SOURCE

Nuclear

Coal

Solar

Wind

BENEFITS

DETRIMENTS

Plantsproduceno

controlledair
pollutants

Producesthemost

electricityrelative
toitsenvironmental
impact
Mostefficientofall
theknownenergy
sources

VeryDangerous,example
Chernobyl
Wastelasts200500years
Unknowneffectson
environment
Longconstructiontimefor
plants
Targetforterrorism(asareall
centralizedpower
generationsources).

Largedepositsofcoal
areavailable
Safeandeasytostore
places
Easilyconvertedto
energysimple

process

Speedsupglobalwarming,
coalisnotclean
Pollutingchemicalsare
dangeroustohealth
Stillnotnonrenewable
Miningaccidents
Transportationisexpensive

Solarpanelsgiveoff
zeropollution
Abletoharness
energyinremote
locations
Userbecomesless
dependentonthe
worldsfossilfuels
Greenenergysource
thatcausesno
pollutionatall
Renewable;itwill
neverrunout
Thepotentialis
enormousofwhatis
possible

Weathercaneffectefficiency
Initialcostisquiteexpensive
topurchase
Onlyavailableindaylight
hours

Peoplecomplainfromturbine
noise
Windisinconsistent,
unsteadyandunpredictable
Notcheap,andrelymostlyon
governmentfundingto
function

GLOBAL DISTR.

POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Nuclearenergyisthemost Nuclearenergywasfoundtohavethesmallest
efficientwayofproducing
effect(only10%)oncausingglobalwarming,
energy.Itisacommunist
thereforeisafavoriteofmanygovernments
governmentsfavoriteway Oncebuilt,thecosttooperateanuclearpower
ofproducingenergy.Itis
plantisaconstantrateandispredictablesince
seeninalmostevery
theuraniumfuelcostamountstolessthan
countryintheworld,
$0.0003perKilowatthour
becauseitiswellknown Theprimarycostsofanuclearplantarethe
andproducesalotof
operation,maintenanceandcapitalcostswhich
electricity,whichbringslots
aremanageableindevelopingcountries
ofmoneyintotheeconomy
Coalenergyproductionis
Relativelylowcapitalinvestment(comparedto
oneoftheoldestinhistory.
gasornuclear)
Sincetheindustrial
CO2isextremelytoxicatconcentrationsabove5
revolution,coalhasbeen
percent.Theconditioniscalledhypercapnia.
poweringmachines,
factoriesandisalsocheap,
whichiswhyitisseen,less
commonlynowintheworld
Solarenergyisinitiallya
Amajorpoliticalissueofsolarenergyisthe
morecostlyformofenergy initialcostofsolarcells.Currently,pricesof
production.Solarcellscan
highlyefficientsolarcellscanbeabove$10,000,
beveryexpensiveandare
andsomehouseholdsmayneedmorethanone.
beingseenmoreandmore
Thismakestheinitialinstallationofsolarpanels
inEuropeaswellasNorth
verycostly.Sincepeoplelikecheaperstuff,they
America.Developing
willtendtoleanmoretowardscoalandNuclear.
countriesareworkingonit
Windenergyisavailable Windturbinesareincrediblyspaceefficient
obviouslyanywherein
Largestofthemgenerateenoughelectricityto
whichthereiswind.
power600U.S.homes
Countrieswithmanyrural, Accountsforabout2.5%oftotalworldwide
flatareashoweveraremore
electricityproduction
idealtohousewindfarms Growingatapromisingrateof25%peryear
Priceshavedecreasedover80%since1980and
areexpectedtokeepdecreasing

Energy Sources: A Comparative Presentation CGW4U World Issues

Benjamin Belovich | Mr. Andrew Munday | 19 February 2015
PART ONE: CHART OF EXAMPLES AND STATISTICS