Clean Energy
There are many different types of clean and renewable energy available to the United States today, and all are being utilized today. Here is a quick look at the various sources and the pros and cons of each:
1) Hydropower- a dam used stored up water reserves to turn power generating turbines.
Pros: constant power as long as river keeps reservoir filled, does not produce smoke
like traditional power plant, power output is massive, power costs lowered.
Cons: dam destroys habitat where reservoir is located, dead vegetation produces CO2,
costly to build, requires year round water source.
2) Nuclear Power- uranium rods create super heated water that in turn produces steam used to turn a turbine.
Pros: massive power output, lowers power costs in area, only produces steam as a
byproduct, can be placed anywhere.
Cons: incredibly expensive to build and maintain, spent nuclear fuel is problematic to
store and is radioactive for decades, requires extremely close security and monitoring
3) Solar- converts the sun’s rays into electrical power.
Pros: produces no pollutants, can be placed anywhere, the sun comes out everyday.
Cons: very high cost-to-electrical-production ratio, not very efficient, does not produce at
night or on cloudy days.
4) Geothermal Power plants- uses pockets of super hot water to produce steam that drives turbines.
Pros: produces only steam, geothermal water is constant source, new technology
means efficiency will improve drastically over next few years.
Cons: can only be placed in certain locations since geothermal pockets do not exist
everywhere, very costly to research possible sites, technology is in its infancy, power
output low compared to cost
5) Wind Power- uses wind to turn magnets to generate electricity
Pros: produces no pollutants, can be used anywhere wind is prevalent, can be used to
produce power on personal property
Cons: wind is an inconsistent source, requires many windmills to produce only a small
percentage of the electricity one coal plant produces, wind farms need large amounts of
land, tall windmills affect aircraft low level flight.
Collin Hand, Laurel Perry, Treyan Doss, Nestor Girona and Annas Alharbi.
1) Hydropower- a dam used stored up water reserves to turn power generating turbines.
Pros: constant power as long as river keeps reservoir filled, does not produce smoke
like traditional power plant, power output is massive, power costs lowered.
Cons: dam destroys habitat where reservoir is located, dead vegetation produces CO2,
costly to build, requires year round water source.
2) Nuclear Power- uranium rods create super heated water that in turn produces steam used to turn a turbine.
Pros: massive power output, lowers power costs in area, only produces steam as a
byproduct, can be placed anywhere.
Cons: incredibly expensive to build and maintain, spent nuclear fuel is problematic to
store and is radioactive for decades, requires extremely close security and monitoring
3) Solar- converts the sun’s rays into electrical power.
Pros: produces no pollutants, can be placed anywhere, the sun comes out everyday.
Cons: very high cost-to-electrical-production ratio, not very efficient, does not produce at
night or on cloudy days.
4) Geothermal Power plants- uses pockets of super hot water to produce steam that drives turbines.
Pros: produces only steam, geothermal water is constant source, new technology
means efficiency will improve drastically over next few years.
Cons: can only be placed in certain locations since geothermal pockets do not exist
everywhere, very costly to research possible sites, technology is in its infancy, power
output low compared to cost
5) Wind Power- uses wind to turn magnets to generate electricity
Pros: produces no pollutants, can be used anywhere wind is prevalent, can be used to
produce power on personal property
Cons: wind is an inconsistent source, requires many windmills to produce only a small
percentage of the electricity one coal plant produces, wind farms need large amounts of
land, tall windmills affect aircraft low level flight.
Collin Hand, Laurel Perry, Treyan Doss, Nestor Girona and Annas Alharbi.