Download The second one

Can Alternative Energy Effectively Replace Fossil
Fuels?
Photo Credit: Mother Earth News, 2014
Overview: Whether alternative energy sources such as biofuels, hydrogen, solar, geothermal, or nuclear energy can meet energy
demands better than finite fossil fuels such as oil and coal remains hotly debated. Many groups argue the negative attributes of
fossil fuels and demand the implementation of alternative energy sources. The energy decisions we make today will impact this
planet for many generations.
The Documents:
Document A: World Energy Consumption
Document B: Global CO2 Emissions
Document C: Environmental Impact of Fossil Fuels
Document D: Solar Power
Document E: Energy Cost
Document F: Using Renewal Energy
Document G: Energy Demands
Document H: Renewal Energy Benefits
The Hook
1.
Watch the PSA – Renewable Energy vs Fossil Fuels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-0nOo5hYcM
2.
Renew – A – Bean Activity (attached)
3.
Wind Energy Activity (attached)
Background Essay
What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum (oil), and natural gas. They all contain carbon and were formed as a
result of geologic processes acting on the remains of (mostly) plants and animals that lived and died
hundreds of millions of years ago. All fossil fuels can be burned to provide heat, which may be used
directly, as in home heating, or to produce steam to drive a generator for the production of electricity.
Fossil fuels supply nearly 90% of all the energy used by industrially developed nations.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and
geothermal heat—which are renewable(naturally replenished). Renewable energy technologies range
from solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity/micro hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation.
What is the problem with fossil fuels?
The major drawback of fossil fuels is pollution. Burning any kind of fossil fuel generates carbon dioxide,
which mainly contributes to the 'greenhouse effect', hence warming the Earth. Mining can also be difficult
and dangerous, and strip mining damages large areas of the landscape.
Your Task
This mini-Q contains eight documents. As a member of this planet, you have a voice in how it is
to be run today and in the future. Your job is to read the documents and answer the question,
“Can Alternative Energy Effectively Replace Fossil Fuels?”
Document A
Source: REN21 Renewables 2012 Global Status Report
Source: BP (British Petroleum)
Source: ExxonMobil, “Tomorrow’s Energy: A Perspective on Energy Trends, Greenhouse Gas
Emissions and Future Energy Options”, Feb. 2006
“Although wind, solar, biofuels and nuclear all compete with fossil fuels as sources of primary energy,
their contribution to the world’s total energy demand is limited because they are more expensive than
fossil fuels – and in the case of nuclear, limited by waste and disposal concerns…
While we recognize the risks of climate change we also conclude that the world will continue to demand
oil and gas for a majority of its primary energy supplies for many decades to come.”
Doc A Analysis Questions
1. What type of energy does the world primarily consume?
2. Compare the world energy consumption of fossil fuels to renewable resources. Has there
been much of a change in the last thirty years?
3. Why are the world energy consumption rates increasing?
4. Are the energy consumption rates expected to change in the next few years?
Document B
Source: World Climate Report, 2008
Source: Intech, Imad A. Khatib, 2011
Imad A. Khatib (2011). Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries: Future Challenges and Possible Opportunities, Integrated Waste
Management - Volume II, Mr. Sunil Kumar (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-447-4, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/16438. Available from:
http://www.intechopen.com/books/integrated-waste-management-volume-ii/municipal-solid-waste-management-in-developing-countries-futurechallenges-and-possible-opportunitie
Doc B Analysis Questions
1.
What trends do you notice in the population/CO 2 emissions graph?
2. Which continents have the highest CO2 emissions?
3. How do the CO2 emissions of a continent compare to its population?
4. How is this document related to Document A?
Document C
Source: UCSUSA (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuel Use
Many of the environmental problems our country faces today result from our fossil fuel dependence.
These impacts include global warming, air quality deterioration, and acid rain.
Global Warming
Among the gases emitted when fossil fuels are burned, one of the most significant is carbon dioxide, a
gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Over the last 150 years, burning fossil fuels has resulted in
more than a 25 percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
Since reliable records began in the late 1800s, the global average surface temperature has risen 0.5-1.1
degrees Fahrenheit (0.3-0.6 degrees Celsius). Scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change concluded in a 1995 report that the observed increase in global average temperature over the
last century "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and that "the balance of evidence suggests that
there is a discernible human influence on global climate."
Climate scientists predict that if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, the planet will become warmer
in the next century. Projected temperature increases will most likely result in a variety of impacts. In
coastal areas, sea-level rise due to the warming of the oceans and the melting of glaciers may lead to the
inundation of wetlands, river deltas, and even populated areas. Altered weather patterns may result in
more extreme weather events. And inland agricultural zones could suffer an increase in the frequency of
droughts.
Air Pollution
Two oxides of nitrogen--nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide--are formed in combustion. Nitrogen oxides
appear as yellowish-brown clouds over many city skylines. They can irritate the lungs, cause bronchitis
and pneumonia, and decrease resistance to respiratory infections. They also lead to the formation of
smog. The transportation sector is responsible for close to half of the US emissions of nitrogen oxides;
power plants produce most of the rest.
Sulfur oxides are produced by the oxidization of the available sulfur in a fuel. Utilities that use coal to
generate electricity produce two-thirds of the nation's sulfur dioxide emissions. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur
oxides are important constituents of acid rain. These gases combine with water vapor in clouds to form
sulfuric and nitric acids, which become part of rain and snow. As the acids accumulate, lakes and rivers
become too acidic for plant and animal life. Acid rain also affects crops and buildings.
Doc C Analysis Questions
1.
What are some of the problems associated with increased CO2 levels?
2. What is acid rain? What effects does it have on the environment?
3. Why have CO2 levels risen in the last 150 years?
Document D
Source: California Energy Commission, 2012
Solar thermal energy involving the collection of solar rays through collectors (often times huge mirrors) need large tracts of land
as a collection site. This impacts the natural habitat, meaning the plants and animals that live there. The environment is also
impacted when the buildings, roads, transmission lines and transformers are built. The fluid most often used with solar thermal
electric generation is very toxic and spills can happen.
Solar or PV cells use the same technologies as the production of silicon chips for computers. The manufacturing process uses
toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are also used in making batteries to store solar electricity through the night and on cloudy
days. Manufacturing this equipment has environmental impacts.
Also, even if we wanted to switch to solar energy right away, we still have a big problem. All the solar production facilities in the
entire world only make enough solar cells to produce about 350 megawatts, about enough for a city of 300,000 people. That's a
drop in the bucket compared to our needs. California alone needs about 55,000 megawatts of electricity on a sunny, hot
summer day. And the cost of producing that much electricity would be about four times more expensive than a regular natural
gas-fired power plant.
So, even though the renewable power plant doesn't release air pollution or use precious fossil fuels, it still has an impact on the
environment.
Source: SAS Solar Farm, North Carolina
Note: The image above is from a solar farm in Cary, North Carolina.
Doc D Analysis Questions
1.
2.
What environmental problems are associated with solar thermal energy?
What do you see in the picture? Do you think the sheep are affected by the solar panels?
Document E
Source: Energy Information Administration, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets,
2007.
Note: FY = Fiscal Year
1 Megawatt = 1000 Kilowatts
Doc E Analysis Questions
1.
Which type of energy produced the most energy? Which one produced the least?
2.
Which type of energy received the most funding? Which one received the least?
3.
How did they calculate the cost per megawatt hour?
4.
What trends do you notice between fossil fuels and renewable energy sources?
Document F
Source: Schalk Cloete, The Energy Collective, Germany, 2012.
Note: Megawatts
produced at a wind
farm in Germany
2012.
Source: PG & E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company)
Note: Monthly output from the PG&E solar panels
installed at San Francisco Giants AT&T Park, over
the period from August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008.
Source: EIA (US Energy Information Administration), 2011
Doc F Analysis Questions
1. Does the wind farm produce a steady amount of energy? What causes the sudden
increase/decrease in the graph?
2. Why is there less solar energy produced in January than May?
3. What trends do you see in the geothermal map? Is this energy source possible in all areas?
Document G
Source: SEC (Stanford Energy Club), 2013
Total electricity demand and availability of wind and solar for California on Thursday January 31, 2013 (Source:
California Independent System Operator). Demand is the highest in the afternoon hours when solar and wind are
not at their highest production capacity. These profiles are typical of a winter day in California.
Source: Walter Youngquist, PhD, Emeritus Chair of the Department of Geology at the University of Oregon at
Portland, stated the following in his Spring 2005 article "Spending Our Great Inheritance; Then What," in The
Social Contract:
“The two most popularly suggested energy alternatives, wind and solar, suffer because they’re
undependable, intermittent sources of energy, and the end product is electricity. We have no way to
store large amounts of electricity for use when wind and sunshine are not with us. Geothermal and tidal
energy are insignificant energy sources in total but can be locally important. …There is no battery pack
even remotely in sight that would supply the energy needed to effectively power bulldozers, heavy
agricultural equipment such as tractors and combines, or 18-wheelers hauling freight cross-county.”
Doc G Analysis Questions
1.
What do you notice about the electricity demand and solar/wind production?
2.
Would there be enough energy produced if the two were added together?
3. Is an area limited to one form of renewable energy?
Document H
Source: California Energy Commission, 2012
There's no shortage of renewable energy from the sun, wind and water and even stuff usually thought of as garbage — dead
trees, tree branches, yard clippings, left-over crops, sawdust, even livestock manure, can produce electricity and fuels —
resources collectively called "biomass."
The sunlight falling on the United States in one day contains more than twice the energy we consume in an entire year.
California has enough wind gusts to produce 11 percent of the world's wind electricity. Clean energy sources can be harnessed
to produce electricity, process heat, fuel and valuable chemicals with less impact on the environment.
In contrast, emissions from cars fueled by gasoline and factories and other facilities that burn oil affect the atmosphere. Foul air
results in so-called greenhouse gases. About -81% of all U.S. greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide emissions from energyrelated sources.
Renewable energy resource development will result in new jobs for people and less oil we have to buy from foreign countries.
According to the federal government, America spent $109 billion to import oil in 2000. If we fully develop self-renewing
resources, we will keep the money at home to help the economy.
Continued research has made renewable energy more affordable today than 25 years ago. The cost of wind energy has declined
from 40 cents per kilowatt-hour to less than 5 cents. The cost of electricity from the sun, through photovoltaics (literally
meaning "light-electricity") has dropped from more than $1/kilowatt-hour in 1980 to nearly 20cents/kilowatt-hour today. And
ethanol fuel costs have plummeted from $4 per gallon in the early 1980s to $1.20 today.
Source: The Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a non-profit anti-nuclear organization,
stated the following in its May 2008 article "False Promises: Debunking the Nuclear Industry
Propaganda”:
“What we need to do is get rid of both of our addictions: carbon and uranium…
There are numerous renewable energy technologies available which could be expanded and many more
that have great potential and should be pursued and funded more aggressively….
It has been estimated that the solar energy available in a 100-square mile area of Nevada could supply
the United States with all its electrical needs…
It has been estimated that wind energy has the potential to satisfy the world’s electricity needs 40 times
over, and could meet all global demand five times over.”
Document H Analysis Questions
1.
Is it possible for renewable energy to power the US? World?
2. How could switching to renewable energy help the economy?
3. What is happening to the cost of renewal energy?