Compare the advantages and disadvantages of technologies that generate electricity.

Comparison should include the advantages and disadvantages of using electricity generated by oil, coal, uranium, hydro, natural gas, wind, and solar. This may include

• advantages, such as usability for heating and transportation; the ability to generate useful byproducts; renewability; lack of harmful waste generated
• disadvantages, such as limitations in supply; difficulty of obtaining a source; environmental threat through pollution, spills, microplastics, or emissions; risk of radioactive leakage.

Process/Skill Questions:

• Where does the United States get its oil?
• What happens to oil after it leaves the well?
• How has oil become an environmental threat?
• Where do oil and coal come from? How long does it take to form coal and oil deposits?
• What are the advantages of using uranium?
• Why is uranium not mined in Virginia?
• What are some effects of hydroelectric power on fish populations? On water quality?
• What does a decommissioned solar site look like?