Carbon Blueprints - Power Plants

WHAT ARE POWER PLANTS DOING TO THE ENVIRONMENT?:
Power plants produce just under 40% of the United States carbon emissions. The citizens of the United States, Developed Countries, as we the Developing Countries are becoming more and more dependent on energy in their lives. They feel the comfort that comes from it, buy more electronics and use more energy. Is this wrong, no, it is there right if they want to pay for it. But at the same time, the generation of electricity has to meet the demand and so more energy is produced and more carbon emissions are emitted. The U.S. alone will need 145 gigawatts of new electricity by 2030, which will be produced from coal buring plants. This much energy would also produce 790 million metric tons of CO2 emission per year, that would double our output of CO2 from what it is today.

How do we change this, we build alternative power generation. Solar, Wind, and Hydro, besides going bankrupt putting in enough to supply the energy needed, will not support the need of electricity that the world has become so reliant.

Another alternative fuel that most want to push to the back of their minds or never think of as an option is, Nuclear. This is a safe, as safe as Fossil Fuels, energy alternative. All around the world, including France, Italy, Great Britian, and other European countries, Nuclear power plants have been continuously built. Even the founder of Green Peace, Patric Moore agrees that Nuclear is the cleanest and best option on the table and that, "there isn't enough potential for wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal or other renewable energy sources." Nuclear power plants do not produce Carbon Dioxide, they do not add to man-made Global Warming. It is a little more expensive than coal but with all of the environmental laws coming up in Washington, this is the only other viable option.

There is also a fear of Nuclear Waste, the environmental problems that may be created from it. France has come up with a safe and relaible way of reprocessing and/or storage of this waste. Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan all ship their Nuclear Waste and spent Nuclear Fuel to France and they have been reprocessing and storing this material for 30 years. This same process was to be used in Nevada at Yucca Mountain but many are worried about the environmental problems that may occur, which the United States has tried to address.

With the worry of Global Warming, they only viable option at this time would need to be used. Even clean coal is not completely clean and is not enough to lower our carbon emissions. There is a way to change it, we as citizens of our own countries need to take the initiative and vote Alternative Energy.