Environmental Energy Issues

There are many environemtal issues with energy…

…of all kinds including renewable energy such as solar power or biofuels. On this page I’ll list the popular energy sources and the adverse environmental effects each of them has. There are more energy sources than this but these are the major ones.

Nuclear:
# Air pollution with carbon-14 and iodine-131
# Nuclear waste that can’t be recycled or disposed of
# Fossil fuels used for mining uranium and plant production
# Waste heat goes into local streams/rivers
# Minor risk of nuclear accidents which carry major negatives

Coal:
# Air pollution with sulfur/nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and many other chemicals
# Air/land pollution with mercury
# Air pollutants lead to acid rain, global warming, smog, ozone depletion
# Major air pollutor makes all other energy sources pale in comparison
# Fossil fuels used for mining
# Scrubbers produce toxic sludge

Natural Gas:
# Air pollution with nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide
# Mining damage but with smaller footprint than coal/nuclear mining
# Methane air pollution

Wind:
# Lower bird populations
# Noise pollution
# Large land usage

Solar:
# Large land usage
# Battery production can result in pollution
# Unrecycled panels can result in toxic waste

Hydro:
# Changes to downstream morphology of riverbeds
# Changes to downstream water quality
# Reservoirs are less biodiverse than previous land