Large Scale Sources of Electrical Energy

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Large Scale Sources of Electrical Energy

• Lesson 4

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• Around 89 of all of the energy resources used in
  Canada are non-renewable.
• If focusing on electricity generation alone. 59 -
  69 of electricity in Canada is from
  Hydroelectric, the rest is from the combustion of
  gases or nuclear power plants and only 1.3 is
  from renewable energies

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Generators

• A generator is a machine that turns mechanical
  energy into electrical energy
• It needs energy to turn wire coils in the
  magnetic field of the permanent magnets.

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Non-renewable Resources
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Fossil Fuel generating stations

• Fossil fuel generating stations can use three
  main types of fuel Oil, coal and natural gas.
  The gas is burned, and the chemical energy
  released is used to heat water and produce steam
  (1).
• The high pressure steam is then used to turn a
  set of fanlike wheels called turbines (2).

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Fossil Fuel generating stations

• As the turbine wheels spin, they turn an
  electromagnetic generator (3) that finally
  produces electrical energy.
• This electrical energy is then converted in a
  transformer (4) to the correct voltage before it
  is sent to peoples homes.

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1. the fuel is burned to boil water to make steam
2. the steam makes a turbine spin
3. the spinning turbine turns a generator which
   produces electricity
4. the electricity goes to the transformers to
   produce the correct voltage

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• Of the total electricity generation in Canada,
  approximately 17 (107 million megawatt hours)
  can be attributed to the combustion of coal and
  oil.
• Steam electric plants (boilers), combustion
  turbines, and internal combustion engines
  currently provide a generating capacity of 36,300
  megawatts.
• Coal-fired boilers account for 73 of this
  capacity. Natural gas uses the same technique but
  is much cleaner and produces 5 of Canadas
  energy, but its supply is limited.

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• Coal and oil-fired facilities account for the
  majority of air emissions from the electric power
  sector.

Emissions Emissions Environmental issues due to pollutants
-Carbon dioxide -Toxic metals - Acid Rain
-Sulphur dioxide -mercury - Smog
-Particulate matter - Nitrous oxides - toxic substances -Climate change
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Nuclear Generating Stations

• Of the total electricity generated in Canada,
  approximately 15 (72 million megawatt hours) is
  nuclear energy. Current nuclear generating
  capacity is about 10,301 megawatts.
• The process of nuclear generation is very similar
  to that of fossil fuels. The basic difference is
  that instead of chemical energy of fuel to heat
  water, the energy used is from nuclear reactions.
  Nuclear reactions occur when uranium atoms are
  split by bombarding the atoms with neutrons.

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Nuclear Generating Stations

• The reaction is called nuclear fission and it
  creates enormous amounts of heat which is used to
  heat water that is converted into steam which
  powers turbines. The turbines then turn a
  generator which produces the electricity

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Nuclear Generating Stations
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Nuclear Generating Stations

• The use of nuclear power plants is controversial.
  Below is a list of pros and cons for the use of
  nuclear power.

Pros Cons
-Low amounts of CO2 production -Available to use now, it does not need to be developed -Large amounts of power from one plant -Radio active waste -Risk of accidents -Limited supply of uranium -takes 20 -30 years to build a plant -Heats up large amounts of water
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Renewable Resources
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Hydroelectric Power

• Of the total electricity generated in Canada,
  approximately 60 (350 terawatt hours) is from
  large-scale hydro power. Current hydro generating
  capacity is approximately 65,000 megawatts.
• A hydro electric power plant uses the energy of
  falling water to turn a turbine. The turbine is
  attached to a generator which sends the power
  generated to a transformer which converts the
  energy to a suitable voltage to be send on the
  power lines.

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Hydroelectric Power
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Hydroelectric Power
Pros Cons
-Renewable -Low emission - Destroys land animal habitat - Destroys fish habitat - Submerged vegetation emits greenhouse gas. - Mercury in rocks is released into the food chain by bacteria on the rotting vegetation.
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Other Renewable Resources (Green Power)

• Sources of green power are wind, solar, tidal,
  geothermal, biogas-fuelled and biomass-fuelled
  power sources. These sources have little or no
  greenhouse gas emissions, and smog, acid-rain or
  toxic pollution are zero.
• While green power currently makes up only a small
  percentage of Canada's electricity, Canada's
  green power resource potential is enormous -
  perhaps sufficient to account for up to half our
  electricity needs, contributing to substantial
  reductions of greenhouse gas and other air
  pollutant emissions compared to conventional
  fossil-fuelled generation. Growth of the industry
  would also provide significant potential for
  innovation, job creation and regional
  diversification.

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Wind Power

• Wind power is created by using windmills. The
  wind turns giant rotors that turn electromagnetic
  generators. These generators then send the power
  to transformers which then convert the voltage to
  a useable amount before it is sent into
  distribution. These can now be seen popping up
  all over Canada.

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Wind Power
Pros -No Pollution Cons Need wind Small amount of energy produced Needs lots of space Kill birds
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Solar Power

• The sun is used to knock elections off atoms. The
  electrons flow then creates a current which must
  be converted into AC by an inverter.

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Solar Power
Pros Cons
-No pollution -Reliable -Need a lot of light -Small amount of electricity -Expensive
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Biomass

• Methane produced from rotting garbage and waste
  is burned. This is then used to heat water and
  use the steam to turn a turbine to create
  electricity.

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Biomass
Pros Cons
-readily available -Simple -lots of energy lost -Pollution
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Geothermal

• With Geothermal, water is pumped down into the
  earth where it is really hot. The water turns
  into steam which then rises to the surface and
  turns a turbine which turns a generator and
  creates electricity.

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Pros No Fuel needed Sustainable Cons Expensive May cool down
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Questions