qmstech2

Advantages Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel. Produces no waste or greenhouse gases. The land beneath can usually still be used for farming

Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive.

Can be noisy. Wind generators have a reputation for making a constant, low, "swooshing" noise day and night, which can drive you nuts.

Wind power is renewable. Winds will keep on blowing, it makes sense to use them.

Advantages   Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Once you've built a geothermal power station, the energy is almost free. It may need a little energy to run a pump, but this can be taken from the energy being generated.

The big problem is that there are not many places where you can build a geothermal power station. You need hot rocks of a suitable type, at a depth where we can drill down to them. The type of rock above is also important, it must be of a type that we can easily drill through.

Hazardous gases and minerals may come up from underground, and can be difficult to safely dispose of.

Is it renewable? Geothermal energy is renewable. The energy keeps on coming, as long as we don't pump too much cold water down and cool the rocks too much

U.S. Geothermal Is Mostly in the West Most of the geothermal reservoirs in the United States are located in the western States and Hawaii.

Electricity generation power plants require water or steam at very high temperature (300° to 700°F). Geothermal power plants are generally built where geothermal reservoirs are located within a mile or two of the surface.

The United States Is the Leader in Geothermal Power Generation The United States leads the world in electricity generation with geothermal power.  In 2009, U.S. geothermal power plants produced 15 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), or 0.4% of total U.S. electricity generation.  In 2009, five States had geothermal power plants:

Geothermal power plants use hydrothermal resources that have two common ingredients: water (hydro) and heat (thermal). Geothermal plants require high temperature (300°F to 700°F) hydrothermal resources that may come from either dry steam wells or hot water wells.

Geothermal Power Plants Have Low Emission Levels Geothermal power plants do not burn fuel to generate electricity, so their emission levels are very low. They release less than 1% of the carbon dioxide emissions of a fossil fuel plant. Geothermal plants use scrubber systems to clean the air of hydrogen sulfide that is naturally found in the steam and hot water. Geothermal plants emit 97% less acid rain-causing sulfur compounds than are emitted by fossil fuel plants. After the steam and water from a geothermal reservoir have been used, they are injected back into the Earth.

Compared to petroleum diesel, biodiesel combustion produces less sulfur oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and unburned and other hydrocarbons, but more nitrogen oxide.

Biofuels may be considered to be carbon-neutral because the plants that are used to make biofuels (such as corn and sugarcane for ethanol, and soy beans and palm oil trees for biodiesel) absorb CO2 as they grow and may offset the CO2 produced when biofuels are made and burned.

Growing plants for biofuels is controversial however, as the land, fertilizers, and energy used to grow biofuel crops could be used to grow food crops instead. Also, in some parts of the world, large areas of natural vegetation and forests have been cut down to grow sugar cane for ethanol and soybeans and palm-oil trees to make biodiesel.

Biomass — Renewable Energy from Plants and Animals Source: The National Energy Education Project (Public Domain) Source: The National Energy Education Project (Public Domain) Biomass is organic material made from plants

Biomass fuels provided about 4% of the energy used in the United States in 2010. Of this, about 46% was from wood and wood-derived biomass, 43% from biofuels (mainly ethanol),

Disadvantages

Very expensive to build solar power stations, although the cost is coming down as technology improves. In the meantime, solar cells cost a great deal compared to the amount of electricity they'll produce in their lifetime.

Is it renewable? Solar power is renewable. The Sun will keep on shining anyway, so it makes sense to use it.

[hide]General wind classifications Tropical cyclone classifications (all winds are 10-minute averages) Beaufort scale[17] 10-minute sustained winds (knots) General term[20] N Indian Ocean IMD SW Indian Ocean MF Australian region South Pacific BoM, BMKG, FMS, MSNZ NW Pacific JMA NW Pacific JTWC NE Pacific & N Atlantic NHC & CPHC 0 <1 Calm Low Pressure Area Tropical disturbance Tropical low Tropical Depression Tropical depression Tropical depression Tropical depression 1 1–3 Light air 2 4–6 Light breeze 3 7–10 Gentle breeze 4 11–16 Moderate breeze 5 17–21 Fresh breeze Depression 6 22–27 Strong breeze 7 28–29 Moderate gale Deep depression Tropical depression 30–33 8 34–40 Fresh gale Cyclonic storm Moderate tropical storm Tropical cyclone (1) Tropical storm Tropical storm Tropical storm 9 41–47 Strong gale 10 48–55 Whole gale Severe cyclonic storm Severe tropical storm Tropical cyclone (2) Severe tropical storm 11 56–63 Storm 12 64–72 Hurricane Very severe cyclonic storm Tropical cyclone Severe tropical cyclone (3) Typhoon Typhoon Hurricane (1) 13 73–85 Hurricane (2) 14 86–89 Severe tropical cyclone (4) Major hurricane (3) 15 90–99 Intense tropical cyclone 16 100–106 Major hurricane (4) 17 107–114 Severe tropical cyclone (5) 115–119 Very intense tropical cyclone Super typhoon >120 Super cyclonic storm Major hurricane (5)