Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Environmental Effects Of Renewable And Non-Renewable Energies, Jordan Moore

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study presents current energy data from the United States and data from literature reviews to create life cycle assessments (LCA) for comparing the environmental impacts of wind and coal-fired energy generation and use. The environmental impacts were evaluated using emissions data, principally carbon dioxide emissions and carbon dioxide equivalents from methane. Other environmental impacts such as avian mortality and land use were compared as well. The LCA includes four phases: raw materials, transportation, use/retail, and waste. Overall, wind energy has a smaller environmental impact than coal-fired energy for the raw materials, transportation, use/retail, and waste phases. Wind energy resulted …