ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

VS TRADITIONAL POWER
PLANTS
Jessica Daniela Delgado Diaz – 255430
Pathway III
 AGENDA

01 DEFINITION SIMILARITIES

04
Alternative energies - conventional
energies USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Consumption and use of natural resources in its
construction
DIFFERENCES
05 IMPACT OVER LIFE
02 INVESTMENT COSTS
Impact on wildlife and flora
Initial investment and operative costs

03 ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS 06 CONCLUSIONS

Main emissions of each type of energy Vous pouvez décrire ici le sujet de la section

07 REFERENCES
Vous pouvez décrire ici le sujet de la section
TRADITIONAL POWER PLANTS

Traditional energies, which

include nuclear energy, and fossil
energy like oil, coal and natural gas,
are non-renewable resources that take
hundreds of millions of years to form.

Figure 1. Top countries who use nuclear energy: Hemanth (2021). Aljazeera. obtained from: Power
Technology: The top ten nuclear energy-producing countries in 2021: https://www.power-
technology.com/features/top-ten-nuclear-energy-producing-countries/
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Renewable or alternative energy is energy
derived from natural sources that are
replenished at a higher rate than they are
consumed. Such as Sunlight, wind,
geothermic, hydroelectric and tidal power

Figure 2. Percent of electricity generation from Renewable sources from: Enerdata – World Energy & Climate
Statistics – Yearbook 2022 (2021). Aljazeera. obtained from: Enerdata: Share of renewables in electricity
production: https://yearbook.enerdata.net/renewables/renewable-in-electricity-production-share.html
 INVESTMENT COSTS
Total construction cost (billion $) in 2015 $13,395,684
16
For the construction of a wind farm with 66 wind
14
12
turbines
10
8 $5,318,957
6 13.4 For the construction of the natural gas plant 74
9.3
4
5.3
generators
2 0.0 0.0
0 0.1 0.1
Wind Natural gas Solar PV Hydro Battery Petroleum Biomass
storage liquids

Graph 1. Total construction cost (billion $) in 2015 from Renewable sources from: EIA – U.S Energy Information
Administration (2017). Aljazeera. obtained from: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/archive/2015/

Construction cost data for electric generators installed in 2020

Total Construction Number of

Energy Source Unit value
Cost (thousand $) Generators
Wind 22,140,254 92 240,655
Solar 17,210,678 566 30,408

Natural gas 6,090,503 58 105,009

Battery storage 372,778 48 7,766

Hydro 218,829 3 72,943
Biomass 218,182 4 54,546
Petroleum
28388 6 4,731
liquids Graph 2. Total construction cost (billion $) in 2020 from Renewable sources from: EIA – U.S Energy Information
Administration (2020). Aljazeera. obtained from: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/
 INVESTMENT COSTS
Total capacity (MW) At New Plants In terms of operating cost, renewable energies turn out
16,000 14,588MW to be lower since fuel and transportation costs are not
14,000 incurred.
12,000 10,293MW
10,000
Even though wind and solar power are
MW

8,000
6,000 4,711MW
4,000 more expensive than natural gas
2,000 457MW 27MW 14MW 10MW
0
Wind Solar Natural gas Battery Hydro Biomass Petroleum
storage liquids

Graph 3. Total capacity (MW) At New Plants from Renewable sources from: EIA – U.S Energy Information
Administration (2020). Aljazeera. obtained from: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/archive/2015/
Average Construction Cost ($/kilowatt of installed
nameplate capacity)
3,500 2,886($kW)
3,000
2,500

$/kilowatt
Wind and solar power plants generate a 2,000
1,500
1,498($kW) 1,655($kW)
1,116($kW)
1,415($kW)

greater amount of electrical energy than the 1,000 758($kW) 795($kW)

energies based on fossil fuels 500

0
Wind Solar Natural gas Battery Hydro Biomass Petroleum
storage liquids

Resulting in higher efficiency in Graph 4. Total capacity (MW) At New Plants from Renewable sources from: EIA – U.S Energy Information
Administration (2020). Aljazeera. obtained from: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/archive/2015/
terms of energy production costs and energy capacity
 ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS

24% 31%
2020
Fossil fuels still
represented 80% of
the total energy
supply worldwide,
and CO2 emissions
from the energy
sector
Global CO2 emissions
from fuel combustion
showed a decline of
nearly 6% as the
COVID-19 pandemic
slashed global energy
demand"

Coal

45%
By 2020 and 2021, fuel
combustion of 32.252MtCO2
and 32969 MtCO2 respectively
Graph 5. Percent of electricity generation over 1990-2021 from Renewable sources from: Enerdata – World Energy & Climate Statistics –
Yearbook 2022 (2021). Aljazeera. obtained from: Enerdata: Share of renewables in electricity production:
https://yearbook.enerdata.net/co2/emissions-co2-data-from-fuel-combustion.html
 ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS
On the other hand, renewable energies have significant negative impact In US, the energy sector
on per capita CO2 emissions. represents the 25% of total
(Szetela, Majewska, Jamroz, Djalilov, & Salahodjaev, 2022)
emission estimates by 2020-21,
this is alarming if one takes into
account that it is one of the
largest generators of
atmospheric pollutants, along
with Russia, Japan, India,
Europe Union and China that by
2018 all of them accounted for
61.8% of total global CO2
emissions.

+1%
increase
in global consumption
of renewable energy

-1.25%
decrease
Figure 3. Top countries with the highest CO2 emissions from fuel combustion– World Energy & Climate Statistics – Yearbook 2022 (2021). Aljazeera. in CO2 emissions
obtained from: Enerdata: Share of renewables in electricity production: https://yearbook.enerdata.net/co2/emissions-co2-data-from-fuel-combustion.html per capita
 USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND
ECOSISTEMS IN ITS CONSTRUCTION

The construction of a wind, hydroelectric, geothermal or solar

plants is carried out taking advantage of space and water for
intervention and transformation in ecosystems, which causes
the displacement of their animals and the felling of the
vegetation

In the same way, fossil fuels companies must

constantly excavate and explore for new mineral
deposits as old ones are depleted.

The similarity between them, although it is not very evident, is that both
permanently modify the ecosystems where they are built.
 IMPACT OVER LIFE

In tidal power, turbine damage and kill fish

and generate excess algae and other aquatic
weeds due to the enormous accumulation
of sediment and nutrients

Wind power, kill bird and bat due to

collisions with wind turbines and changes
in air pressure caused by the rotation and
has sound and visual impact on public
health and the communities near these
plants

Equally conventional energy has its impacts, mining plants are not very much fertile and causing deforestation, disappearance of
ecosystems and air, water and soil pollution, also produces the disappearance and decrease of local organisms and affects aquatic life.
 QUESTIONS

Question 1: What are the differences

between Alternative Energy and
Traditional Power Plants?

Investment costs and Atmospheric

emissions

Question 3: Which animals are

most affected by wind energy?

Bird and bat due to collisions

with wind turbines

Question 2: Why were Due to COVID-19, a reduction in

emissions reduced in 2020? global energy demand was
generated, which caused a decrease
of almost 6% in global CO2 emissions
 CONCLUSIONS

1. The initial investment cost is higher in alternative

energies than traditional power plant

2. The environmental impacts are similar, but emissions

into the atmosphere by alternative energies are very low
or nothing

3. The renewable energies help to reduce the

concentration of polluting gases in the environment.

4. Alternative and convectional energies have impacts on

wildlife and flora.
REFERENCES
 https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-
emissions
 https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-
emissions-data
 https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-
gas-emissions-and-sinks
 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jan/opinion-renewables-are-
cheaper-ever-so-why-are-household-energy-bills-only-going
 https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-
hydroelectric-power
 https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-
wind-power
 https://press.un.org/en/2018/gaef3501.doc.htm
 https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-
ambition/renewable-energy
 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/global-co2-
emissions-fossil-fuels-hit-record-
2022/#:~:text=The%20atmospheric%20CO2%20concentration
%20increased,relative%20to%20pre%2Dindustrial%20levels.
 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsta.2011.056
8
 REFERENCES
 https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2022/september/net-
zero-cheaper-and-greener-than-continuing-use-fossil-fuels.html
 https://www.c2es.org/content/international-
emissions/#:~:text=by%20Sector%2C%202013-
,Notes,72%20percent%20of%20all%20emissions.
 Christine, R. (14 de 09 de 2022). Forbes. Obtenido de
Renewable Energy Costs Have Dropped Much Faster Than
Expected, But There’s A Catch: dropped
 https://yearbook.enerdata.net/co2/emissions-co2-data-from-
fuel-combustion.html
 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/generatorcosts/
 https://www.energysage.com/about-clean-energy/
 https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy
 https://www.energy.gov/energy-sources
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difference-between-renewable-and-traditional-energy
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20as,%2C%20oil%2C%20and%20natural%20gas.
 https://www.power-technology.com/features/top-ten-nuclear-
energy-producing-countries/
 https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/illegal-oil-refineries-
nigeria-health-environment/
 https://proest.com/construction/cost-estimates/power-plants/
 https://www.inspirecleanenergy.com/blog/clean-energy-101/is-
renewable-energy-cheaper
 https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/greenhouse-gas-
emissions-from-energy-data-explorer
 https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/are-solar-and-
wind-cheapest-forms-energy-and-other-faqs-about-renewables
 https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2914/No-
sign-of-significant-decrease-in-global-CO2-emissions
 https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-
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 https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/
 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-
agreement.html
 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.872941/full
 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2022/10/26/it-is-
unfair-to-push-poor-countries-to-reach-zero-carbon-emissions-too-
early/