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There are many uses for fuel cells — right now, all of the major automakers are working to commercialize a fuel cell car. Fuel cells are powering buses, boats, trains, planes, scooters, forklifts, even bicycles. There are fuel cell-powered vending machines, vacuum cleaners and highway road signs. Miniature fuel cells for cellular phones, laptop computers and portable electronics are on their way to market. Hospitals, credit card centers, police stations, and banks are all using fuel cells to provide power to their facilities. Wastewater treatment plants and landfills are using fuel cells to convert the methane gas they produce into electricity. Telecommunications companies are installing fuel cells at cell phone, radio and 911 towers. The possibilities are endless.

Stationary

More than 2500 fuel cell systems have been installed all over the world

It was used in the watermills along the shores of England during the Roman age and also used along the shores of France and Spain. This period was around 900 AD. The water rising from the tides was impounded in barrages and it was allowed to flow through waterwheels and other energy capturing devices thus capturing the energy and converting it into useful work used to grind grains and produce flour. The first tidal mill in the US was built in Salem, MA in 1635.

Wind turbine installations impact vast amounts of land, far more than traditional power plants.

Raptors, bats and other beautiful flying creatures continue to be sliced and diced by wind turbines.

Principal health issues are associated with noise – not just annoying audible noise, but inaudible, low-frequency “infrasound” that causes headache, dizziness, “deep nervous fatigue” and symptoms akin to seasickness. “Wind turbine syndrome” also includes irritability, depression, and concentration and sleep problems. Others include “shadow flicker” or “strobe effect” from whirling blades, which can trigger seizures in epileptics, “vibroacoustic” effects on the heart and lungs, and non-lethal harm to animals. Serious lung, heart, cancer and other problems have been documented from rare earth mining, smelting and manufacturing in China, under its less rigorous health, workplace and environmental regulations.

Tidal turbines look like wind turbines. They are arrayed underwater in rows, as in some wind farms. The turbines function best where coastal currents run between 3.6 and 4.9 knots (4 and 5.5 mph). In currents of that speed, a 49.2-foot (15-meter) diameter tidal turbine can generate as much energy as a 197-foot (60-meter) diameter wind turbine. Ideal locations for tidal turbine farms are close to shore in water 65.5–98.5 feet (20–30 meters) deep

A generator is basically an electric motor working in reverse.

It is popular because it is abundant and provides many communities with a clean, local source of electricity

wind power could account for 20 percent of the nation’s electricity supply by 2030

two main problems. First, the wind does not blow all the time, so there must be backup power plants

The conversion technologies from hydrothermal fluids to electricity include flash steam, dry steam, and binary-cycle power plants. Each geothermal electric system is made up of several key components including a: Production well Turbine Generator Injection well. Dry steam power plants are the simplest and oldest design, upon which the two other systems are based. They use a geothermal production well that produces fluid heated by the natural heat of the earth. The steam goes directly to a turbine, which drives a generator that produces electricity. The fluid then goes into an injection well, which is a well that is specifically drilled for the safe disposal of the geothermal fluids.

Emissions generated during the construction phase include exhaust from vehicular traffic and construction equipment, fugitive dust from traffic on paved and unpaved roads, and the release of geothermal fluid vapors (especially hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, mercury, arsenic, and boron, if present in the reservoir). Activities such as site clearing and grading, power plant and pipeline system construction, and transmission line construction would have more intense exhaust-related emissions over a period of 2 to 10 years. Impacts would depend upon the amount, duration, location, and characteristics of the emissions and the meteorological conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction, precipitation, and relative humidity).

Most impacts to ecological resources (vegetation, wildlife, aquatic biota, special status species, and their habitats) would be low to moderate and localized during the construction phase (although impacts due to noise could be high). Activities such as site clearing and grading, road construction, power plant construction, ancillary facility construction, and vehicle traffic have the potential to affect ecological resources by disturbing habitat, increasing erosion and runoff, and creating noise at the project site. Impacts to vegetation include loss of native species and species diversity; increased risk of invasive species; increased risk of topsoil erosion and seed bank depletion; increased risk of fire; and alteration of water and seed dispersal.

Solid and industrial waste would be generated during construction activities. Much of the solid waste would be nonhazardous, consisting of containers and packaging materials, miscellaneous wastes from equipment assembly and presence of construction crews (food wrappers and scraps), and woody vegetation. Industrial wastes would include minor amounts of paints, coatings, and spent solvents. Most of these materials would likely be transported off-site for disposal.

Wave energy is an irregular and oscillating low-frequency energy source that can be converted to a 60-Hertz frequency

Kinetic energy, the energy of motion, in waves is tremendous. An average 4-foot, 10-second wave striking a coast puts out more than 35,000 horsepower per mile of coast.

Because wave energy needs only 1/200 the land area of wind and requires no access roads, infrastructure costs are less;

a fuel cell power plant using natural gas as a hydrogen source would create less than one ounce of pollution (other than CO2) for every 1,000 kW produced, compared to 25 pounds of pollutants generated by conventional combustion systems

Fuel Cells also produce 97% less nitrogen oxide emissions then conventional coal-fired power plants.

"Biofuels" are transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel that are made from biomass materials.

Ethanol and biodiesel are usually more expensive than the fossil fuels that they replace, but they are also cleaner-burning fuels, producing fewer air pollutants.

What Is Ethanol? Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from the sugars found in grains, such as:

Applications These wind turbines near Lamar, Colorado, are part of the 162-MW Colorado Green Wind Farm. Each turbine produces 1.5 megawatts of electricity. Wind turbines can be used as stand-alone applications, or they can be connected to a utility power grid or even combined with a photovoltaic (solar cell) system. For utility-scale (megawatt-sized) sources of wind energy, a large number of wind turbines are usually built close together to form a wind plant. Several electricity providers today use wind plants to supply power to their customers.

Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to generate steam to make electricity. Geothermal heat pumps, which tap into heat close to the Earth's surface to heat water or provide heat for buildings.

At a geothermal power plant, wells are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the Earth to pump steam or hot water to the surface.

hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity, because these are places where the Earth is particularly hot just below the surface.

Generating plant fuelled by biomass uses conventional steam turbine electricity generating plant as used in coal fired power stations with modifications to the combustion chamber and fuel handling systems to handle the bulkier fuel.

Geothermal energy supplies less than 10 % of the world's energy.

Geothermal energy is clean and safe for the surrounding environment.

Geothermal energy is sustainable because hot water can be re-injected into the ground.

All renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal power), and even the energy in fossil fuels, ultimately comes from the sun. The sun radiates 174,423,000,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy to the earth per hour.

The sun radiates 174,423,000,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy to the earth per hour.

If hydrogen extraction is performed using electricity from a coal-driven power plant, it doesn't matter that the fuel cell doesn't pollute because the pollution occurred when the hydrogen was extracted. If hydrogen is to be a true nonpolluting power source, the electricity used to extract the hydrogen will need to be produced by a nonpolluting method such as solar power.

Where does the first phase for biofuel production begin? The sun takes credit for the very first step in this process. The sun helps to grow crops and plants, which are then eventually used to produce biofuel. Biofuel is actually derived from biomass, which can come from gas, solid and liquid states.

These crops that are specifically grown to be used to produce biofuels are referred to as feedstocks. These feedstocks are the raw and unprocessed form that the bio fuel is derived from. Among the more common types of feedstocks and crops that are used for the production of biofuels are corn, sugar crops, and forests. In addition, even some of the byproducts of materials such as those that come from wood can be used in this process. These special byproducts are often converted to the liquid forms of biofuels, which include methanol and ethanol. With the ability to use these byproducts, production methods have gotten a lot less expensive since there is much less waste involved.

In addition, there are also certain natural oils that are also used to help produce this special type of fuel. For example, oil palm, soybean and algae are surprisingly capable of being burned directly in certain types of furnaces and engines and can also be blended with certain types of fuels or petroleum based fuels for a more powerful blended mixture.