Alternative Energy Proposal

Electricity is a necessity in this day and age. It powers pretty much everything from lights to entertainment devices to workstations and even some of our vehicles. The majority of the electricity we use is generated from coal, oil, and natural gas. A full 83% of electricity generated is produced from these hydrocarbons in North America (Hughes, 2010). With hydrocarbons being a non-renewable energy source, creating a more robust energy generation grid will ease the effect of rising oil, gas, and coal prices when their supply starts to run low. Drastically increasing the number of nuclear plants for state-wide power distribution will go a long way in reducing the need for hydrocarbons. Supplementing the nuclear facilities will be renewable energy sources along with minor conventional power plants.
Nuclear power plants will become the primary source of electricity generation. Conventional power plants and renewable energy sources will supplement the nuclear facilities and be back-ups, in case the nuclear facility needs to be shut down for any reason, such as a natural disaster. The nuclear plants will mimic the Palo Verde nuclear facility in Arizona. The Palo Verde nuclear facility contains three nuclear reactors, each capable of producing 1249 net electrical megawatts per day (U.S. Nulcear Energy Foundation, 2005). The facility covers about 4000 square acres, employs approximately 2500 people, and produces zero harmful emissions (U.S. Nulcear Energy Foundation, 2005). This nuclear facility generated 30.4 million megawatts of power in 2000 and supplies electricity to 4 million people across four states (U.S. Nulcear Energy Foundation, 2005). If 70 of these stations were constructed throughout the United States, they w...

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