Over the years, pollution control laws have prompted the development of so-called "clean coal technologies" that can reduce the sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and soot emanating from coal-fired power plants. In Indiana, "clean coal technology" is defined as a technology that directly or indirectly reduces airborne emissions of sulfur or nitrogen-based pollutants associated with the combustion or use of coal.

"To many people, the most familiar forms of renewable energy are the wind and the sun. But biomass (plant material and animal waste) supplies almost 15 times as much energy in the United States as wind and solar power combined – and has the potential to supply much more." Biomass "is the oldest source of renewable energy known to humans, used since our ancestors learned the secret of fire."

U.S. energy consumption

America is by far the world’s largest consumer of energy. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States consumed about 22% of all the energy used in the world in 2004. We use more energy each year than all the nations of Western Europe combined, and we use about two-thirds more energy than China, though China’s consumption of energy is rising fast.

In the last decade our understanding of climate change has vastly increased and the debate surrounding climate change has been settled. Notwithstanding the natural variability of the Earth’s climate, top scientists from all the major scientific bodies of the world are unanimous about this man-made phenomenon. They have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it by burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and natural gas) and cutting down forests. All agree that we must take immediate action to avoid the most dire consequences of global warming.

"The findings of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], the consensus estimate of the world’s scientists, couldn’t be any clearer: human activities are altering our atmosphere, and the planet is warming. Unless we act now, with great urgency, costly and disruptive impacts all over the world are inevitable. We have no choice but to act.

"Today, the nation is facing a health crisis from power plant pollution. Every year power plants spew billions of tons of pollution into our air. Nationally, 50% of electricity comes from coal [roughly 95% in Indiana], but coal-fired power plants are responsible for the lion’s share of dangerous pollution from the electric power industry. Within the electric power industry, these plants generate:

"Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small and relatively simple pumping systems. This heat energy, know as geothermal energy, can be found almost anywhere – as far away as remote deep wells in Indonesia and as close as the dirt in our backyards.

We can no longer afford to ignore global warming. Its consequences, including loss of life, economic disruption and population dislocation are growing each year. "As individuals living on the planet at this moment in time, we face a challenge no generation has ever had to face. We need to dramatically change the manner in which we use the Earth’s natural resources. And we need to do this soon or we will significantly increase the severity of climate-induced natural disasters."

Did you know:

• Homes are huge energy consumers, accounting for one-fifth of the U.S.’s total annual energy demand?
• Heating and cooling costs account for about one-half of a typical home’s total energy bill?
• The average household will spend almost $2100 on home energy costs in 2007?

"Water is currently the leading renewable energy source used by electric utilities to generate electric power. Hydroelectric plants operate where suitable waterways are available; many of the best of these sites have already been developed. Generating electricity using water has several advantages. The major advantage is that water is a source of cheap power.

Scientists working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are able to predict how many premature deaths, heart attacks, and other impacts are caused by power plant pollution based on recent scientific studies by researchers affiliated with the American Cancer Society, the Harvard School of Public Health and other top universities and research institutions.

With the emphasis on reducing carbon dioxide air emissions associated with coal-fired electric generation, recent discussions have included nuclear power as a solution to global climate change. The last U.S. commercial nuclear reactor came on-line over ten years ago.

The harnessing of water was the only widely used renewable electricity technology before the 1980s. Hydropower is still one of the most significant sources of renewable energy, producing 20% of the world’s electricity and 10% of that of the United States. "The 1973 oil crisis awoke the country to its vulnerability through dependence on foreign oil.

"In the broadest sense, solar energy supports all life on Earth and is the basis for almost every form of energy we use. The sun makes plants grow, which can be burned as 'biomass' fuel or, if left to rot in swamps and compressed underground for millions of years, in the form of coal and oil. Heat from the sun causes temperature differences between areas, producing wind that can power turbines.

Unlike other air emissions, carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants are not currently regulated in the United States, meaning there is no limitation, nor cost to power plants, for releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. However, this will likely change in the very near future.

Many chemical compounds found in the Earth’s atmosphere act as "greenhouse gases." These include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor. These gases allow sunlight to enter the atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some of it is reflected back towards space as infrared radiation (heat). Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere. Over time, the amount of energy sent from the sun to the Earth’s surface should be about the same as the amount of energy radiated back into space, leaving the temperature of the Earth’s surface roughly constant. However, as atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases increase, more heat is trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere than is radiated back into space, causing the temperature of the Earth’s surface to rise.

"Wind power is both old and new. From the sailing ships of the ancient Greeks, to the grain mills of pre-industrial Holland, to the latest high-tech wind turbines rising over the Minnesota prairie, humans have used the power of the wind for millennia." During the late 1800s and early 1900s, American farmers harnessed the power of wind to pump water.