Examining Your Community’s Source of Energy

It is easy to criticize society for not using renewable resources, but in reality, how difficult would this transition be? What kind processes and procedures would be involved? How would such a transition be made?

The purpose of this assignment is for you to consider what type of energy your neighborhood is currently powered by and what it would really take to convert this source to a renewable one. How much would it take to switch your community to a renewable resource and what would this mean for the environment?

For the assignment, complete the following:

• Identify three primary types of energy that powers your home as well as all of the homes in your community.

  You may find this information on your community Web site or the Web sites of the local power companies. For example, your community may use electricity and solar panels.

• Explain how the sources of energy you identified impact the environment. Consider the following:Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area?Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?
• Considering the current source(s) of power available, determine how much energy your house uses each month. You can find this information on your monthly energy bill.

  Calculate your annual usage for a year. Using this value, estimate the energy consumption for your community. The US Census Bureau is one resource you can use to estimate the number of households in your community.

  You can use the following formulae for this calculation:

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    (monthly energy usage) × (12 months per year) = (household energy usage per year);(yearly energy estimate for your house) × (estimated number of houses in your community) = (estimated yearly energy use for your community)

  The following is example of the above calculation:

  52.8 kilo watts per hour (kwh) × 12 months = 633.6 kwh;633.6KWH × 200 houses in your community = 126,720 kwh

• Recommend a realistic, renewable resource to power your community, using your calculated power needs. Consider the following sources: hydropower, solar power, wind turbines, and geothermal energy.Which source would be the best for your community?Justify your choice based on the kind of resources that are available, how much power these alternative sources can produce, and your estimated energy demands for the community.
• Having recommended an alternative power source, conclude by addressing the following:How realistic is this alternative power source for your community?How will people in your community respond to energy conversion? Will they support it or be against it? Give reasons.How expensive would it be to convert to the alternative power source you recommended? How would this new source impact the environment?What organisms would benefit most from this conversion?

Support your statements with appropriate examples and approximately 4–6 credible resources.

Write an 8–10-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1 .

By Saturday, November 2, 2013, deliver your assignment to the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox.

Grading Criteria and Rubric

Download the rubric and carefully read it to understand the expectations.

Identify three primary types of energy that powers your home as well as all of the homes in your community.36

52

40

40

40

28

64

Assignment 1 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Explain how your current sources of energy impact the environment, and answer all additional required questions in the assignment.
Determine how much energy your house uses each month and calculate the energy consumption for your entire city.
Recommend a realistic renewable resource to power your city, using your calculated power needs. Justify your response.
Explain how realistic this new resource is for your area, what the expense to convert energy sources would be, and whether you feel that people would support an energy conversion.
Explain how this new energy source would impact the environment and what organisms would benefit most from this conversion.
Writing Components:Organization (16)Usage and Mechanics (16)APA Elements (24)Style (8)
Total:	300

Assignment 1: Writing a 300 Points paper

Examining Your Community’s Source of Energy

The purpose of this assignment
Consider what type of energy your neighborhood is currently powered by
and what it would really take to convert this source to a renewable one.
How much would it take to switch your community to a renewable resource
and what would this mean for the environment?

For the assignment, complete the following:
Identify three primary types of energy that powers your home as well as all of the homes in your community.
You may find this information on your community Web site or the Web sites of the local power companies.
For example, your community may use electricity and solar panels.

Explain how the sources of energy you identified impact the environment. Consider the following:
Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area?
Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?
Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?

How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?

This

is a template to help you develop your ROUGH draft. DO NOT TURN this template in. You will not receive credit for turning this template. Practice by providing your answers in this template then transfer the information to the final draft document (8-10) pages, and upload in the appropriate drop box.

Part 1

Identify three primary types of energy that powers your home as well as all of the homes in your community. Explain how the sources of energy you identified impact the environment. Consider the following:

·

Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area?

· Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?

· Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?

· How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?

· Source 1:

· What the name of this energy source?

· Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area? (explain what kind of negative impact)

· Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?

·
· Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?

·

· How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?

· Source 2

· What the name of this energy source:

·
· Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area? (explain what kind of negative impact)

· Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?

· Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?

· How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?

· Source 3

· What the name of this energy source?
· Does the use of these types of energy resource have a negative impact on the environment in your area? (explain what kind of negative impact)

· Does your community have nuclear waste to dispose of?

· Has your community always used these three power sources? If so, how do you feel this has impacted the environment over time?

· How much of an impact have these sources of energy had on local air and water quality?

Part 2

Considering the current source(s) of power available, determine how much energy your house uses each month. You can find this information on your monthly energy bill.

Calculate your annual usage for a year. Using this value, estimate the energy consumption for your community. The US Census Bureau is one resource you can use to estimate the number of households in your community.

You can use the following formulae for this calculation:

Your Monthly Energy usage

Time 12

Annual Usage

Number of household in your community

Annual Energy usage in your community

5

2.8 Kwh

12 month in a year

633.6 Kwh

200 houses

126720 Kwh

Recommend a realistic, renewable resource to power your community, using your calculated power needs. Consider the following sources: hydropower, solar power, wind turbines, and geothermal energy.

· Which source would be the best for your community?

· Justify your choice based on the kind of resources that are available, how much power these alternative sources can produce, and your estimated energy demands for the community.

Part 3: Conclusion

Having recommended an alternative power source, conclude by addressing the following:

· How realistic is this alternative power source for your community?

· How will people in your community respond to energy conversion? Will they support it or be against it? Give reasons.

· How expensive would it be to convert to the alternative power source you recommended? How would this new source impact the environment?

· What organisms would benefit most from this conversion?

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