One of our biggest problem in Nigeria is Electricity and it looks like it is going to take us another decade to get it right but do you know that energy and the environment are closely related? They seem detached from one another but if we are going to produce and move energy, we would have to do to the ground to get fuel which we burn to make electricity but that's not all because we still have to clear trees to put poles and power lines for the electric current to pass through.
Most production of energy has to do with extraction which usually leads to pollution which affects the environment immensely. Let's not forget physics that energy can not be created not destroy but when we use generating energy in the context of the environment, we are talking about converting various energy into electrical energy that can be moved and used.
Before you start to look at me that I do not know what is going on, I understand that Energy is the ability to do work which means that heat is a form of energy, and flowing water also has energy. When we talk about energy, we either refer to kinetic or potential energy with potential energy being stored energy while kinetic energy is energy in motion. When an amount of energy is spent over a period of time, power is gotten. How do we turn our kinetic or potential energy into flow of electrons?
In power plants be it coal, hydro, or gas, electrons are made by rotating coils of wire around magnets causing the magnetic field to move the electrons within the wire to generate electrical energy in what is known as electromagnetic generation transforming mechanical energy into electrical energy. Asides this, we also generate electrical energy without electromagnetic generator using solar photovoltaic cells what you refer to as Solar panel. The solar photovoltaic cells convert light energy into electrical energy and it is the only one that doesn't require a turbine.
Each of this electrical power generating processes have significant impact on the environment which isn't fun at all. Fossils fuels like coal and gas releases large amount of electric energy but in giving us the gift of electricity, it also gives us lots of problem to the ecosystem around them. Mining of coal can affect the topography of the earth which could result in flooding, habitat loss, and pollution among other things.
With nuclear energy, the energy is released by splitting atoms and not combustion. The fuel for the power plant is Uranium whose nucleus i bombarded with neutron to make new radioactive particles and energy which is used to boil steam which is then used to power the turbine which releases electricity energy. Not properly caring for this could lead to lead to a meltdown which can be very hazardous to organisms including humans and the environment.
Hydroelectric dams also have a lot of emission from the construction which has to do with a lot of concrete, to the use of the dam that could later result in flooding and creation of carbon gasses. Further more, the creation of the dam could lead to displacement of aquatic animals and the death of a lot of aquatic lives. Geothermal which has to do with using the heat from deep within the earth to generate steam to spin the turbine creating electric energy. This method of electrical energy production doesn't always release emission unless in cases of accidental release of hydrogen sulfide from groundwater into the atmosphere but during the creation of the plant, a lot of emissions are created.
While the world is concerned about the emissions released by these electrical power plant generators, majority of Nigerians just want to have uninterrupted power supply. When the issue of power supply is solved completely, then we can now look into the negative aspect of its creation. That said, a lot of people cannot afford renewable energy methods like solar energy because it is still very expensive but there is a high chance that it is the way out.
You Can Study More
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/raising-ambition/renewable-energy
https://www.epa.gov/power-sector/human-health-environmental-impacts-electric-power-sector
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-and-the-environment.php
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
https://www.ucs.org/resources/coal-power-impacts
https://www.nrel.gov/news/video/hydropower-energy-basics-text.html
https://www.scitechnol.com/peer-review/hydropower-plants
https://www.wri.org/insights/next-generation-geothermal-energy-explained
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