Energy in the United States

Have you ever wondering where your electricity comes from? How your car uses gasoline to run? What about how these things impact our environment or how we are going to keep producing them? As a country, we need to start looking ahead to the future and planning for what is to come. Currently, 86% of America’s energy comes from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. All of these resources will run out eventually. We need renewable energy sources that will keep producing in a clean, more efficient way for a long time. Before committing to an idea and going all the way with it, we need to compare all the different energy sources available to the U.S. and choose the one that is best for everyone.

Electricity is the flow of electrons at high rates of speed. There a two types of electricity, AC and DC. AC, also known as alternating current, is the electricity that is delivered to residential areas. AC is also used in radio and audio currents. AC current is when the flow of electrons occasionally switches directions. DC, or direct current, is the electricity that is used in batteries. Direct current is when an electrical current goes directly to the source. Electricity can be measured in two different units. One is volts. A volt is the amount of pressure the electrons are under when they are moving. The other unit of measurement is amperes, commonly known as amps. An ampere is the number of electrons passing through the wire per second. 1 ampere is equivalent to 1 mole or 6.02 x 1023 electrons per second. Another common term used when referring to electricity is resistance. Resistance is how hard it is to push electrons through a wire, or how much they resist. The negative end of a battery or anything with poles is what provides the ele...

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...ants are usually placed in river or lakes where the flow of water is constant. If the river flows downhill, and the plant is located at the bottom of the hill, the water pressure is that much greater, producing more energy. Hydropower plants can be utilized anywhere there is a reservoir or river large enough to fund a power plant. They are funding by low, ongoing costs that can be added into county taxes. However, if there was ever to be a severe drought where rivers and lakes dried up, the hydropower plant would be useless. Another concern is harm to aquatic life. The current from the dam can make it hard for fish to swim upstream to spawn. This would mean that fish ladders would need to be installed in highly populated areas of fish. Also, even though hydropower plants are low cost once they are built, like any power plant, they are expensive and timely to build.