What Raw Materials Go Into Producing Electricity?
Electricity consumed in homes and businesses in the United States is generated from the following sources:
- coal, which produces 44.9 % of all power in the U.S. Along with water, coal was used in the first power plants, and it remains the cheapest known raw material used to produce electricity. Rhode Island has no coal-generated electricity, while Wyoming’s electricity is 94.5% coal-derived.
- natural gas, which accounts for 23.4% of the country’s total power. For an equivalent amount of heat, burning natural gas produces significantly less carbon dioxide than burning coal or petroleum.
- Nuclear power, which produces 20.3% of all power used in the U.S., is a sustainable energy source because it releases no greenhouse gases, although opponents are concerned about security and waste disposal.
- hydroelectric power, which has 6.9% of the nation’s share. Worldwide, hydroelectricity accounts for 20% of all electricity generated, and nearly all power produced by renewables in general. While touted as producing no direct waste and requiring few personnel on site at dams during normal operation, some of the most deadly manmade disasters have been caused by dam failures used for hydroelectric power generation.
- other renewables: 3.6%. Generation of electricity from the sun, wind, and other renewable sources has been constrained by technological limitations and stalled by local politics, although this sector is growing rapidly. Maine receives more than 26% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, while Tennessee receives almost none.
- petroleum produces the least, at 1%. While it meets nearly half of the U.S.’s energy needs, petroleum is rarely used to generate electricity.
Other countries have significantly different electricity source profiles. France, for instance, generates almost all of its electricity using nuclear power.In summary, electricity is produced from a number of different sources, each with its own upsides, and financial and environmental costs.
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