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= Alternative Energy Sources = Liam Sax and Elizabeth Specht

Introduction The world's main sources of energy are fossils fuels such as coal and crude oil, fossil fuels are limited and non renewable resources. Coal and crude oil are burned to create energy and the burning of coal and crude oil are very harmful to the environment because they're toxic. The toxic gas from the burning of crude oil and coal is depleting our ozone layer in the atmosphere. As a result of the ozone layer's depletion the earth's temperature is rising, and as the temperature rises the polar ice caps melt. The polar ice caps anchor the tectonic plates and as they move more natural disasters occur much more often. Now there are more hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. The world needs clean, renewable energy sources and here they are.



History In the twelfth century wind energy was used by windmills. The windmills were used to pump water, grind corn, power sawmills and electric generators. Water was used even back in Roman times to power mills, using the tide to power their mills. In the 1700's water was used to power mills. The mills were used to manufacture textiles, grind corn, and wheat. Solar power was used for heat as soon as humans started to build habitations. Houses were placed for as much sun exposure in the winter to keep the house warm. Next came glass which traps in the heat of the sun. In the Victorian era in England rooms made entirely of glass and fixed to the south side of the houses, circulating the warm air through the entire house.

Wind power Wind power is used by wind turbines that are land or sea based wind farms. The wind spins a large metal blade which in turn powers an electric generator producing electricity. Sea based wind turbines are more effective than land based turbines, because they can be placed closer together and the wind is more powerful over water. There are two types of wind turbines; a horizontal shaft and a vertical shaft. The horizontal shaft wind turbines look like airplane motors and their propellers, the vertical shaft wind turbines look like upside down egg beaters or electric mixers. A normal wind turbine can harness 70% of wind in its system for electricity.

Hydropower Hydropower is mostly used in dams because dams block a river to create a reservoir. There is a lot of pressure at the base of the dam because of all of the water. When some of the water from the bottom of the dam is diverted inside the dam to drive turbines that power electric generators, electricity is produced. There are many hydropowered dams all around the world. One of the most famous is the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona. There are 17 electric generators inside of the dam a lot of the electricity produced goes to Los Angeles or to Arizona. There are also tidal generators that use the movement of the tides and their kinetic energy to produce electricity.

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Solar Power Solar panels work because all cells have electrons spinning around them. There is a certain amount of molecules that spin around the nucleus and there are many tacks that the electrons spin in. The cells that are used in solar panels don't have all of the electrons they need in the outer track of moving electrons. The sun's heat make the electrons spin together with each others electrons and they create electricity. There are places in the desert where there are square miles of solar panels that rotate with the movement of the sun. There is a different form of solar power that is being used in Seville, Spain. The are 600 mirrors that are aimed at a receiver on the top of a tower, the focused solar rays heat water. The water evaporates and the steam in turn spins turbines to create electricity. This powers 6,000 homes!

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How they are used Australia has one of the best alternative energy sources. They are able to retrieve energy from the ground to make anything that requires energy. Many other countries such as China and Asia have been using solar power and other alternative energy's for years. They are making new and more useful design by the minute. Some people believe that these countries are the founders of this new way of living.

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