PDS AP Environmental Science 8th Period 2010-11

NUCLEAR POWER Nuclear Power is often talked about as the new “clean” energy to replace some of our dependencies on fossil fuels. But people are also afraid of nuclear power. The word nuclear carries associations with bombs, disasters, cancer, and danger. Neither of those previous statements are fully accurate, and it is important to understand [...]

We didn’t have time to discuss some “new” sources of fossil fuels, namely oil (tar) sands and oil shale. Your book briefly mentions these resources. Our neighbor to the north happens to rich in oil sands, which contains oil in a semi-solid state known as bitumen. This substance must be heated before the liquid crude [...]

We can only take so many field trips, but this is one I would love to do if we had the time. We discussed coal-fired power plants in class, but this short interactive tour (with real pics and computer animations) will give you a better feel than the diagrams in your text. Image source: Scientific [...]

For those who missed the first day of our energy unit, here is the kick off: Mining Practices & Impacts View more presentations from Derrick Willard. I tried to give you a sense of just how destructive surface mining can be to habitats and biodiversity. I’ve also found a great slideshow by a photographer named [...]