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Wind power is generated by moving air. As the sun heats the land, the air above also warms and rises. Cold air then replaces the rising air. This creates the winds that we feel most days of the year.

If you visit the seaside or coastal area you will probably find that the weather is more breezy or windy than inland. This is because the warm air rises over the land and cold air over the sea replaces it.

Current estimates for an entire system, including fuel and air supply, insulation, fuel cells stack, reformer and desulfurizer, piping, labor, depreciation, system control and power electronics is as high as $4000 per kW [20].

12.48 billion gal of ethanol

The 2004 US corn crop totaled about 11.7 billion bushels,

The entire 2004 US corn and soybean crop, converted to biomass fuels, could replace about 10.41 billion gal of petroleum (7.6 billion as ethanol and 2.81 billion as biodiesel).

Producing Hydrogen for Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Generating Electricity

Wind turbines are responsible for the deaths of between 10,000 and 40,000 birds each year, according to the American Bird Conservancy.

the Altamont Pass site kills the largest number of birds - about 4,700 each year

The American Wind Energy Association contends wind turbines are far less lethal to birds than other man-made structures, such as windows (responsible for more than 100 million deaths each year in the U.S.) and power lines (between 130 million and 174 million), or than cats, which remain the number one bird killer.

Hydrogen Hydrogen can be produced domestically through electrolysis (the process of splitting the hydrogen and oxygen particles apart in a water molecule). When used in automobiles, a hydrogen-powered car will emit only water vapor from its tailpipe. Hydrogen vehicles use fuel cells as their source of power, and currently this technology is too expensive for most consumers. If the costs of fuel cell technology and hydrogen production can decrease, hydrogen may become one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable sources of energy available.

Biofuels in the solid form has been in use ever since man discovered fire.

Wood was the first form of biofuel that was used even by the ancient people for cooking and heating

This form of fuel was discovered even before the discovery of the fossil fuels, but with the exploration of the fossil fuel like gas, coal, and oil the production and use of biofuel suffered a severe impact.

The NOISE and the strobe-like light effect that blades generate while they spin in daylight make a lot of people sick.

increase depression and may cause a serious health risk for people suffering from anxiety and epileptic seizures.

Appliances like television sets can also be powered by portable fuel cells. This is a 100-Watt portable Ballard® fuel cell demonstration unit powering a television and VCR combo

Honda Motor Company's hydrogen-fueled FCX fuel cell vehicle is now in the hands of customers. The FCX, powered by Ballard's latest generation Mark 902 fuel cell, seats four, has a range of 170 miles (270km) and can reach speeds of 93 mph (150km/h). Having made its commercial debut in December 2002, Honda is leasing five FCX vehicles to the City of Los Angeles and will market others by lease arrangement to customers in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Over the next two to three years, Honda plans to lease about 30 FCX cars in Japan and California.

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According to the American Wind Energy Association, the total U.S. production of wind power is around 25 gigawatts

The fuel cell is being considered as an eventual replacement for the internal combustion engine for cars, trucks and buses. Major car manufacturers have teamed up with fuel cell research centers or are doing their own development. There are plans for mass-producing cars running on fuel cells. Because of the low operating cost of the combustion engine, and some unresolved technical challenges of the fuel cell, however, experts predict that a large scale implementation of the fuel cell to power cars will not occur before 2015, or even 2020.

Most fuel cells are still handmade and are used for experimental purposes. Fuel cell promoters remind the public that the cost will come down once the cells are mass-produced and lower cost material are found. While an internal combustion engine requires an investment of $35 to $50 to produce one kilowatt (kW) of power, the equivalent cost in a fuel cells is still a whopping $3,000 to $7,500. The goal is a fuel cell that would cost equal or less than diesel engines.

Coal generates 2,249 pounds of carbon dioxide, 13 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 6 pounds of nitrogen oxides for every megawatt hour of energy generated.

Biomass produces nitrogen oxides and small amounts of sulfur dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide produced does not exceed that of the Earth's normal carbon cycle and is considered negligible.

The coal powder mixes with hot air, which helps the coal burn more efficiently, and the mixture moves to the furnace. The burning coal heats water in a boiler, creating steam. Steam released from the boiler powers an engine called a turbine, transforming heat energy from burning coal into mechanical energy that spins the turbine engine. The spinning turbine is used to power a generator, a machine that turns mechanical energy into electric energy. This happens when magnets inside a copper coil in the generator spin.

Electricity-generating plants send out electricity using a transformer, which increases the voltage of the electricity based on the amount required and the distance it must travel. Voltages are often as high as 500,000 volts at this point.  Electricity flows along transmission lines to substation transformers. These transformers reduce the voltage for use in the local areas to be served.  From the substation transformers, electricity travels along distribution lines, which can be either above or below the ground, to cities and towns. Transformers once again reduce the voltage—this time to about 120 to 140 volts—for safe use inside homes and businesses. The delivery process is instantaneous. By the time you have flipped a switch to turn on a light, electricity has been delivered.

3. You cannot transport geothermal energy. I used to live in the coal region of Pennsylvania. For years coal trucks used to drive by our front door hauling Anthracite coal to home and industries.

4. There may be geothermal gases. Geothermal steam and hot water do contain naturally occurring traces of hydrogen sulfide (a gas that smells like rotten eggs) and other gases and chemicals that can be harmful in high concentrations.

Challenges Wind power must compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis. Depending on how energetic a wind site is, the wind farm may or may not be cost competitive. Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil-fueled generators. Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city. Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to other conventional power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) impacts, and sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls.

In situations where connection to the electricity grid is difficult, costly, or impossible (such as island communities, areas not served by a power grid, illuminated roadside signs, and ocean-going vessels) harvesting solar power is often an economically competitive alternative to energy from traditional source

Intermittency: It is not available at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover, decreasing the reliability of peak output performance or requiring a means of energy storage.

Big cities need large amounts of electricity to function. Often, this is transported from generating sites located in remote areas hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. The question is how to move as much electricity as possible from renewable generation sites like hydro plants and wind parks without impairing the function of the power networks that need it.

One of the challenges of renewable power generation like wind and solar power is that it can be interrupted, and this variability affects the stability of the power produced

The "smart grid" will create a power network that is more reliable, flexible, secure and efficient

Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), also sometimes called engineered geothermal systems, offer great potential for more than 100 GW of geothermal power which 40 times more than present geothermal power.

ultimately geothermal global resources amount to 50,000 times the energy of all oil and gas resources in the world.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) – Often categorized under the antiquated term‘Hot Dry Rock,’ EGS is thought by several experts to refer to any resource that requires artificial stimulation. This includes resources that have to be fully engineered, or ones that produce hydrothermal fluid, but sub-commercially. Regarding the latter, one expert states that, ‘As we go further, there might be projects that require more and more stimulation.’ Although EGS technology is still young and many aspects remain unproven, several projects are currently underway. If EGS technology proves commercially successful, it is expected to allow significantly increased extension of and production from existing fields, as well as utilization of geothermal energy in previously implausible locations.

Over 19,000 MW of non-residential PV project applications have been approved under its FiT scheme as of the end of May.

Over 19,000 MW of non-residential PV project applications have been approved under its FiT scheme as of the end of May.

With a 2013 forecast of 8.5 GW and 7 GW respectively, China and Japan are on pace to be the top installers this year. PV installations in the United States continue to grow and are forecasted to reach approximately 4.5 GW in 2013. Other major markets forecasted in 2013 are Germany at 4 GW, Italy at 2 GW, UK at 1.5 GW and India at 1 GW.

Organic matter is one such source. Materials like corn and soybeans have oil extracts that can be converted to ethanol or biodiesel

more sustainable than petroleum, meaning they can be regrown and remain productive with less negative impact on our ecosystem.

Some biofuels that provide more long-term benefits may prove too expensive to pursue