How does this energy
source work?
Organic material is
burned or decomposed
and used to produce
energy
Bioma
ss
Types:
-Wood Burning: heat is
used to create steam to
spin turbines which
create power
-Waste-to-Energy
Plants: organic waste is
burned and heat is
created, which produces
steam to spin turbines to
generate electricity
Where are we most likely to
find this energy source?
What states or countries
would this energy source be
most beneficial to?
-Finland, Sweden, Austria, US
-Oregon, California, Nevada,
Texas, Kentucky, Alabama,
Louisiana, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, Mississippi,
Pennsylvania, New York,
Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado,
Wyoming, Indiana
How does this energy source
affect the environment?
-diverts organic materials from
landfills
-could have a negative impact
on forests
-air quality could impacted when
the material is burned
-high levels of water are needed
which could be problematic in
areas with limited water supply
What is one advantage
and one disadvantage to
this energy source?
Advantages: No harmful
emissions in the air,
renewable and abundantwe always have organic
waste, reduce landfill
sizes/dependency
Disadvantages: Expensive,
inefficient when compared
to fossil fuels (often has to
be mixed with a fossil fuel to
work), we will use more fuel,
which will deplete our
forests
Is this
energy
source
a
renewa
ble or
nonrene
wable
resourc
e?
Renewa
ble
Fossil
Fuels
(coal,
oil,
natural
gas)
Geothe
rmal
Hydrop
ower
Fossil fuels are used to
heat water, which
produces steam and
turns turbines, which
generates power
-China, India, Russia, Japan,
Germany, Iran, Canada, US
-Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, Wyoming
-toxic chemicals are released
into the air when the fossil fuel
is burned
-oil spills can kill marine wildlife
-acid rain
-melting of Polar Ice Caps
-global warming
Advantages: Easily
available, produce large
amounts of energy quickly,
easy to transport, abundant
Magma from within the
earth comes close to the
surface and heats
underground water,
which creates reservoirs
of very hot water and
steam underground.
The reservoirs are
drilled and the energy
produced is used to
create electrical energy
-Kenya, El Salvador, Japan,
Iceland, New Zealand, Italy,
Mexico, Indonesia, The
Philippines, United States
-California, Oregon, Nevada,
other Western states
-the pumped water often
contains high levels of salt,
sulfur, and other chemicals
which can leach into the general
water supply
-needs a constant supply of
outside water
-gases removed from the well
can leak into the air (hydrogen
sulfide is most common)
Advantages: Clean energy
(no toxic chemicals in the
environment)
Rivers are dammed to
rise the water level and
create falling water.
Falling water creates
kinetic energy which is
captured by turbines and
turned into mechanical
energy. THe
mechanical energy is
converted into electrical
energy through a
generator and the
electrical energy is sent
to the central power
supply
-Canada, Brazil, China, United
States, Russia, India, Norway,
Japan, Venezuela, Sweden
-Washington, Oregon, New
York, California, Alabama,
Tennessee, Montana, Idaho,
North Carolina, Arizona,
Nevada
-Can obstruct fish migration
patterns, harm native plants and
animals in the river and on land,
people can be relocated due to
building of dams, methane can
form in some reservoirs and be
sent into the atmosphere
Advantages: Clean fuel
force (no pollution),
domestic so countries don’t
have to rely on other
countries, reservoirs offer
swimming and other
recreational activities,
immediate resource that
can help during power
outages (can go from no
output to maximum output
quickly)
Nonrene
wable
Disadvantages: Expensive
to produce (crude oil can be
very expensive), negative
impact on human health,
dangerous (coal mining, oil
drilling)
Renewa
ble
Disadvantages: Not
widespread-must have
magma hot enough to
create reservoirs, high
installation cost, difficult to
transport
Disadvantages: methane
and carbon dioxide
emissions, disturb habitats,
Renewa
ble
installation can be
expensive, depends on
water
Uraniu
m/Nucl
ear
Solar
Wind
Uranium is split in a
process called nuclear
fission; the heat
produced from the
uranium splitting is
harnessed into steam
and the steam turns the
turbines which in turn
generate electricity
-Nuclear power plants in over
31 states; NC derives over 50%
of its power from nuclear power
-also used in 31 countries,
including Spain, China, Canada,
Belgium, France, Slovakia,
South Korea, India, Russia,
Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland,
England, Mexico, Germany,
South Africa, The Netherlands,
Japan
If a reactor has a meltdown or
leaks it releases radioactivity
into the air which causes health
problems in people and animals
and also affects the plant life.
Advantage: Nuclear energy
is clean; it doesn’t emit any
greenhouse gasses. It also
very cheap, costing about 2
cents a kilowatt hour
EX:
Three Mile Island (1979)
Chernobyl (1986)
Japan (2011)
Sunlight heats solar
panels which convert
sunlight into direct
current electricity; an
inverter converts the DC
electricity into an
alternating current,
which it sent to an
electrical panel to power
your lights and
appliances (the electrical
panel is often called a
breaker box)
-Germany, China, Italy, Japan,
US, Spain, France, Australia,
Belgium, England
-California, North Carolina,
Nevada, Massachusetts,
Arizona, New Jersy, New York,
Texas, Hawaii, New Mexico
-The solar panels need
significant land area and can
destroy animal habitats
-The process to create the solar
panels uses many toxic
ingredients that can leak out
during the manufacturing
process
Disadvantage: if a nuclear
plant fails it can have a
catastrophic effect on
health, environments, and
animals-radioactive waste
can stay in the air for years
Advantages: Infinitely
renewable (we will never
run out of sun); easy to use
and fairly inexpensive
Wind turns two propeller
like blades around a
rotor; the rotor is
connected to shaft which
spins a generator to
create electricity
The Netherlands, India,
Germany, France, Spain,
England, China, Denmark, Italy,
Portugal, the US
-Texas, Kansas, Nebraska,
Montana, South Dakota, North
Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming,
Oklahoma, New Mexico
Animal habitats can be lost and
destroyed when the shaft is
installed in the ground and birds
and bats fly into the propellers,
get caught in the wind and
trapped, and die
Renewa
ble
Renewa
ble
Disadvantages: the initial
cost is expensive; has to be
used in a location that has
ample sunlight; can be
inefficient
Advantages: No harmful
chemicals released into the
environment; very cost
effective; turbines can be
built into existing farm
equipment
Disadvantages: There must
be constant and sustained
Renewa
ble
wind; the turbines are very
loud and cause noise
pollution; the turbines are
large and can be an
eyesore