Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy

Many people despise the thought of using nuclear energy to power our country. They believe that it is very dangerous and bad for the environment. Even though the waste bi product of nuclear power takes hundreds of years to dissolve, there is no carbon emissions from these power plants. This makes nuclear power a new option for energy and has got many people thinking that this could dramatically help the spread of global warming.

Whether you view nuclear power as the promise for a better tomorrow, or as a tremendous hazard to our environment, there's a good chance you won't be easily converted to the other side. After all, nuclear power boasts a number of advantages, as well as its share of downright depressing negatives.

As far as positives go, nuclear power's biggest advantages are tied to the simple fact that it doesn't depend on fossil fuels. Coal and natural gas power plants emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. With nuclear power plants, CO2? emissions are minimal.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the power produced by the world's nuclear plants would normally produce 2 billon metric tons of CO2 per year if they depended on fossil fuels. In fact, a properly functioning nuclear power plant actually releases less radioactivity into the atmosphere than a coal-fired power plant. By not depending on fossil fuels, the cost of nuclear power also isn't affected by fluctuations in oil and gas prices.

As for negatives, nuclear fuel may not produce CO2, but it does provide its share of problems. Historically, mining and purifying uranium hasn't been a very clean process. Even transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants poses a contamination risk. And once the fuel is spent, you can't just throw it in the city dump. It's still radioactive and potentially deadly.

On average, a nuclear power plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel, classified as high-level radioactive waste. When you take into account every nuclear plant on Earth, the combined total climbs to roughly 2,000 metric tons yearly. All of this waste emits radiation and heat, meaning that it will eventually corrode any container and can prove lethal to nearby life forms. As if this weren't bad enough, nuclear power plants produce a great deal of low-level radioactive waste in the form of radiated parts and equipment.

Eventually spent nuclear fuel will decay to safe radioactive levels, but it takes tens of thousands of years. Even low-level radioactive waste requires centuries to reach acceptable levels. Currently, the nuclear industry lets waste cool for years before mixing it with glass and storing it in massive cooled, concrete structures. In the future, much of this waste may be transported deep underground. In the meantime, however, this waste has to be maintained, monitored and guarded to prevent the materials from falling into the wrong hands.

Obviously, nuclear power plants are not good for the environment. So next time you take into consideration supporting "no emission nuclear power plants," think about all the other harmful biproducts of nuclear power plants.

Sources

"Key World Energy Statistics 2007" (PDF). International Energy Agency. Retrieved on 2008-06-21.

Bernard L. Cohen. "THE NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION". Plenum Press.

What is Clean Coal Technology?

A major way to live a green life is by realizing where and how you obtain the electricity for your home. Most energy in the U.S. is produced by coal-fired power plants. Even the University of Wyoming has a coal-fired power plant to feed its need for energy.

Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. When burned, it produces emissions that contribute to global warming, create acid rain, and pollute water. With all of the talk surrounding nuclear energy, hydropower and biofuels, you might be forgiven for thinking that grimy coal is finally on its way out.

Coal generates half of the electricity in the United States and will likely continue to do so as long as it's cheap and plentiful [Energy Information Administration]. Clean coal technology seeks to reduce harsh environmental effects by using multiple technologies to clean coal and contain its emissions.

Carbon capture and storage is the most explored so far clean coal technology so far. It catches and sequesters carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from stationary sources like power plants. Since CO2 contributes to global warming, reducing its release into the atmosphere has become a major international concern. In order to discover the most efficient and economical means of carbon capture, researchers have developed several technologies.

Also, Flue-gas separation is another up and coming clean coal technology. It removes CO2 with a solvent, strips off the CO2 with steam, and condenses the steam into a concentrated stream. Flue gas separation renders commercially usable CO2, which helps offset its price. Another process, oxy-fuel combustion, burns the fuel in pure or enriched oxygen to create a flue gas composed primarily of CO2 and water -- this ?sidesteps the energy-intensive process of separating the CO2 from other flue gasses. A third technology, pre-combustion capture, removes the CO2 before it's burned as a part of a gasification process.

After capture, secure containers sequester the collected CO2 to prevent or stall its reentry into the atmosphere. The two storage options, geologic and oceanic, must contain the CO2 until peak emissions subside hundreds of years from now. Geologic storage involves injecting CO2 into the earth. Depleted oil or gas fields and deep saline aquifers safely contain CO2 while unminable coal seams absorb it. A process called enhanced oil recovery already uses CO2 to maintain pressure and improve extraction in oil reservoirs.

Ocean storage, a technology still in its early stages, involves injecting liquid CO2 into waters 500 to 3,000 meters deep, where it dissolves under pressure. However, this method would slightly decrease pH and potentially harm marine habitats. All forms of CO2 storage require careful preparation and monitoring to avoid creating environmental problems that outweigh the benefits of CO2 containment.

Since alternative forms of energy cannot yet replace a power source as cheap and plentiful as coal, clean coal technology promises to mitigate the increasingly severe climactic effects ?of coal emissions. Please support the research of clean coal technologies to help make our planet a cleaner place to live!

Sources

U.S. Department of Energy. "Clean COal". 2008. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/clean coal/csp_program.html

Recycling!!

Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product. The process of turning one products useful parts into a new product is done to conserve on the consumption of resources, energy and space used in landfills. By recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle. The internationally recognized symbol for recycling includes three arrows moving in a triangle. Each arrow represents a different part of the recycling process, from collection to re-manufacture to resale. Recycling reduces our waste sent to landfills, and making new products out of recycled ones reduces the amount of energy needed in production. For every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.

Recycling Aluminum Cans:

A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. That's closed loop recycling at its finest! Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline. More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product. Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks. Because so many of them are recycled, aluminum cans account for less than 1% of the total U.S. waste stream, according to EPA estimates. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now! There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled. We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year. At one time, aluminum was more valuable than gold!





Recycling Paper:

To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees. If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year! If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year. If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you'd get about 700 of them. A supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are in the U.S.The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

Recycling Plastic:

Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away! Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year! Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour! Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator. American throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam coffee cups every year.

Recycling Glass Bottles:

Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials. A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in the landfill. Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.








Important Facts About Recycling

1. .A typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. That's a lot of containers -- make sure they're recycled!
2. Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
3. A typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk, and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. That's a lot of containers that can all be recycled!
4. About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is only 28%.
5. Every month Americans throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper (think: Empire State Building), but all of these jars are recyclable!
6. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures a year! Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It's twice the size of Texas and is floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It's also 80 percent plastic, and weighs in at 3.5 million tons.
7. Recycling one ton (about 2,000 pounds) of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of pollution.
8. The 17 trees saved by recycling one ton of paper can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air each year.
9. If all of our newspapers were recycled, we could save about 250 million trees each year! If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we could save about 25 million trees each year.
10. More than 20 million Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of aluminum foil. Believe it not, ALL that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it so most it goes in the trash!
11. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. In spite of this, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months!
12. More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of aluminum foil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.
13. Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!
14. A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
15. Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used again, reducing our reliance on imported oil.
16. On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year.
17. The average American uses 650 pounds of paper each year – 100 million tons of wood could be saved each year if all that paper was recycled.


*To find out more information about recycling in your area, you can go to local.com or visit your local recycling center. Recycle Reduce Reuse, close the loop.

Reducing your Carbon Footprint : Jennifer McIntire

What is a Carbon Footprint? This seems the be a rising question in many peoples mind. A carbon footprint is the total amount of green house gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide or CO2 (timeforachange.org,2008). There are many different things that you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. It is simple to help reduce the amount of carbon that you are releasing.

On thing that you can do to reduce you footprint is by walking or cycling. When your destination is close you should really consider walking or cycling because the amount of carbon you use when driving is a lot and when walking your not releasing any which is a plus. Another great thing you can do to help the environment it planting trees. When you plant trees you help make more clean oxygen which helps reduce the amount of CO2 in the air. Recycling is also key when your trying to help reduce your footprint and by recycling that means not only recycling cans plastic and boxes but that means buying recycled materials. You can also be earth friendly when you are cooking. A great option is to eat organic foods. They taste even better than non organic food and it helps the planet.

There are many things that you can do to help reduce your carbon footprint and I gave you a few simple ways to do that. Now that you know what you can do go out and start reducing your footprint!

Solar Energy, Why Not?

The burning of fossil fuels has been proven to be detrimental to our environment.  But there is a way to combat this problem, with the development of renewable, clean solar energy sources.  There are many different solar energies available that will benefit our planet and atmosphere.  Solar power can be manufactured from a number of different sources; wind, waves, hydroelectricity, radiation from the sun, and biomass.  

With solar energy at the forefront of the new technologies being researched to reduce global warming, we have a way to combat our energy problems.  With so many options I say, "Why not?"  In todays society we need power in basically everything we do, whether its to heat our homes, get somewhere, or even to relax. With all of this "dirty" power usage, there is a need to switch over to more "clean" energies.

This could start with the waves of our oceans.  They produce a great amount of energy, even though we can not see it.  Not only do oceans carry the energy of waves, but they also carry offshore winds, currents, thermal energy, and tidal power.  The cycles of the oceans are well studied and predictable, which make advancements in this kind of technology possible.  For costal cities, this could be a huge step in the right direction.

The wind is also a form or solar power.  And with the introduction of the wind turbine, it is a very smart solution to our energy needs.  Turbines convert the winds kinetic energy into mechanical power (electricity).  Generation of power through harnessing the wind does not burn up near as many resources as traditional power plants.  It also does not create hazardous chemicals that are released into our atmosphere.

Hydro-electricity is the most used form of renewable energy to date.  Electricity is extracted from the water (usually damned) by falling or flowing into a turbine creates energy and powers the generator.  Also, most of these complexes produce no waste or harmful greenhouse gases.

Next, our very own sun produces a huge amount of energy in the form of light everyday.  This light can be trapped and used in the production of energy.  There are two different ways to extract the energy from the light of the sun, photovoltaic panels (solar cells) and solar power plants.  Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into direct, useable energy.  Solar power plants convert the suns energy into electricity by heating fluids into a steam, and the steam is used to power the generator.

Last but not least, is biomass.  There are many different kinds of biomass that can be used as fuels for our ever growing energy needs.  Wood, garbage, alcohol fuels, and landfill gases are where we find biomass.  Wood and garbage waste can be burned to produce steam, which can generate electricity or can provided heat to homes and industries.  Biomass can also be converted into other types of useful energies.  Agricultural, garbage, and human waste produce methane gas as they decompose.  This "gas" can be used to help power our vehicles, machines, and homes.  Biomass can help us cut down on fossil fuels, and give us a safe way to reduce the waste that we produce everyday in our homes.

In the 21st century, there are many ways to combat the problem of global warming, and everyday these technologies are getting more sophisticated and more efficient in the production of energy.  If our country can jump-start the movement towards renewable energy sources as common place, then maybe other places around the world would follow suit.  As regular people, we must start to make demands to our local governments that we will no longer ignore the problem of burning fossil fuels.  We need to make these new advancements in technology a part of our everyday lives.

SOURCES

American Solar Energy.  "The Zero Energy Home challenge".  2006. http://www.ases.org/index.php?view=article&catid=12%3Alatest-features&id=298%3ASolarToday&option=com_content&Itemid=23

U.S. Department of Energy.  "Concentrating Solar Power". 2008. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/csp_program.html

Energy Quest.  "Energy Story". 2008 http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter15.html

This Article was Written By Rachel Trimmer

Simple Ways to Become Environmentaly Friendly

We hear the words "eco friendly" more and more each day so what exactly does it mean? Well eco friendly can have many different meanings, from changing a few light bulbs to buying energy saving appliances to even recycling. There are many things that you can do to help the planet that are "eco friendly".

One of the simplest things that you can do is change the light bulbs that you use in your house to energy efficient light bulbs. By changing your light bulbs you will instantly start conserving energy. The light bulbs that you should change first are the kitchen lights, ceiling lights, porch lights, family room lights, and floor lamps. ENERGY STAR (2008) states that by changing your light bulbs to ENERGY STAR light bulbs you will use 75% less energy than the ordinary light bulb. If everyone in the United States changed their most frequently used light bulbs to ENGERY STAR bulbs, than the United States could save up to 8 million dollars in energy cost in one year.




By continuing to try to make your transformation into an "eco friendly" person, you can start recycling. Recycling is an easy way to help the environment and you can even make a few dollars a month by doing it. According to the National Recycling Coalition (2007) by recycling you slow down climate change and global warming and slow down the amount of garbage being thrown away. They also state that the average American throws away about 5 pounds of garbage a day. When we throw this much garbage away it is very harmful to the earth and backs up landfills. When recycling the materials that are harder to decompose, they are reused to make new products. When these materials aren't recycled it is harmful to the earth because they don't decompose which makes them stay in the landfill longer. When these materials are in the land fill for a long period of time they let off more CO2 gases which we all know are harmful to the environment.


The last thing that you can do to help change your amount of energy use is to switch to energy efficient appliances like your refrigerator, freezer, washer and dryer, and dishwasher.
By changing your washer and dryer to an ENERGY STAR washer and dryer you will not only save water but you will save energy, money and your clothes will last longer. When you change your refrigerator and freezer you will save 10-20% more energy according to ENERGY STAR (2008). They also state that buy changing out old refrigerators and freezers you will save enough energy to light a house for four months! Finally you can move on to replacing you dishwasher. ENERGY STAR states that you will save up to 41% more energy. This is huge, and it is one of the smallest appliances. By changing out your dishwasher you could also save up to $90 a year! These are just a few appliances that you can change in your house to make a difference.



Helping the environment is very important. If everyone just helps out a little it can really make a big difference. I hope that I gave you many ideas of how you can help the planet and I hope that you chose to go out and do something to save energy!

(2008). Light bulbs and fixtures. Energy Star. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_lighting.

(2007). Why it’s important. National Recycling Coalition. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/whyitsimprotant.aspx.

(2008). Flooring. Environmental Design Home. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from
http://dnr.md.gov/ed/flooring.html.

(2007).Countertops: 12 materials you can choose from…….which are eco friendly. Get with \
Green. Retrieved October 14, 2008 from http://www.getwithgreen.com/2007/07/21/countertops-12-materials-to-choose-from-which-are-eco-friendly.

(2008).2008 most fuel and least fuel efficient vehicles. Fuel Economy. Retrieved October 14,
2008 from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/bestworst.shtml

Written By: Jennifer McIntire

Out with the Old, In with the New

Those that have grown accustomed to high horsepower, gas guzzling vehicles of our modern day may ask, "Why choose a fuel efficient vehicle, over a power machine?" Global warming and its effects have become a worldwide epidemic that most of us are aware of, and it has been scientifically proven that the cars we drive contribute to rising global temperatures. If we could all make contributions to reduce our individual impact, it could collectively add up to help relieve the stress on our planet and have some reversal effect on the dire situation that we have put ourselves and our planet in.

A good start is to change the way we drive and what we drive, to get us from place to place. With many advances in technology there are more options. Couple that with the different techniques to commute more efficiently and this makes a way for everyone to reduce their impact, even if you are not looking to buy a new car. However, if you are in the market for a new car there are several different viable solutions that can reduce carbon emissions.

Alternative fuels include bio-diesel, ethanol (corn), hydrogen fuel cells, electric fuels cells, air powered, and even natural gas. Each technology offers slightly different benefits. Bio-diesel is a non-petroleum based diesel fuel. It is usually made from soy bean oil, vegetable oils, or animal fats. A convenience of bio-diesel is that it can be used in unmodified diesel engines. Ethanol is made from corn oil, and is suitable for cars that run on unleaded fuel. Hydrogen fuel cells have a major benefit, and that is there by-product is water. They create no harmful emissions, and they are extremely quiet. Electric fuel cells share the same quietness that the hydrogen fuel cells have, and are easier on the environment. However, one drawback to electric cars is that their batteries are rather large and take up a great deal of extra space (such as a trunk). Air powered vehicles are becoming more and more popular for the short distance trips, but unfortunately the technology does not allow for longer distances. Other setbacks include the fact that they are small and have limited space and they top out at a speed of 40 miles per hour. If you are into speed, this is not the solution for you. The obvious benefit is the car uses no fuel, hence produces no emissions. However, natural gas might be. Natural gas burns cleaner than regular petroleum fuel. And it can be easily produced in the United States. Each one of these is still an emerging technology, so some might say that they are too new and expensive to invest in, but I strongly disagree. The benefits to our planet outweigh the drawbacks.

For those who are not looking in to buying a new vehicle, there are driving techniques such as hyper-milling that can greatly reduce the amount of fuel we burn and release back into the air we breathe. Hyper-milling is a way of driving that includes different techniques such as accelerating slower. Instead of pounding on the gas pedal when we see a green light, we can gently ease on the gas and this reduces the energy we burn. Other techniques such as slowing down more gradually and driving "lighter" will help reduce our impact. Driving smaller vehicles, carpooling, and planning our errands so that we are not driving back and forth are easy ways to lower our emissions.

The earth is not expendable, but we treat it like it is. It is time to start changing the way we think and approach how we treat our earth. With all of the advancements that have been made in technology, this is one we should embrace and support. Vehicle emissions are a huge part of the global warming problem, and we can help to reduce our impact. I say, "Out with the old, and in with the new."







Sources
Fueleconomy.gov. “Alternative Fuels” 2008. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/current.shtml

Environmental Protection Agency. “Fuels and Fuel Additives.” 2008. http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/fuels/altfuels/altfuels.htm

U.S Department of Energy. “Alternative and Advanced Fuels.” 2008. http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/

Hypermilling.com “Hyper-milling: for Hybrid Cars or SUV Drivers or any Vehicle in Between.” 2007. http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/01/Autos/driving_for_mpg/index.htm

Forbes.com “Top 13 Most Fuel Efficient Cars” 2008. http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/02/efficient-gas-cars-forbeslife-cx_ae_0502fuelefficient.html

Kelly Blue Book. “KBB’s Top Ten Green Cars for 2008.” 2008. http://www.kbb.com/kbb/green-cars/articles.aspx?BlogPostId=646&r=437115256208926460

Article Written By Rachel Trimmer