Green Electricity 25 Green Technologies That Will Electrify Your Future

Description

Our existing electric utility industry and power supply and delivery systems are woefully outdated. Indeed, the existing power grid we use today uses 100-year-old technology! This book lays out the possible blueprints for a greener future in a way that will engage middle school learners, enabling students and teachers to explore the emerging energy technologies that could become the future of our electrical supply system.In Part 1 of Green Electricity: 25 Green Technologies That Will Electrify Your Future, the author describes the amazing patchwork of 1,300 power plants and over 5 million miles of wire that comprise our national grid and reveals the environmental damages it produces. Part 2 examines the 25 leading ecofriendly contenders to modernize and replace our current grid, describing each proposed technology and how it works. Other relevant information is also provided, such as a qualitative assessment of the pluses, minuses, and limitations of each system, and an assessment of that technologys potential to contribute to our future electrical appetite.ContentsIntroductionUsing This BookNot So Green: The Grid We Have TodayThe Amazing U.S. Electric Grid: Delivering Electricity to Your DoorstepWhat DoesGreen Mean?A Closer Look at Why Our Grid Isn’t GreenGreener Pastures: 25 Electric Technologies of the FutureIntroductionFree Electricity for Everyone!: FusionLet the Sun Sizzle!: Solar Thermal ElectricityBeaming Megawatts: Solar Energy from SpaceUp on the Roof: Solar Photovoltaic EnergyBlowin’ in the Wind: Wind TurbinesGo Fly a Kite!: Wind KitesMighty Minnies: Micro-NukesThe Genie’s Magic Energy Lamp: Fuel CellsBorrowing the Planet’s Energy: Geothermal EnergyRiver Hum: Hydroelectric EnergyA Swim in the Balmy, Briny Sea: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)Catch a Wave, Dude!: Ocean Wave EnergyRollin’, Rollin’ with the Tide: Ocean Tidal EnergyThe Mightiest River: Ocean Current EnergyThe Sweet Smell of Garbage: Municipal Solid WasteTaking the Power Plant to the Farm: Bio Crop WasteGrowing Electricity: Energy CropsA BIG Future for the Smallest Atom: HydrogenNatural Gas: Methane EnergyA Tidy Lump of Coal: Clean Coal TechnologyTeaming Up: Electrical CogenerationSecond Time Around: Energy RecaptureElectricity in a Box: Batteries and Energy StorageMicro-Might: NanotechnologyThe Power Plant That Never Was: Energy ConservationThe Future Grid: The Horse Race to Your Greener Energy FutureIndex