Supplying Energy

What are our choices for supplying energy for the future?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a nonrenewable resource?

• wind

• natural gas

• sunlight

• fresh water

Natural gas forms over millions of years, so it may be used up before it can be replaced. Therefore, natural gas is a nonrenewable resource.​

Multiple Choice

Fossil fuels are composed of

• metal ores from mines.

• wood from tress that are more than 100 years old.

• the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago.

• oils from crops such as corn and peanuts.

Fossils are the remains of ancient organisms. Fossil fuels include coal and petroleum, which can be burned to yield energy.

Multiple Choice

One advantage of using nuclear power plants to generate electricity is that nuclear power plants

• do not produce waste.

• do not produce air pollutants.

• use fuels that must be burned

• are powered by nuclear fission.

Unlike fuel-burning power plants, nuclear power plants produce few, if any, air pollutants.

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Nuclear plants also release less radioactivity than coal-fired power plants do and are a good option for countries that do not have many fossil-fuel resources.

Multiple Choice

A major disadvantage of using nuclear energy to generate electrical energy is that

• nuclear power plants produce energy by using chain reactions.

• nuclear power plants produce water pollution.

• dangerous nuclear waste must be stored.

• Earth's uranium supply is almost gone.

All nuclear power plants produce fission products that are dangerous and that have long half-lives.

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This material must be stored safely for thousands of years. In addition, nuclear power plants are expensive to build and maintain.

Leaking nuclear waste stored in a salt mine. in Germany.

Electricity usage in

the United States

Almost all of the time in the United States and other developed countries, when you want to turn on a light, all you have to do is flip the switch. Electricity flows through wires from power plants to houses, schools, and businesses. Most people don't even think about the source of their electricity until the power goes out.

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From where does your electricity come?

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Most of the electricity in the United States is generated from coal, natural gas, nuclear fuels, hydroelectric dams, and other renewable sources. Some resources are limited, and generating electricity from each of these sources causes some disruption to natural ecosystems.

Where is this electricity used? The graph shows monthly sales of electricity in the United States from 2001 to June 2013.

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The blue line shows the total electricity use. The yellow line shows industrial consumption; the green line, commercial consumption; and the brown line, residential consumption.​

It looks like there are two spikes in electricity consumption each year.

Open Ended

Why are there spikes in electricity consumption?

In the winter, there is more demand for heat and lighting as it is cold and dark.

And in the summer, there is more demand for air conditioning as it is hot.

Multiple Choice

Based on the information in the graph, what will happen to electricity consumption in the future?

Electricity consumption in the future will

• increase.

• stay about the same.

• decrease.

​Electricity consumption is likely to increase in the future.

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From 2001 to 2020, the total amount of electricity consumed per year increased slightly.

Electricity usage

around the world

The map on the next slide is color-coded to show the amount of electricity consumption in countries around the world, measured in kilowatt hours (kWh) per person. A kilowatt hour is a measurement of power consumption – one kilowatt (1000 Watts) over one hour, equivalent to ten 100 Watt lightbulbs burning for an hour.

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There are many countries around the world that use less electricity per person than the United States.

Open Ended

Many of the countries shaded in red, orange, and yellow are expected to increase their electricity consumption in coming years.

What might be the effects of increased electricity consumption around the world?

If there is a higher demand for electricity, that means more that more electricity needs to be produced.

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More power plants would need to be built to produce enough electricity to meet demand.

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Power plants = pollution and habitat disruption.

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Open Ended

How is electricity mainly generated in Texas?

Multiple Choice

How did the fuel sources for electricity in Texas change between 1990 and 2018?

• Use of wind {in pink} has increased over time.

• Use of coal power has increased over time.

Multiple Choice

How did the fuel sources for electricity in the United States change between 1990 and 2018?

• Use of coal power has increased.

• Use of natural gas power has increased

• Less coal-produced electricity and more natural gas-produced electricity

• Use of renewable energy (particularly wind) increased

• Use of petroleum decreased.

• ​The largest electricity source used to be coal, but now it is natural gas.​

Converting energy

to make electricity

Power plants generate electricity by transforming other forms of energy. Most electricity in the United States comes from converting chemical energy into heat energy. Fuels such as coal, natural gas, and biomass are burned to convert the energy in the chemical bonds into heat energy.

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​The movie shows how a coal plant generates electricity. The heat generated from burning the coal is used to boil water into steam. The steam is used to mechanically turn a turbine. The turbine spins a coil of wire inside of a magnet, turning the mechanical energy into electrical energy.

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The electrical energy then leaves the power plant through a network of transmission wires.

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Open Ended

List the ways that you use electricity in your house.

Increasing electrical

demands

The goal of electricity generators is to be able to meet the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their needs.

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​This is complicated. As you see from the map of electricity consumption around the world, there are many people that don't currently use a lot of electricity.

All methods of electricity production have costs and benefits. The question is: what is the balance of costs and benefits for each method?

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How can we meet an increasing demand for electricity while minimizing negative environmental impacts?​

With increasing numbers of people using electricity and new technologies that depend on electricity, electricity demand will likely increase in the future.

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If you explored the pie charts carefully, you should have seen that natural gas has become an increasingly larger part of electricity generation in many states.

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Recent technologies have made it easier to extract natural gas from the ground. The increased supply has led to a price drop, making natural gas more attractive to electricity-generating companies and their consumers.

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Natural gas – one energy source

Multiple Choice

Coal use

• decreased.

• stayed about the same.

• increased.

Multiple Choice

Nuclear use

• decreased.

• stayed about the same.

• increased.

Multiple Choice

Natural gas use

• decreased.

• stayed about the same.

• increased.

Multiple Choice

Hydroelectric use

• decreased.

• stayed about the same.

• increased.

Multiple Choice

Solar and wind use

• decreased.

• stayed about the same.

• increased.

Open Ended

Why do you think the energy mix for generating electricity has changed so much from 1990 to 2018?

[I think the energy mix has changed because]

Open Ended

Make a prediction:

What do you think the energy mix will look like in 2040 or later? Why?

[I think the energy mix in 2040 will be....because...]