Energy Decisions: Is Solar Power the Solution?

摘要

People around the world are concerned about affordable energy. It is needed to power the global economy. Petroleum-based transportation and coal-fired power plants are economic prime movers fueling the global economy, but coal and gasoline are also the leading sources of air pollution. Both of these sources produce greenhouse gases and toxins. Worry over the environment and the health of humans is growing. The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Atmospheric Programs (2010) calculated that, in 2004, coal-fired electrical power plants in the United States dumped 1,943.1 megatons (MT) of carbon dioxide (CO_2) into the atmosphere. CO_2 is the most prevalent greenhouse gas and is believed to be responsible for most of the effects of greenhouse-gas-related warming. Coal accounts for almost all of the air pollution associated with electrical generation (Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, 1998). Gasoline for vehicles was the source of 1,228 MT of CO_2, and that is only calculating what was dumped by the United States.