted into electricity This is done though photovoltaic cells and solar-trough collectors These methods of energy clean and renewable

Solar Energy A photovoltaic cell is a small 4 x 4 inch piece of material that convert sunlight directly into electricity They are hooked together to form large panels 40 PV cells can power one light bulb

Video http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/solar-power

Wind Power The power of the wind had been harnessed throughout history This power has been generated by windmills These windmills apply physical work when the wind blows

Wind Power The windmill still is used in today’s world, but it has a much different function The windmill is actually a large turbine that generates electricity These turbines can generate large amounts of electricity when ever the wind is blowing

Wind Power Wind Power is the second fastest growing form of energy Behind Solar This is because it is a cheap and renewable form of energy There are currently 7 different countries that are planning to have the largest wind farm in the world

Wind Power Wind energy does have its drawbacks It is a fairly intermittent source Energy is only produced when you have wind Storing energy for these farms is a large issue

Wind Power However, wind power has many advantages If wind turbines are placed in windy areas they can generate more than enough electricity to power large cities or towns

Wind Power There are cases when customers are paid to use electricity when it is a particularly windy time This is because so much electricity is being produced that there is no where to put it

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llIbjC49Fjs

Hydropower Early in history it was learned that water was a moving force and could be used to perform mechanical actions Early uses of hydropower are mills and lumber mills These all used large paddle devices that were powered by moving water

Hydropower While the technology has changed, the idea has not Hydropower is mainly based on the predictable patterns of flowing water This moving water can be used to generate electricity

Hydropower The moving water is used to push modified turbines These turbines produce a flow of electrons The flow of electrons continues as long as the water continues to push

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpigNNTQix8

More Dams? Many of the sites that would be suitable for dams have already been filled These sites already have dams that are producing electricity The ability for us to build new dams is not as available as in the past

More Dams? While hydropower is a clean, consistent and powerful source of energy it has several drawbacks In order to use it, dams must be built These dams flood areas that are often occupied by people or animals

Tidal Energy Since most rivers and streams have been used people have started turning to the ocean In the ocean you can find energy to displace water by using the tide The energy that is in tides can be harnessed to create energy

Tidal Energy There are several different ways to generate power using tidal energy Most of them require a turbine system to be working with sections of water that are tidal The larger the tidal surge, the more energy that can be created

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSBACzRE3Gw