Sustainability Energy Resource Project
You will create a poster that communicates the state of the art technology, current USA capacity, potential USA capacity, and cost for a sustainable energy resource. You should also include a short paragraph about any controversy surrounding the resource (or its use) and a table of pros and cons. Your poster will be created using a Powerpoint template and all images and text should be of an appropriate size for printing on the large format printer (more details to follow).
State of the Art: Identify and cite two different ways in which your energy resource is currently being used for power. Describe each in detail and provide an image. You should have detailed numbers (location of plant, power generated, date installed, cost, etc.) Ideally, these will be of different scale (like a heat pump and a geothermal power plant), but this may not be possible (there aren’t many different scales for tidal energy).
Current USA Capacity: Find and cite (from two sources) an estimate of the current capacity using these technologies in the USA. Make these as current as possible (post 2009).
Potential USA Capacity: Find and cite an estimate of the total potential capacity of this resource in the USA. You should include numbers about land use, material use, and cost to exploit the total capacity. An image of the USA with the location of these power resources would be great.
Cost: Your cost should be calculated from estimates (again, cite) so that you have a total cost per MWh. This is a cost for energy, not power, so you will likely need to convert.
Pro-Con Table: Similar to a conclusion, lay out the arguments for and against this particular technology. Can it help us reach a sustainable energy plan?
Your “Sustainability Without the Hot Air” text will be a great starting place for your research, but you will need to study the resources in the United States. Some resources will be presented in class and others will be found by you.