Low Polluting Energy Production

Energy is the capacity to do work. Energy is trapped in every organic substance,

and can be processed out of coal, petroleum, etc. Throughout the world, these
conventional sources of energy, known as fossil fuels, have been widely used to produce
energy for our day to day needs. The heat energy released during the combustion of fossil
fuels, is used to heat water to produce steam. This steam is further used to produce
electricity by running turbines in Power plants. Although a good source of energy, their
extensive use has led to large amounts of environmental pollution and also triggered
global warming. Harmful gases such as Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Sulphur
dioxide, Nitrous oxide etc. released during combustion of fossil fuels form a blanket over
the earths atmosphere trapping heat energy from the sun. As a result, air pollution and
average global temperature of the earth is increasing.

We are dependent on air for respiration. Air pollutants are harmful to all living
organisms. In human beings these gases cause diseases like cancer, kidney failure,
asthma, eye and skin problems, bronchitis, etc. They reduce the growth and yield of crops.
Moreover, gases like Sulphur dioxide and Nitrous oxide combines with water vapor in the
atmosphere and forms Sulphuric acid and Nitric acid and precipitate onto the surface of
the earth as rain. This phenomenon is called acid rain. Experts believe that acid rain is the
primary cause of the Taj Mahals marble corrosion. Acid rain is also a major problem for
the growth of plants and causes skin problems on human beings. Moreover, it destroys
fish life in streams and lakes.
As more and more industries emerge in the world, there is a demand for a more
sources of energy to run different machines. Although fossil fuels release large amounts
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of heat energy on combustion, the pollution created by them have forced people to look for
cleaner fuels. Clean energy sources are sources that do not release large concentration of
harmful Green House Gases into the atmosphere. One of those low polluting, clean
energy sources is nuclear energy. The other low polluting energy sources are solar energy,
wind energy, ocean energy and geothermal energy.
There are mainly two types of nuclear reactions which can produce heat energy.
They are nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

fig.1: Nuclear fission reaction

Source: Physics.Stackexchange.com, Energy
Production in Nuclear Fission. Web.

Nuclear fission is an endothermic reaction in which, unstable heavy atoms such as

Uranium-235 decomposes into atoms of smaller elements, Krypton and Barium and
releasing energy in the form of heat. The following reaction takes place inside a nuclear
power plant:
U235 + 1n Ba141 + Kr92 + 3n + Energy
Mass of Uranium 235 is slightly more than the combined mass of Barium and Krypton and
this extra mass or mass defect is converted into energy which can be found through
Einsteins Mass-Energy equation, E=mc2.

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In nuclear fission power plants, these radioisotopes are forcefully broken down by shooting
neutrons at them (Figure.1). Each fission reaction releases 3 neutrons, which further forcedecompose other Uranium-235 atoms and initiates a chain reaction (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Nuclear Fission Chain Reaction

Source: Bbc.co.uk. N.p. Web.
Heat energy from this chain reaction is used to heat water and produce steam that
runs the turbine to produce electricity. A pellet of nuclear fuel, the size of a pea, can give
as much energy as a tonne of coal. This method of generating electricity releases 0% of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Nuclear fusion is another form of nuclear reaction in which two or more lighter
atoms fuse to form a new heavier atom along releasing energy. It is the most basic form of
energy that powers the sun and other stars in the universe.

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Nuclear fusion

H + 3H 4He + n + 3.5MeV

Figure 3: Nuclear Fusion Reaction

Source: Fusion For Energy, What Is Fusion?
In the fusion reactor, isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, are fused under
extreme pressure and temperature to produce helium and energy (Figure 3). The method
releases about 3-4 times the energy released in a fission reaction. Although the amount of
energy is very huge, the reactor requires a high pressure and temperature of the order of
10 million C.

Exploitation of any source of energy depends on the following factors:

1.

Ease of extracting energy from that source

2.

Economics of extracting energy from the source

3.

Efficiency of the technology available

4.

Environmental damage that will be caused using that source.

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In spite of being the most efficient energy production method nuclear fission method
is the least preferred method. (see figure.4).

A safer alternative is Nuclear Fusion or Fission using non-radioactive elements such

as Thorium. In fusion, isotopes of hydrogen are used, which are easily available in oceans
and seas and are non-radioactive. The plant releases Helium as the by-product which is
useful in laboratories and for space missions to keep liquid oxygen and hydrogen cool.
The radiation effects of nuclear fusion are less compared to fission. Therefore, nuclear
fusion of hydrogen is a good source of energy in terms of safety and environmental
damages. ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), France is building a
fusion reactor that can produce 500 megawatts of energy.
Thorium is more abundant in nature compared to uranium and hence can be a
sustainable source of energy. Moreover, Thorium cannot be used to make nuclear
weapons and releases only alpha radiations which are not harmful. The LFTR (Liquid
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Fluoride Thorium), releases heat at a temperature of 400 C and does not require water to
cool. This is a relief to one of the major environmental concerns of destruction of
ecosystems.
In recent decades, there has been popular uproar for nuclear fusion and fission in
scientific research. But while that happens, the investments and interests of countries such
as China and India suggest that thorium could dramatically improve the worlds energy
sustainability in the process.

Bibliography
1. Ingram, RoseMarie Gallagher & Paul. "9.3-Energy From Fuels." Complete
Chemistry for Cambridge IGCSE Second Edition. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011. 118-119. Document.
2. Jaffer, Misam. "Impacts of Nuclear Powerplants." Course Work. 2011. Document.
<http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph241/jaffer2/>.
3. NCERT. Class 10, Science, Chapter 14-Sources of Energy. New Delhi: NCERT, n.d.
Book.
4. Class 12 Biology, Chapter 16-Environmental Issues. New Delhi: NCERT, n.d. Book
5. fig 1: Nuclear fission - Cdn.phys.org,. N. p., 2016. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
6. fig 2: Nuclear fusion - Nuclear-energy.net,. N. p., 2016. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
7. Amos, Jonathon. "BBC News." 14 October 2010. Key Component Contract For
ITER Fusion Reaction. Internet.
8. ITER Organization. "ITER." n.d. FAQs. Internet.
9. Wikipedia,. "ITER". N. p., 2016. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
10. TheGoodStuff. "Is Nuclear Power Good Or Bad?" YouTube, 2016. Web.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lbjxk1Lexs>

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11. TEDxTalks. "Thorium to Light up the World | Srikumar Banerjee | TEDxCERN."

YouTube, 2014. Web.
12. A Plan to Power the World with Thorium." Web.
<http://energyfromthorium.com/plan/>.
13. Thorium.

<http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-

generation/thorium.aspx>.
14. "Frequently Asked Questions." ITER. Web.
<http://www.iter.org/faq#What_is_ITER>.

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