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Where Should We Get Our Energy?
- Camille Haluber
- Feb 26, 2021
- 5 min read
We all need energy in our daily lives. We obtain power from the sun to grow food, electricity to operate or charge electronics, and sleep to recharge for the next day. What kind of energy could we use to produce electricity that is efficient, beneficial, and does not harm the environment? There are three main fuels of energy: coal, nuclear, and renewable. Utilizing all of these types of energy comes with consequences and benefits. Here are brief explanations about how coal, nuclear, and renewable energy works:
Coal Energy
Coal energy creates electricity with a coal-fired power plant through burning coal in a boiler, which makes steam that travels to a turbine and spins a generator to produce electricity. When the steam is cooled, it turns into water and returns to the boiler to repeat its process.
Benefits
Abundant: Coal is the most used and plentiful energy source in the world.
Affordable: Coal is an inexpensive and productive way to create electricity.
Drawbacks
CO2 Emissions: Burning coal releases carbon dioxide and ends up in the atmosphere causing global warming.
Impact on Earth and Humans: Running coal power plants can lead to air and water pollution. The burning of coal releases dangerous substances into the air and can cause health problems for humans, such as the respiratory system, brain damage, and cancer.
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is produced as uranium atoms split. The energy from the division, a nuclear fission process, generates heat to produce steam for a turbine generator to generate electricity in a nuclear power plant. In nuclear fission, uranium absorbs neutrons during nuclear fission and splits since it is unstable, releasing energy in the form of radiation. Also, as a uranium atom splits, additional neutrons are being released.
Benefits
Reduces CO2 Emissions: As nuclear power plants process, they do not produce greenhouse gasses. This minimizes the fossil fuels humans inhale every day.
High Energy and Lower Costs: Although construction of a nuclear power plant may be expensive, nuclear power has more of an enormous amount of energy being created than burning fossil fuels, which can lower costs of producing electricity since less energy is needed.
Drawbacks
Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: Countries are using nuclear power to invest in weapons to use against their enemies. This can be concerning for humans, and the consequence of using nuclear weapons can lead to fatality.
Nuclear Waste and Pollution: Nuclear power releases and contains extremely toxic chemical elements. Also, there are not many places to store nuclear waste, which can be a problem as it exposes harmful chemicals to the environment.
Renewable Energy
There are different kinds of renewable energy, like water, solar, and wind. These sources are harnessed to produce electricity and have a never-ending supply since these sources are found every day.
Benefits
Clean energy source: Renewable sources are natural and have low maintenance since the technologies used to operate the energy are not as flammable as the coal and nuclear power plants.
Impact on the environment: Renewable energy sources do not emit or produce little greenhouse gases.
Drawbacks
Takes up a lot of space: Solar panels, wind turbines, and other technologies used to make the renewable sources possible to create energy can consume large land areas.
Disturbs animal habitats: Along with taking up space, renewable energy can bother living things around the construction area.
Some people may say using one of these types of energy is better than the other, while others might say that one should not be used. Here are thoughts and concerns from some of Maui High's science teachers about these three types of energy:
Which type of energy (coal, nuclear, or renewable) do you prefer that will be efficient, beneficial, and "good" for the environment? Why?
“Renewable because it will contribute less to global warming and not be as harmful to our ecosystems.” - Mrs. Lindberg
“I prefer renewable forms of energy, but nuclear can be used in areas that are far away from large densities of human population. It produces the most energy by far. Global warming and pollution are serious problems, so I like Green energies such as solar, ocean wave/tide, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal.” - Mr. MacDevitt
“Renewable.” - Ms. Sarver
“Renewable, because it requires little of Earth's resources.” - Mr. Giebink
Do you have any concerns about using coal, nuclear, or renewable energy?
“I do have concerns about coal, since it's not infinite and we are on a path to global collapse of our environment if we do not move away from carbon based energy sources soon. Although nuclear energy seems less harmful for the environment, the risks and issue of long term storage of nuclear waste is troublesome. Renewable energy may have some efficiency and manufacturing of equipment challenges to overcome. In a socioeconomic viewpoint, for very poor and rural communities, using carbon based energy sources is the easiest way to raise standards of living by creating jobs (think for example of manufacturing and powering factories).” - Mrs. Linderg
“We have to stop using coal. Burning anything causes a release of greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change (as well as acid rain and ocean acidification). Nuclear should be designed and ran with extreme care, but I still think it's worthwhile. Renewable energy produces less energy and depends on favorable conditions (the sun shining for solar, wind making turbines spin, etc.) and it can be difficult to store the energy for later use. Advancing technology in large batteries to store renewable energy seems like the best situation in my mind.” - Mr. MacDevitt
“Pollution.” - Ms. Sarver
“Besides harming the environment when it's mined, burning coal creates lot of air pollution. Mining for nuclear fuel also damages the environment but even worse is dealing with spent nuclear fuel. Most renewable energy sources seem pretty harmless.” - Mr. Giebink
Which type of energy do you think we should use in Hawaii?
“Solar, wind and wave.” - Mrs. Lindberg
“Solar, Wind, and harnessing wave and tide energy in select locations (away from popular surf spots/beaches). If we need oil or gasoline, it would be better to get it from Biofuels (this means growing crops like sunflowers, corn, or soybeans to produce burnable oils or alcohols). This way, we don't have to import oil from the Middle East, no transportation is needed, and we wouldn't be digging deep into the earth which can cause sinkholes, earthquakes, oil spills, and other problems. Plus, Biofuel is renewable whereas fossil fuels are not and when you grow more plants, they take in the CO2 that had been produced by burning.” - Mr. MacDevitt
“Wind.” - Ms. Sarver
“Renewable, specifically photovoltaic.” - Mr. Giebink
The source of where we get our energy from remains a debate. There are many other types of energy, including geothermal using heat from the earth, tidal where the movement of tides is used, or biomass where residues from living organisms and wastes are used. When choosing a type of energy source to use for our daily lives, we should consider how it affects our environment, land, cost, efficiency, humans, and living things.
To learn more about types of energy visit: https://www.energy.gov/science-innovation/energy-sources (Tip: Look up the interested type of energy using the search tool on the top right corner)
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