California currently has wind farms capable of generating a total of about 4300

Question

California currently has wind farms capable of generating a total of about 4300 megawatts (4.3 gigawatts) of power (about 1.5% of the states total electricity). [5 points] a) How much energy in kilowatt-hours, can these wind farms generate each year? b) Given that the average household use about 10,00 kilowatt-hours each year, how many households can be powered by these wind farms? c) One of the great advantages of wind power is that it does not produce the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming. On average, energy produced from fossil fuels generates about 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt-hour of energy. Suppose California did not have its wind farms and the energy were instead produced from fossil fuels. How much more carbon dioxide would be entering the atmosphere each year? Express your answers in scientific notation using 2 decimal places.

Explanation / Answer

Solution:

a)Power=4300*10^3 kW

Time = 365*24 hrs

Energy=Power*Time = 4300*10^3*365*24=376.68*10^8 kW

b) No of household powered = 376.68*10^8/10000 = 376.68*10^4 = 3766800

c) 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide is released for every kilo-watt energy produced

Total excess CO2 added = 376.66*10^8 *1.5 = 565.02*10^8 pounds

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