Technology - energy types

Fossil fuels are natural resources e.g. Coal, gas and oil.

Fossil fuels can be burnt to provide energy.

Power stations burn fossil fuels to make heat. This heats the water to create steam, which drives a turbine. This turns a generator, generating electricity. 

For:

• Meet the current demand
• running costs of power plants are low - cost effective way to produce energy

Against:

• They're finite - they are limited and will run out
• extraction of fossil fuels has social and enviromental impacts
• releases greenhouse gases

work in a similar way to fossil fuel power stations, the only difference is that a process called nuclear fission creates the heat to turn the turbines. 

For:

• reliable
• cheap
• clean - produces low levels of greenhouse gases

Against:

• uses finite fuel sources
• expensive to build, maintain and decommision
• waste products are dangerous
• carries the risk of a major catastophy

non-finite resouces will never run out

• WIND - involes putting turbines in exposed areas  where they can take advantage of the wind. Each turbine has a generator inside it- the rotating blades turn the generator and produce electricity.
• SOLAR - generates electric current direcly from sunlight
• TIDAL - big dams with built in turbines. The flow of the tide turns the turbines and generates electricty
• HYDROELECTRIC - the use of a dam to flood a valley. The water trapped in the top valley is allowed to enter teh lower valley through a turnbines connected to generators.
• BIOMASS - Burning waste wood or crop material to turn water into steam, which turns the turbines

For:

• Smaller enviromental impact
• after the intial set up cost, the energy is free

Against:

• expensive to set up
• unreliable
• eye-saw

most of our electricty we use is produced by fossil fuels etc. Recently, there has been a move towards using renewable energy resources. This move has been triggered by ...

• we now know that non-renewable resources are running out and damaging the enviroment.
• pressure from other countries and the public.