Transcript Title of Presentation goes here - Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency

Fossil Fuel #1: Coal
 Pros: cheap, plentiful, easy to ship and store.
 Cons: dirtiest of the three fossil fuels; by-products include
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, two main chemicals
that cause acid rain and are linked to asthma.
Large air
filters
that
Burns coal
separate
at such
high heat, pollutants
it converts like SO2 &
NOx
into
Grinds coal
steam
to a fine
powder
Video
Used to
“scrub”
pollutants
with H2O
&
limestone
Releases
gaseous
air
pollutants
Steam moves
through
hundreds of
blades at an
incredible speed
Then, an
electromagnetic
reaction creates
electricity
Increases the
voltage of the
electricity
A coal plant running at full capacity needs two million tons of coal per
year and produces 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Fossil Fuel #2: Oil
 Pros: easy to combust;
produces high energy upon combustion.
 Has other uses such as plastic; easy to transport
because it is a liquid; constant energy source.
 Cons: expensive to transport – pipelines are very
expensive to build and maintain; transported
overseas by large oil tankers.
 Refining oil and then burning it as gasoline in motor
vehicles produces air pollution
Fossil Fuel #2: Oil
 Every gallon of gasoline used in a car
creates 19 pounds of carbon dioxide.
 Car exhaust causes four of the six
major air pollutants: ozone, nitrogen
dioxide, carbon monoxide,
particulate matter.
 Drilling is harmful to the environment
and disturbs habitats for wildlife
 Oil spills cause massive environmental
disasters.
Fossil Fuel #3: Natural Gas
 Pros: Carbon footprint is about half
of coal’s carbon footprint.
 Allows coal plants to replace
turbines powered by coal with
those powered by natural gas.
 Domestically abundant.
 Cons: still pollutes the air with
nitrogen dioxide; fracking is
environmentally harmful
Fracking
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RENEWABLE ENERGY
 A natural resource that can be replenished
with the passage of time.
 Renewable resources are part of the earth’s natural
environment.
 Little to no air pollution emissions.
 Improved public health and environmental quality.
 More reliable and resilient energy system.
Renewable Energy #1: Wind
 How It Works: wind
spins the turbine
blades, powering an
electric generator.
 Pros: no air pollution.
 Wind turbines are
tall so it’s possible to
use surrounding land
for other uses.
Renewable Energy #1: Wind
 Cons: Wind is not constant in many places so it
doesn’t work everywhere.
 Need sustained winds of 14 mph to be effective.
 Need large open space for wind turbines so finding
appropriate available land can be difficult.
Wind 101
Renewable Energy #2: Solar
 Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity.
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Renewable Energy #2: Solar
 Pros: no air pollution; can capture and store solar power for
nighttime use; quiet; sun’s energy believed to be unending.
 Cons: upfront costs are high; can only be captured during
daylight hours; are only about 16% efficient.
Solar 101
Renewable Energy #3: Geothermal
 How it Works: Heat from the earth –
magma below the earth’s crust, cooler
water seeped into the ground, meets
the heat and is captured as steam –
steam used to turn turbines to create
electricity.
 Geothermal Heat Pumps
Geothermal
 Pros: quite clean, emissions are low, typically just
water vapor; geothermal energy is unending.
 Geothermal is available around the clock whereas
wind and solar are intermittent and weatherdependent.
 Cons: geothermal must be fairly shallow in order
to reach it (2 to 3 miles); we currently do not have
drilling technology to go deeper.
Geothermal
Corporate USA Goes Renewable
 Sun Chips uses solar power to produce 1.1
million bags of chips daily at their plants in
California and Arizona.
 Apple’s energy-intensive data centers
already use 100% renewable power.
 Kohl’s distribution center in Findlay, Ohio
uses wind turbines to generate electricity
for the facility.
US Energy Consumption by
Source
What Do You Know About
Energy?
At 97%, which state leads the country in of energy from natural gas?
A. Rhode Island
B. Pennsylvania
C. Alaska
Which state leads the country in wind power?
A. Illinois
B. Texas
C. Hawaii
Which state gets 98% of its energy from coal?
A. West Virginia
B. Nebraska
C. Ohio
What Do You Know About
Energy?
True or False: The United States used more coal in 1925 than 2000.
The United States has the most nuclear reactors in the world. Which
country has the second most?
A. Russia
B. France
C. Japan
True or False: It is possible to split a water molecule for energy.