i-kan elements - sustainable green building strategies

Green Power - Alternative Energy
Every time we enter a warm building in winter or a cool building in summer, turn on our television or computer, or flip a light switch, resources are being used to create our electricity. Many people don’t even realize how this energy is being produced or the differences between the types of resources being used to meet our country’s electricity needs. Sources of electricity can be placed into two basic categories, most commonly known as renewable energy and non-renewable energy.

Our current power grid in the United States relies predominantly on non-renewable energy as our main source of power. This energy is mainly derived from fossil and nuclear fuels. Over half of the generation comes from coal, with 70.8% of the electricity generated relying on fossil fuels. Another 19.9% relies on nuclear fuel, and hydro accounts for about 7.1%. The remaining 2%, known as Green power, is generated from renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro and biomass. These resources cause dramatically less and often times zero air pollution and minimal environmental impacts.

Non-renewable sources of electricity are the number one cause of industrial air pollution in the United States. The intangible cost of using these fuels are borne by society at large and include risks to human health caused by a number of factors such as: air pollution from burning coal and oil, damage to the land from coal strip mining, water pollution from heat discharge, and environmental damaged caused by global warming, acid rain, smog and water pollution.

The current production of electricity in the United States is responsible for:

• 67% of sulfur dioxide emissions - the major cause of acid rain.
• 28% of nitrogen oxide emissions - a major contributor to smog and a cause of breathing problems.
• 36% of carbon dioxide - the leading greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change.
• 33% of mercury - a metal that accumulates in the food chain and that poses a significant health hazard.
• Fine particulates - airborne dust that causes respiratory problems and may contribute to heart disease.

With such detrimental impacts on society, one would think there would be a better way to supply our environments with an electricity source that does not destroy them. The answer to this question is already known and can be best summarized by the concept of Green power.

Green power is electricity generated using renewable resources that generally have a lighter environmental impact than other energy resources. Renewable energy resources (the sun, wind, water, heat within the earth, and organic plant and waste material that naturally rejuvenate) don't disappear forever when they are used to generate electricity because they are easily replenished by nature. The terms most frequently used for these renewable energy sources are solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass energy.