Ever since the concept of energy has been around there have been many ways to generate it. Today, when our entire lives are run off of electricity in order to be productive, those different types of energy generation play a major role in our efficiency. Additionally, these different types of energy sources have different effects on the environment. Today, the way to create and generate electricity comes from the heating of water, which creates steam and turns the turbines that create electricity.
Coal is doing the worst damage to the environment of all fossil fuels. 40% of our energy comes from coal, and that means that coal is one of leading contributors to the future of our climate. It is a substance that is mined from below the Earth’s surface and is created from pressure on dead vegetation. Because it is created from pressure, coal takes millions of years to form. The amount of coal being mined will take longer than human existence to replenish, making it a fossil fuel. Coal is mined, and then burned to create steam, which is used to spin the turbines that create electricity. 93% of the coal mined in the US is consumed for the generation of electricity. When coal is burned some of the emissions that are expelled include Sulfur Dioxide (contributes to respiratory illness and acid rain), Nitrogen Oxides (contributes to respiratory illness and smog), and many other types of emissions.
Another fuel that is used to create electricity is natural gas. Natural gas is a fuel that is trapped in the shale rock layers deep within the earth. The process of extracting that gas is called hydraulic fracturing or simply fracking. In order to successfully frack, the fracking company must drill deep down to the shale rock and then inject pressurized fracking fluids into the rock, creating channels within the rock where the gas is then extracted. When the process is done, the drill hole is filled with cement. Then, the natural gas is taken to a plant and used to heat water that creates steam, similar to the coal burning process. The problem with this process is the fluid used to actually break the shale rock is highly toxic. The fluid contains 600 chemicals that are known to be toxic such as carcinogens, mercury, and formaldehyde. So basically, it’s like getting shale rock addicted to smoking cigarettes, because all of those chemicals are also found in cigarettes. These chemicals then leach out of the rock and can contaminate ground water, which is consumed by animals and humans.
Big fracking problem if ya ask me!
Finally, another way that electricity is generated is through nuclear energy. Nuclear energy comes from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. When done in the reactor of a nuclear power plant, the fission process gives off heat, which is applied to water and creates steam to turn turbines, therefore create electricity. A huge issue with nuclear power is the danger that comes along with splitting uranium atoms. Essentially, these power plants are giant nuclear bombs that have the potential to level entire geographical regions, something that happened in the case of Chernobyl in the 1980’s. Also these plants give off nuclear waste, which must be put somewhere, and can contaminate our soil and drinking water.
It is clear that we are using many different channels of generating electricity. However, all of the options that I have just talked about have extremely costly downsides. Unfortunately, almost all of the options we have to aid in the generation of electricity have some sort of downside. For now however, it seems that these are the worst options that we have, and yet we continue to use them more often than any others.
References
http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/Community/WhatIsNuclearEnergy.shtm
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm
http://www.dangersoffracking.com/
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/coal.html