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Ethanol yields 25% more energy than the energy invested in its production, whereas biodiesel yields 93% more. Compared with ethanol, biodiesel releases just 1.0%, 8.3%, and 13% of the agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticide pollutants, respectively, per net energy gain. Relative to the fossil fuels they displace, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 12% by the production and combustion of ethanol and 41% by biodiesel. Biodiesel also releases less air pollutants per net energy gain than ethanol.

Through the use of hydrogen together with fuel cell technology it is possible to achieve a radical decrease in local pollution of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particles from the transportation sector. Although the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels affects the environment it is an advantage that the carbon dioxide emissions can be separated already on the production site. This becomes evident when hydrogen is used as vehicle fuel, avoiding pollution from every individual vehicle.The only emission from a fuel cell reacting with hydrogen is pure water. The environmental gains are high, provided that pollution in the hydrogen production process is kept low. A fuel cell is approximately twice as energy efficient as a combustion engine if used in a regular car. The effect is that, using the same amount of energy, a fuel cell car can drive twice as far as a car with a combustion engine can.

Producing Hydrogen for Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Generating Electricity

global potential is enormous: over 400 billion liters annually, well more than double the amount of diesel the US burns every year.

the world’s fastest growing renewable energy source for more than a decade with an average annual growth rate of over 20%.

increasing generating capacity by 50%. With more than 25,170 MW of wind energy

ind energy in the United States could provide as much as 10,777 billion kWh annually

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.

The major challenge to using wind as a source of power is that it is intermittent and does not always blow when electricity is needed. Wind cannot be stored (although wind-generated electricity can be stored, if batteries are used), and not all winds can be harnessed to meet the timing of electricity demands. Further, good wind sites are often located in remote locations far from areas of electric power demand (such as cities).

Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to fossil fuel power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) impacts, and birds and bats having been killed (avian/bat mortality) by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

A Renewable Non-Polluting Resource Wind energy is a free, renewable resource, so no matter how much is used today, there will still be the same supply in the future. Wind energy is also a source of clean, non-polluting, electricity. Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in 1990, California's wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants that would have otherwise been produced. It would take a forest of 90 million to 175 million trees to provide the same air quality.

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.

Fuel Cell Principle A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy converter. It converts chemical energy into electrical energy by two separated electrochemical reactions. In a hydrogen-fuelled polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), hydrogen is oxidised to protons and electrons at the anode. Protons migrate through the membrane electrolyte to the cathode. As the membrane is an electric insulator, electrons are forced to flow in an external electric circuit. At the cathode, oxygen reacts with protons to produce water, which is the only waste product

"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:

In scientific terms, wind energy is the "force" of winds blowing across the earth’s surface ("Wind Energy"). Wind is caused by uneven heating on the earth’s surface. The equator region receives more heat than say, Antarctica.

That heat tries to move from hotter to colder regions. Wind energy was first harvested centuries ago, when early windmills were used to power millstones, pumps, and forges

The amount of kinetic energy within Earth's atmosphere is equal to about 10,000 trillion kilowatt-hours.

Solar Cells or photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. When energy from the sun comes in contact with the cell, electrons in the two different semiconductors absorb the energy and use it to move around, creating an electrical current.

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.

Geothermal Energy produces no pollution. There are virtually no greenhouse gases given off. There is no pollution.

What is geothermal energy? Simply put, it is energy from the Earth. Geo refers to the solid part of the Earth and thermal refers to heat energy. Anywhere the Earth's surface is in close proximity to magma or volcanic activity under or near the Earth's surface, we can harness the energy.

The advantage of AC for distributing power over a distance is due to the ease of changing voltages using a transformer. Available power is the product of current × voltage at the load. For a given amount of powe

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.