1. Wind-Powered Electricity
Generation
• Is it for the Pontiac?
• Different forms of energy production

2. Activity
• Compare Energy Production techniques
by completing the handout
• Create a wind-powered generator
• Answer the question – Is wind-powered
electric generation good for the Pontiac?
And explain your reasons.

3. Traditional Energy Production
•Fossil Fuels - Oil/Coal/Natural Gas Energy
•Nuclear Energy
•Hydro-electric Energy

4. Coal Power Plant
Ohio River, Ohio
By: Picture_taking_fool
http://www.flickr.com/photos/picture_taking__fool/97440787/

5. South Bay Power Plant San Diego, CA
By: thelatentimage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelatentimage/2775850258/

6. Fossil Fuel Energy
• Source – the ground – oil, natural gas,
coal, oil tar sands
• How used: Heat water to drive turbine.
• Good points:
– Inexpensive
– Job creation
– Filters used
• Bad points
– Creates pollution – air, water, land
– Creates Greenhouse gases, Acid Rain

7. New York City Power Plant
By: futureatlas.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/460375668/

8. John E. Amos Coal Power Plant
West Virginia
By: Wigwam Jones
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wigwam/2631192698/

9. By: brewbooks
Flying over a Nuclear Power Plant
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/538000723/

10. It’s pronounced Nucular
• Source: Uranium in the ground
• Uranium radiation heats water for a steam
turbine to generate electricity.
• Good Points
– We have Uranium
– No gases produced
– Creates lots of energy
• Bad Points
– Waste storage leaks
– Radiation causes cancer

11. Maine Yankee
Nuclear
Power Plant
in Wiscasset
Maine
1972-1997

12. Conowingo Hydroelectric Power Plant
Located on the Susquehanna River in Maryland
By: No_clever_names_left
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael07/750899079/

13. Hydroelectric Energy – energy from rivers
The water flowing in a river has kinetic energy. We can turn this into
electrical energy to use in our homes. We usually need to build a
dam, and let the water flow through it gradually.
+ Renewable – Costs a lot of money to
+ No pollution, because nothing build a dam
gets burned – The dam can ruin the local
+ We can store the water up environment, because it
high, and then whenever we changes where the water
need the energy we can let the naturally flows. Some
water out animals and plants may die.

14. Hydroelectric Power Plant
By: s,B - Michael Brenton-King of The Wachoo Wachoo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallcommabig/2699631008/

15. Alternate Energy
– Geo-Thermal Energy
– Wave Energy
– Tidal Energy
– Solar Energy
– Bio-Mass Energy
– Wind Energy

16. Geothermal
Power Plant
located over
an active
volcanic
ridge in
Iceland.
Hellisheidi Geothermal By: arnitr
Power Plant http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnitr/3
24731289/

17. Geothermal Energy – energy from the Earth
Deep underground, the Earth’s rocks are naturally very hot. We can
turn their heat energy into electrical energy to use in our homes –
we call this ‘geothermal energy’.
1. Cold water is pumped below the ground.
2. Hot rocks heat the water, turning it into
steam.
3. The steam is used to generate electricity.
+ Renewable
+ No pollution, because nothing
gets burned
+ Doesn’t damage the
environment
– Very few places in the world
where you can do this
– Costs a lot of money to drill
deep into the ground

18. Wave Energy – energy from sea waves
The sea’s waves have kinetic energy. Using machines that bob up and
down in the waves, this energy can be turned into electrical energy
which we can use in our homes.
wave energy
machines bobbing
up and down in the
waves
– Need lots of machines to get a
reasonable amount of energy
+ Renewable – The machines costs a lot of
+ No pollution, because money
nothing gets burned – The machines can look ugly
– The machines can be damaged
by storms

19. Tidal Energy – energy from sea tides
If you’ve ever been to the coast, you may have noticed that the sea
level goes up and down, because of tides. When the tide is high, the
water has lots of gravitational potential energy, which we can turn
into electrical energy to use in our homes.
1. At high tide, we trap the water behind a
dam.
2. At low tide, the water is released, and its
energy is used to generate electricity.
+ Renewable
+ No pollution, because nothing
gets burned
+ Reliable, because there are
always two tides every day
+ Cheap to run, once it’s built
– Costs a lot to build the dam
– The dam may cause local
flooding

20. By: Canadian Veggie
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadianveggie/340485324/
Solar Panels along side a home in Canada

21. Solar Energy – energy from the Sun
The Earth gets heat and light energy from the sun all the time. Can
we use it – yes we can! The Sun’s energy can either be:
1. changed into electrical energy to use in homes, using solar cells;
2. or used to heat water for homes, using solar panels.
+ Renewable
+ No pollution, because
nothing gets burned
– Solar cells and solar
panels are expensive
– Only works if it’s sunny!

22. Installing Solar Panels
By: richardmasoner
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/540944183/

23. Biomass Energy – energy from plants
The chemical potential energy stored in things that were once alive
(e.g. trees) can be turned into heat energy by burning them. (We can
also turn it into electrical energy to use in our homes.)
1. Trees absorb the sun’s energy. The trees
change this energy into chemical energy,
which they store inside themselves.
2. When we burn wood, we turn this energy
into heat, which is useful for cooking and
heating.
+ Renewable – as long as we keep
planting trees to replace the ones
we cut down
+ Doesn’t need any special
equipment, so it can be used very
easily, even in poor countries
+ Doesn’t add to the greenhouse
effect
– Large areas of land are needed to
grow enough trees

24. Biomass Sources

25. Wind
Turbines
Mars Hill
Maine
By: Extra Ketchup
http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraketchup/672336669/in/set-
72157600300070348/

26. Wind Energy – energy from the wind
Using wind turbines, we can turn the kinetic energy of the wind into
electrical energy which we can use in our homes. This is ‘wind
energy’.
+ Renewable
+ No pollution, because nothing
gets burned
+ Turbines are quite cheap and
easy to build, so they can be
used even in poor countries
– Turbines can be ugly and noisy
– Only works if it’s quite windy!
If the wind stops, you get no
energy.

27. Wind Power
Mars Hill
Maine
Compare the
size of the
turbines to the
trees.
By: Extra Ketchup
http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraketchup/673194644/

28. Activity
Definitions:
Kinetic Energy – energy due to motion
Potential Energy – energy due to position
Chemical Potential Energy – energy found in
molecular bonds
Nuclear Energy – energy released when mass is
converted to energy
Electric Energy – energy due to motion of electrons
Yeah! Now answer the following questions:
Q. 15-17, 20-23, 27-8, 30-32 on pp. 247-8.