Coal
Coal is a non-renewable way of creating electricity through the burning of coal. Coal is burnt at a high temperature which creates heat. This heat is used to turn water into high pressure steam which turns a turbine. The costs of maintaining and creating energy for coal is very little at just $40 per MWh. Coal is also extremely efficient and produces 2,460 MWh per ton of coal. A down side of coal power is the cost to build a power plant. To build a new coal power plant would use up to approximately 3 billion dollars.
Solar
Solar energy is the process of turning heat of the sun into electricity through a complex system of photovoltaic cells. Electricity created from solar panels can be processed in multiple different ways such as being stored in solar batteries or being sold back to the grid in a system called Feed In. Solar panels cost around $4,000 dollars to be bought and installed and have to be regularly checked on and cleaned. For solar power to be efficient and fully power your house multiple solar panels would have to be installed. Feed In is when your solar electricity is bought by the grid, but after this you have to buy back your electricity for almost the same price that was paid to you. So the supposed ‘solution’ for this problem would be to by a battery but batteries have many large setbacks such as the extreme cost and size of these compartments. So in all coal energy is more efficient and cheaper than solar energy.
Wind
Wind energy is created through the force of the wind blowing through a turbine which spins a motor thus creating electricity. The first and foremost setback of wind power is the location of which wind turbines are located. It is impossible to find a place which is constantly windy so many wind farms are inefficient because of location and the volume of time that the wind is blowing. Another major problem is the cost and time to put up turbines, one turbine usually costs around 2-4 million dollars and takes around 2 months to install one wind turbine. Again in total coal power is more efficient and cheaper in the long run.
Tidal
Tidal power also consists of a turbine which is underneath flowing water. Currents push through the turbines spinning a motor which creates electricity. Tidal power costs almost 50% less than many other electricity sources to maintain and create electricity. Although like wind turbines they cost about 2 million dollars they are extremely efficient per kilowatt produced. Another advantage is that as long as their is water in the rivers tidal power is generating electricity meaning that we are always benefiting from the energy produced from tidal power. This overall is the most efficient and cost effective energy source out of coal, solar, wind and tidal power.
