Environmental evaluation of different forms of electric energy generation

The development and implementation of other forms of energy generation caused local changes, where they were installed, giving rise to environmental impacts. This work presents an evaluation about different forms of electrical energy generation and the environmental impacts relative to each one of them. Five forms of electric energy generation were considered: thermoelectric, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar energy. The implementation and the development of the petroleum industry in the world and in Brazil are presented. The geology of the oil, its extraction and quality improvement, besides details of the functioning of three types of thermoelectric power plants - coal, gas and oil - are also discussed. The specific as well as the environmental impacts they have in common are highlighted. The impacts originated from the deactivation of each one of them are also pointed out. Once outlined the environmental impacts from each form of electric energy generation, they were correlated and compared considering the area of the power plant implantation, the generation capacity, the efficiency, the power and the cost per kW. There is no totally clean form of electric energy generation. There is, however, generation without emission of gases responsible for the green house effect. Therefore, all forms of energy generation are important for a country; in other words, the best situation is the diversity of the energy matrix. (author)