Energy Sources: Advantages, Uses and Environmental Problems

How it is obtained

What they are used for

Problems

Coal

Fossil fuel, more important today than in the past

Production of electrical power in thermal power stations, chemical industry, plastic-based materials, disinfectants

- Very polluting

- Runs out

Petroleum

Mixture of a number of substances: fossil fuel

Distilled to produce petrol, kerosene, paraffin, chemical plastics

- Very polluting

- Runs out

- Available in some countries only

Gas

Produces less pollution than coal or petrol

Increasingly used as an energy source

- Runs out

- Causes pollution

- Available in some countries only

- Harmful for humans

- Dangerous

Water power

Available in mountainous areas. Water collected in reservoirs moves turbines to produce electricity

To generate electricity

- When dams are built, the environment is destroyed

Solar energy

Energy from sunlight converted into electric power by means of panels

Electricity

- Panels are expensive

- Very little energy produced by panels

Tidal and wave energy

In plants built to take advantage of the movement of daily tides; this is done in some places

Electricity

- Difficult to control

- Waves may break energy-producing equipment

Wind

Wind energy moves turbines in windmills

To produce electricity

- Needs very large areas

- Noise pollution

Biomass

Biological sources such as vegetable residues from harvests, animals, plants and refuse

Heating and electricity production

- Quite expensive

- Can cause pollution

Nuclear energy

Produced by splitting atomic nuclei through nuclear fission

Heat given off by the fission of nuclei is used to produce electricity

- Produces radioactive contamination of the environment

Geothermal

Heat from rocks deep under the Earth's surface, accessed by drilling into the Earth

Heating water

- Very specific locations required

- If the holes are not correctly drilled, may be harmful