There is no such thing as "clean" coal, that's a furphy invented to keep a dying industry alive.
Ours is natural gas, wind and solar, with a dirty great battery. Renewables are now cheaper than any other form of power generation, and the modular nature of PV helps to relieve the strain on a "stringy", ageing grid. We should have gone nuclear thirty years ago, it's no longer financially viable.
Aussie slang for a tall story, dates back to WWI. "Furphy" was the name of the company contracted to empty the latrines in the recruit camps, so their trucks were full of sh**.
The coal we use is low sulphur, and the exhaust is scrubbed. In the 60s, you could see clouds of exhaust billowing into the air. Now there is very little.
Agreed. Solar here is being used only by large companies. Our zoo uses solar, also. The problem is at our location and latitude, it is cloudy almost every day between October and March. It is also extremely expensive. It would cost me 30K for a full system the could only be used 7 or 8 months. Your are correct about the carbon dioxide. I have a practical use for it and it is starting up in some places...grow algae, which is almost free and has numerous uses...from animal feed to biofuel to burning it in the electrical plant.
We have toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie each summer. Four years ago was particularly bad. It went up river that year where I fish. Non-toxic algae can be grown, though.
Within us, our bodies use certain patterns of action potentials to initiate movements, thoughts and behaviors. Cells control the flow of specific charged elements across the membrane with proteins that sit on the cell surface and create an opening (an ion channel) for certain ions to pass through. When a cell is stimulated, it allows positive charges to enter the cell through open ion channels. The inside of the cell then becomes more positively charged, which triggers further electrical currents that can turn into electrical pulses, called action potentials. One could say that the source of our internal electrical circuits comes from air, water, food and the complex biochemistry of metabolism.
Ultimately, since none of our food could be grown without the power of the sun, we could say that our internal energy is also solar - but that would be stretching the definitions beyond what is practical for language.
Most of it comes from the Big Stone generating station in Milbank, South Dakota. The rest of it comes from two smaller trash burning stations and windmills.
A variety of sources. The UK's electricity distribution is by the National Grid, fed by many generating stations.
A very large amount is now from wind-turbines, some from solar plant. The coal- and gas- fired power-stations are being closed down.
We've also nuclear power-stations and new ones are being built. They will have to be, as the so-called "renewable-energy" plant can only supply so much of a demand that is set to soar due to rising population and policies to have all new homes electric-only from 2025, and no new i.c.-engine cars to be sold after 2040. (I think that's even been brought forwards to 2035.)
Slartibartfast 