The Search for Better Energy

Students: Joey Johnson, Rebecca Strimple, Raul Alvarado, Samantha Turner

Our world is involved in an eager and desperate search for alternative fuels. Not only are our fossil fuels running dangerously close to empty, we have also found that the carbon emissions from our current energy sources are devastating the world in which we live. The United States is the world’s largest carbon emitter when we look at he numbers as per capita. This is a disturbing idea, especially when one considers the state of our ozone and the risks that climate change are bound to bring. This being said there are many promising alternative sources of energy that the United States is involved in generating today. Some of these include solar power, wind energy, geothermal energy, ethanol gas, and nuclear power plants.

There are many promising aspects to these alternative sources of energy. Solar power is cheap to operate once constructed and makes no noise. Wind turbines generate energy without the use of fuel, only the wind itself which is, of course, free. Geothermal energy produces energy from holes in the ground so it also does not require fuel to make energy. Ethanol is a good alternative to the gasoline that is quickly being depleted. And lastly, nuclear energy provides the United States with a good deal of energy even though it is expensive.

Each of these alternative energy sources has its downfalls, but one stands out strongest against the rest: nuclear energy. While nuclear energy has more dangerous aspects than the rest, its positive attributes distinguish itself from the rest. Power plants costs millions to build, but we found that within a few years of operation they pay for themselves in the energy they produce. Nuclear power plants produce more energy than all of the others combined which obviously makes it the most promising of our current choices.

Liquid Gold

Students: Emilee Lockridge, Cassey Garza, Michael Huddleston, Josh Azores, Aryel Kelley

Oil has been a growing concern around the world, considering it is one of the major sources for our energy. Everyone in the United States relies on oil in some way or another and typically the average American only thinks about oil in terms of how much is it to fill up their vehicle’s tank. Gas prices have been increasing every year and our consumption of this resource has been steadily increasing as well. The major question we have to ask is how much oil can we extract and when will it run out? Oil is not an unlimited resource and converting oil to energy creates emissions that pollute the environment. Some researchers believe that the increasing amount of oil usage and emission production has been the leading cause of climate change, arguing that the amount of Co^2 produced from oil usage is an extreme risk to our planet’s health.

Originally the main way to extract oil was from ground drilling but now there are new techniques that allow us to extract oil from tar sands where oil exists in locations that were previously to expensive and difficult to extract from. Each barrel of oil extracted produces 200 pounds of sand and an excessive amount of water contaminated with bitumen and cancer causing substances which is released into the environment allowing the water to travel and contaminate the surroundings. This expensive and time consuming method has been very controversial.

Finding a cleaner alternative energy source to replace oil should be the next step in this energy crisis. As well as educating people on alternative energy and the truths about how we are currently extracting oil from various locations. Those are the items to be discussed in our proposal.