جزییات کتاب
Our existing electric utility industry and power supply and delivery systems are woefully outdated.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