Energy Sources

Paper Summary:

A discussion regarding the world's current dependence upon fossil fuels as the primary source of energy. The paper discusses other alternative types of energy such as wind power, solar power, nuclear power and natural gas.

From the Paper:

"Safe, efficient, reliable, and less environmentally damaging than traditional energy resources, natural gas is generally perceived as the most likely choice for the near future. Natural gas utilizes both a steam and gas cycle to generate power, and therefore, releases far fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than coal or oil. But, "Even though air pollution concerns are much lower with gas fired plants, there are other environmental concerns including water use and water pollution. Combined cycle plants use about 10 million gallons of water per day, consuming 7 million and putting 3 million gallons back into nearby rivers," (Power Frontiers). Nevertheless, natural gas does contribute to global warming--less so than other methods but more so than nuclear energy. Both are comparably cheap and sustainable, but natural gas is considered to be safer to the public. All things considered, natural gas is economically viable, relatively safe, relatively clean, and sustainable: it poses the most realistic option for electric companies with its most serious competition coming from coal, and perhaps, nuclear power."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aldous, Scott. "How Solar Cells Work." HowStuffWorks, Inc, 1998. Retrieved November 22, 2004 from http://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-cell9.htm.
• American Wind Energy Association. "Global Wind Energy Market Report." American Wind Energy Association, 2003. Retrieved April 30, 2006 from http://www.awea.org/pubs/documents/globalmarket2004.pdf.
• CARE. "Powering America." Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Energy, 2004. Retrieved April 30, 2006 from http://www.careenergy.com/powering_life/coal-energy.asp.
• Power Frontiers. "Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plants." Power Frontiers, 2003. April 30, 2006 from http://www.powerfrontiers.com/ngccplants.htm.

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