NATURAL SCIENCE LUNES 30/03/2020

Hello folks!

Today we are going to study energy sources.



RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
Renewable means that these sources are unlimited. Sunlight, wind, water and geotermal are also clean. Biomass is not clean but it is CO2 neutral.

SOLAR ENERGY
There are two types:
PHOTOVOLTAIC and THERMAL.

PHOTOVOLTAIC turns the sun radiation into electricity using solar panels.

It is coupled with batteries that store the energy so it is not lost when there is no demand.

THERMAL turns the sun radiation into heat using pipes circuits.

It is used to provide hot sanitary water.

 

WIND ENERGY 

Wind energy uses the wind power to generate electricity. Turbines have to be placed in locations where wind blows as continually as possible (not a lot of wind, a lot of wind time). It can be dangerous for birds as they can hit the turbine blade.

WATER ENERGY

There are two types, HYDROELECTRIC and TIDAL.

HYDROELECTRIC uses water falling to generate electricity. Water is usually stored in a reservoir contained by a man-made dam.

 

The trash rack prevents that objects enter and break the turbine or fish are sucked in and die. 

The main problem with hydroelectric is that we have to build reservoirs somewhere, and those places go under the water: this means loss of habitat for fauna and flora.

TIDAL uses the movement of water during the sea tides to generate electricity. 

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY 

Geothermal uses the heat from volcanic activity to generate electricity. It is limited to places where such activity is close to the surface, like Iceland.

BIOMASS
It is not clean because it burns organic waste. But that organic waste comes from plants that captured CO2 so it is CO2 neutral.

Competition for arable lands required for food and fiber production is the major issue concerning biomass production. Soil disturbance, nutrient depletion and impaired water quality are also potential environmental effects from biomass feedstock production and utilization of agricultural and forest residues for energy. Solar and wind are better options.



Now on to the practice!

(1) Make a diagram of renewable energy sources. 

Something like this one below but related to what we studied.

Send them to the email, we will check them.