Alternative and Renewable Energy – How Our Production and Consumption can be

changed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil

• Wind Power
o Advantages
 Low Maintenance Costs
 Unlimited Potential Power  Means “Renewable”
o Disadvantages
 High Initial Costs
 In rural areas where there is large amount of wind, no power cable
there
• People seem hesitant to give right of way to power
companies
 Some consider the turbines ‘eyesores’
o Mid-America Energy
 Largest Percentage in nation – 25% of power is wind – verify
• Solar Power
o Advantages
 Getting cheaper – price has dropped drastically in the last few
years
 Can be installed on roofs, etc. inconspicuously
 Unlimited Potential Power  Means “Renewable”
o Disadvantages
 Takes large area of solar arrays to make usable power
o Cheap solar panels – Pop. Mechanics article
o Paint-on solar panels – find info
• Steam Power
o Nuclear
 Not really ‘renewable’ – only so much uranium in world
 People are scared of nuclear, don’t want to live near them
• Chernobyl and 3-Mile Island
o How many built in US since 3-Mile?
 No one wants nuclear disposal facility near home
o Steam from mirrors
 Pop Mech or Pop Sci article – Megapixels – find in last year
 Just needs water – completely renewable
 Would need to be near extremely large body of water
• Green Algae
o Pop Mech or Pop Sci feature – green? Car at gas pump on cover – get
article