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| HOME |
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THE FACTS |
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RESOURCES |
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TECH ISSUES |
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LEADERSHIP ISSUES |
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ETHICAL ISSUES |
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The Facts: An Outline |
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WIND POWER |
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In a 2003 REPP Issue Brief, Ari Reeves (2003), wrote "[a] single one megawatt wind turbine running for one year can displace over 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide, 6.5 tons of sulfur dioxide, 3.2 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 60 pounds of mercury (based on the U.S. average utility generation fuel mix." Wind turbines used to generate that energy are located in wind parks. The three-bladed rotor turbines have diameters that are typically 42 to 80 meters and these blades are located on 40 to 100 meter tall towers (Reeves, 2003). |
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SOLAR POWER |
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There is a difference between Solar Heat and Solar Electric, as far as the energy which the panels produce is concerned (IPS, 2006). However, both are built to withstand temperature changes and high winds and traditional panels can be installed on any rooftop (IPS, 2006). Innovative Power Systems, a solar company based in Minnosota, reported that each year the solar industry sees a 30% expansion and High Mass Radiant Heating has the potential to reduce heating bills by seventy-five to ninety percent (2006). The Federal Government passed that home owners purchasing solar heat or solar electric systems are elgibile to receive a maximum federal tax credit of two thousand dollars. |
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TIDAL POWER |
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Tidal energy is a renewable resource. It's reliable, efficient, and times for which it can generate energy are as predictable as the tides are. Tidal barrages, offshore turbines, and vertical-axis turbines are all available methods of producing tidal power. Maintenance costs for these methods are relatively inexpensive in comparions with other sources of generating electricity. However, currently there are only about "twenty sites in the world [which] have been identified as possible tidal power stations" (Darvill, 2006). |
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FUSION POWER |
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Fusion is "based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release energy" (UKAEA, 2006). In order to produce effective energy, fusions using gas from isotopes of hydrogen (specifically deuterium and tritium) must be heated to temperatures greater than one hundred million degrees centigrade and then the confined for about a second (UKAEA, 2006). The ZETA (Zero Energy Toroidal Assembly) was produced in the mid-1900s by British physicists. It was the first large-scale fusion device produced by the British. The UKAEA, of the UK, contributes to research in this field through a personal program and through contributing to Joint European Torus (JET). |
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