Professor Quester Answers
Questions on Renewable Power
Dear Dr. Q:
While reading The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, some
third graders in my class observed a side note in a margin. Examples
are given of "Cleaner Ways To Make Electricity" (solar, geothermal,
hydroelectric, wind, tidal, etc.). Listed beside this is a "Bad News"
fact...Copied here..."Right now we can't get all the power we need from
these sources." We want to know WHY. Does it have to do with the Law
of Conservation of Energy and inefficiency? What would we do if the
fossil fuel supply ran out tomorrow?
(Ms. Robinson and her third grade class, Andrew Jackson Elementary School, Old Hickory, TN)
The Professor Answers:
I love the Magic School Bus, don't you? Let's see, about renewable energy.
It's really not a question of can't, it's more a question of won't. There
are several reasons why these renewable resources are not being used to
their full potential. The main reason is money, money, money. Solar, wind,
geothermal and tidal cost more than fossil fuels. It's not the fuel that
costs more since that's almost free. It's the cost to build the equipment
such as the wind turbines or solar panels that cost more.
Natural gas, coal and oil are cheap and in most cases, the power plants
that generate the electricity are already paid for. Most utilities don't
want to invest in the extra costs because the ratepayers (that's us) don't
want to pay more for their electricity or for the products they get that
are made by factories that buy the electricity from the utilities. The more
manufacturers pay for their electricity, the more their products like
computers, or clothes or food costs. How much do you think your parents are
willing to pay for their electricity?
Hydroelectric power (dams) provide a lot of electricity for the U.S.
however you can't dam all the rivers because that causes environmental
problems. Also renewable resources such as wind and geothermal are limited
to certain regions of the U.S. They're not found everywhere and yes, even
though wind does blow everywhere but it's not at the constant speed you
need to make it worthwhile to build wind turbines.
Another reason renewables are not being used as much is because for the last
100 years or so, we've always used fossil fuels...it's what people feel
comfortable with and know about.
People are beginning to realize that it's important to consider
environmental issues when generating electricity. Many states get some of
the electricity from renewables. California, for instance, gets 12 percent
of its electricity from renewable energy (geothermal, solar, wind and
biomass) and if you add in hydroelectric it's over 70 percent. There's also
more rules that make factories and power plants reduce the pollutants that
would be put into the air.
What if we ran out of fossil fuel tomorrow? A disaster... Transportation
would stop, there would be little electricity. You can imagine what a
nightmare it would be. Of course, people lived and worked before there was
electricity and oil to power cars and trucks. We could survive but it
would be a HUGE mess in the meantime. It would, of course, force nations
of the world to develop alternative sources so there would be more solar
and wind. On the other hand, there would be more nuclear power plant too! I
think another important issue to discuss is the air and water problems we
have with the pollutants caused by burning the fossil fuels to make
electricity and run our cars.
I hope this helps.
We have more on renewable vs. non-renewable energy in Chapter 17 of
The Energy Story.
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