Examining Your Community's Source of Energy (Dallas, Texas) Essay

Examining Your Community's Source of Energy (Dallas, Texas) - Essay Example The energy produced and used in Texas comes from various sources, both renewable and non-renewable. Most of this energy however comes from non-renewable sources. In Dallas, the most common types of energy used to power homes is electricity derived from hydro, electricity derived from nuclear power, and natural gas. Electricity plays a big role in the economy of Dallas as it provides the energy that runs homes, recreational facilities, industries, and businesses. The electricity that is supplied to homes and industries in Dallas comes from Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). On the other hand, the community living in the urban parts of Dallas use natural gas especially for heating, the supply coming from various sources (piped or tanked natural gas). In general, the community has been relying on the three sources of energy for a long period of time. From the bills that we have received, our electric consumption amounts to about 583,333 Btu of natural gas and an average of 4 41 Kwh of electricity per month. This translates to about 7 million Btu of natural gas and about 5300 Kwh of electricity per year. ... (estimated number of houses in the community) Community yearly consumption of electricity = 5300 Kwh x 460698 = 2441699400 Kwh or 2441699.4 MWh Community yearly consumption of natural gas = 7,000,000 Btu x 460698 = 3224886000000 Btu Nuclear Power Nuclear energy is a non-renewable power source. It is derived from nuclear fusion or fission of radioactive fuels such as uranium. As previously stated, one of the energy sources that apply in Dallas is nuclear energy. Texas derived about 10.3 % of its energy from the South Texas Project and the Luminant’s Comanche Peak in 2006 (Combs, 2012g). The electricity generated from these nuclear sites found its way to the states’ electricity grid and was used both for domestic and industrial applications. Although quite reliable and cheap, nuclear energy is associated with many negative impacts. For one, the fuel that is used in the generation of nuclear energy is mined from the ground which means that a lot of environmental pollution occurs as a result. Although most of the uranium that is used to power the nuclear plants is imported a limited amount is mined locally. During mining of the fuel, the environment suffers massive pollution as dust mixes with air. Furthermore, during the transportation of the fuel, the air is polluted by exhaust fumes produced by the trucks that ferry the raw materials. One of the greatest challenges that the Texas community faces as a result of nuclear energy production is waste disposal. During the production of nuclear energy, a lot of heat is generated. This heat is dissipated in the air directly causing heat pollution. The cooling systems of the reactors also