Idea for my school project on alternative energy?

Question

I need to come up with a plan using alternative energy to reduce the emission of CO2, NO and SO2. Anyone have any ideas? Solar, geothermal, biomass, and wind are some ideas.... Thanks!

Answer 1

Could you organize parents at your school and/or local homeowners to pool their resources and place solar panels on your school roof. I have not seen this done yet but I really think it would be one way to get solar started and not cost so much for any one person. It would take coordinating with your local utility. If they could work out a "net metering" so that everyone who invested would get a reduction on their own electric bill. Nobody would need to spend tens of thousands of dollars but everyone who invested would see a return based on their investment.

Answer 2

I would lean toward solar energy, because there are so many uses for it.  

It's clean and cheap (or free) and in some places, if you produce more solar power than you need, you can sell the excess back to the power company!

Passive solar heating

Solar panels (photovoltaic) - "Active" solar heating

Solar Hot Water Heaters

Solar cookers

Solar lighting

The solar idea is already gaining popularity in 3rd world countries where people cannot access electricity the "standard" way.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

If this is a small scale demonstration, you could make a small water turbine that rotates due to water flowing through it. Not only would this be efficient but also easy to replicate with a water hose setup in a plastic box. A small plastic turbine wouldn't be hard to make, just buy some thick plastic sheeting and some plastic epoxy. Glue pieces to get in a way that the turbine "catches" the water, the turbine would be pushed and energy is made!

If this is a large scale school project that you are actually going to execute, I like the solar panels but they are so expensive. Wind would be cost efficient and would work well if you live in a flat area like Kansas or Oklahoma.

Answer 4

My biggest support is for wind energy. These are my main reasons.

Wind is a clean and cheap form of electricity

Wind is far more efficient per area than solar

Wind turbines aren't as pollutive to manufacture as solar panels

Wind energy is far more consistent than solar, since 1/2 the time you can't get solar energy "night time"

Other than hydro, wind has had the biggest success story so far in alternative energy

Wind energy is already a major source of power in europe

Wind energy farms are far more economical than Solar stations of the same output capacity

So choose wind energy. I propose that wind stations be setup offshore and on mountains, where winds are the most consistent.