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Grade 6 Saskatchewan Electricity Wiki

**By contributing to, managing and reading this wiki our class hope to achieve the following outcomes and indicators from the grade 6 science curriculum:**

**Outcome EL6.1**
 * Assess personal, societal, economic, and environmental impacts of electricity use in Saskatchewan and propose actions to reduce those impacts. [CP, DM]**


 * Indicators**


 * 1) Provide examples of the types of energy sources used to provide heat and light to homes in the past and describe ways in which electricity-based technologies have changed the way people work, live, and interact with the environment in Saskatchewan.
 * 2) Describe how electrical energy is generated from hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind sources and categorize these resources as renewable or non-renewable.
 * 3) Locate and categorize by type the large-scale electrical energy generation facilities in Saskatchewan and explain how electrical energy is transmitted from those facilities to locations throughout the province.
 * 4) Identify factors that affect electrical energy consumption at home, school, and in the workplace and propose methods of decreasing electrical energy consumption that can help to conserve natural resources and protect the environment.

**Saskatchewan Electricity Topics**

 * Saskatchewan Electricity**
 * SaskPower - Max, Jordan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SaskPower
 * Rural Electrification- Simon, Taylor -
 * SaskPower Facilities - Erik, Leah http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22543303/Powering-A-Sustainable-Energy-Future


 * Energy Resources**
 * Hydroelectricity- Shaun, Eilish - http://www.saskpower.com/about_us/generation_transmission_distribution/hydro_stations.shtml
 * Solar Energy- Emily, Travis - http://www.climatechangesask.com/html/learn_more/Solutions/Solar_Power/index.cfm
 * Geothermal Energy- Tyler, Ashley - http://www.kids.esdb.bg/geothermal.html
 * Wind Energy- Morgan, Riley - http://www.econet.sk.ca/solutions/energy/wind.html
 * Biomass - Justin, Chase - http://www.econet.sk.ca/solutions/energy/biomass.html
 * Nuclear Energy- -Zygnyd, Kayley - http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/Nuclear/Overview.asp?page=1
 * Coal- Colton, Jalen - http://www.er.gov.sk.ca/default.aspx?DN=3549,3541,3538,3385,2936,Documents
 * Natural Gas- Courtney, Anthony - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Natural_gas-fired_power_stations_in_Saskatchewan


 * Additional Resources**

For future use in Saskatchewan of your energy resource click on - http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22543303/Powering-A-Sustainable-Energy-Future General Resource - http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/CanadianEnergy/ How Power Plants - Work http://www.entergy.com/energy_education/power_plants.aspx SaskPower - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SaskPower - http://www.saskpower.com/about_us/generation_transmission_distribution/?hdr_link=gen_trans_dist


 * Wiki Entry Page **

**Goal** – Produce an entry for our Saskatchewan Electricity Wiki that meets listed criteria and discusses your topic in terms of past, present and future. **Outline for Sask Electricity** – Mr Hill will help you with your outline · Introduction -2 -3 sentences introducing your topic · How it produces electricity · Current use in Sask · Advantages /Disadvantages · Future of this resource 1. Create a factcard for each paragraph of your outline 2. Use the factcard to create your entry 3. Type entry on Word 4. Go to our wiki page 5. Click on Edit - Then create your post: Copy and paste from your word document.
 * Energy source **
 * Instructions **

**Evaluation**

Three people will evaluate your wiki. Mr. Hill, yourself and your parents/guardians. When you are ready to evaluate go to Evaluation Form

SaskPower by Jordan and Max

**We are going to answer all your questions about SaskPower and the important details such as the History, the Future of SaskPower, Current information!** **SaskPower is run by a Board of Directors. Current directors of the corporation include: Patricia Quaroni, Cheryl Bauer Hyde, Neil Collins, Tammy Cook-Searson, Neil Henneburg, Richard Hordern, Lyn Kristoff, Bob Linner, Al MacTavish, and Dr. Michael Mehta. Patricia Quaroni is the head of the board of Directors.** **Now the history of SaskPower, is SaskPower was founded as the Saskatchewan Power Commission in 1929, becoming the Saskatchewan Power Corporation in 1949. The abbreviated name SaskPower was officially adopted in 1987**. **SaskPower has the exclusive right to provide electricity to every city in Saskatchewan except for Swift Current and some of Saskatoon. It’s allowed to give electricity to every house that was built after 1958 in Saskatoon. Every house that was built before 1958 is powered by the company Saskatoon Light Power. It is not allowed to give electricity to Swift Current, because Swift Current is powered by the company Swift Current Department of Light & Power.** **Have you ever thought of the FUTURE of SaskPower? In the year 2013 SaskPower will** **partner with a natural gas power provider to build a 261 MW natural gas power station. SaskPower will also acquire up to 17 MW of energy from large turbines, from 2010 to 2015. In the year 2016 to 2023 SaskPower will look at solar energy. They will also create a Hydro Development unit to review all current and potential hydro power possibilities. In the years 2023 to 2033 they will evaluate all solar power technology. They will also complete an assessment on a large nuclear power supply option. And they will follow through on** **hydro power** **production projects recommended as part of the Hydro Development unit in the years 2016 to 2023.** **And now for the current information. This includes the number of employees they have, how many customers they have, and some other things. SaskPower has 2500 full time staff located 71 communities. They serve 451,000 people. They have $4.5 billion dollars in the company. They have 154,000 kilometers of power line. It’s funny because in a kilometer, any other province would be able to power 12 houses, where SaskPower only serves 3. It is within the top 15 employers in Saskatchewan. They have multiple Power Suppliers including: Sun Bridge Wind Power Project, Meridian Cogeneration Station** **Cory Cogeneration Station NRGreen Kerrobert, Loreburn, Estlin and Alameda Heat Recovery Projects.**
 * As you can see there is a lot to learn about SaskPower and it can be kind of fun to learn about and now you can say yes to when people ask if you have learned about the history of SaskPower or when they ask if you know about the Current Information also when they brag about them knowing about the Future of SaskPower! Well now you can say yeah I have learned about all of that!**

=Rural Electrification- Simon, Taylor=

We are going to tell you about rural electricity. From when farms in Saskatchewan got electricity to how it changed peoples lives.

In 1948 only 1500 farms had electricity. In 1949 the government of Saskatchewan has the law to get electricity to all the Saskatchewan farms. In 1950 over 2000 new farms got electricity. In 1951 3000 farms got electricity for a total of 7500 farm homes served with electricity. In 1952 over 4000 farms connected for a total of 1200 farm homes with electricity. In 1953 5700 new homes got electricity and over 400 non-farm customers in farm areas given service (including schools churches community halls and gas stations.) in 1954 over 6500 farms got electricity and over 500 non farm customers got electricity too. In 1956 7800 farms got electricity. Which are the most farms that got electricity in one year. 4000 Saskatchewan farms had electricity by now! 1957 service provided 6600 new farms. In 1958 5200 new farms got electricity for more then 50 000 rural power customers. In 1959 they had complete coverage of Saskatchewan! In the 1960’s farms continued to connect at a rate of one to two thousand per year!

Getting electricity helped farms by making it easer to do work, for the women it made it easer to do laundry by not having to use the washboard and being able to use the washing machine. It made it a lot easer to cook having a electric stove. For the men drills and grinders made it easer for the men to work.

Farther Mathew Michel helped bring power to the Annaheim district. Farther Mathew was concerned about the lack of electricity on the farm in his district. Farther Mathew showed that they can get electricity to all the farms in Saskatchewan. Farms could now enjoy an essential service that city people have enjoyed for years. = **SaskPower Facilities By Leah & Erik** =

**SaskPower owns a lot of facilities that generate electricity.**

**Hydro Power** SaskPower owns 7 hydro power plants. They are located in, Uranium City, Nipawin, Sandy Bay, Elbow. There is three in Uranium City, 2 in Nipawin, 1 in Sandy Bay and in Elbow. 23.3 of Saskatchewan`s power comes from hydro power.

**Coal** There are 3 coal plants that are active at the moment in Saskatchewan. There is, 2 in Estevan and 1 in Coronach. 45.5% of Saskatchewan`s power comes from coal. **Wind Power** There are only 2 wind power plants in Saskatchewan. The plants are located in, Swift Current and Guil Lake. 4.7% of wind power gets produced in Saskatchewan. **Natural Gas** 7 natural gas plants are located in Saskatchewan. They are located in, Kerrobert, Landis, Meadow Lake, Fort McMurray, AB, Estevan, Swift Current and 2 in Saskatoon. Go to [] or http://www.saskpower.com/ for more info.

Hydroelectricity By: Shaun + Eilish For this project the energy source we have been working on in science is Hydroelectricity!

Here’s how Hydroelectricity works: It is created by falling water flowing through penstocks to the station. The running water spins a turbine making electricity. Once the water is through the turbine is directed to something called a tailrace. Then the water is returned to the river.

The closest hydroelectric station is located on the Saskatchewan River near Nipawin. It has three units in total and generates 255-net megawatts. The first unit (generating 85- net mega watts) was working before the other two. The other two units (generating 170 net MW) were put to work in 1986.

Another one which is way up north is located near Uranium city in Lake Athabasca. There are three stations that have a combined generating capacity 23-net megawatts (MW). Sask Power acquired it in 1986.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages for hydroelectricity:

Advantages:-hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of energy -Great for small and large industries -Does not release any toxic chemicals -Easy and fast to start -Not to costly ($) and minimal losses -Can attract tourists water sports etc.

Disadvantages: -hard to construct -Risk of collapsing under torrential rain -Building a dam can destroy natural habitats of animals -Hard to find a good spot to build a dam -Droughts can cause a problem -Silt is a HUGE problem

__ Solar Energy __ By: Emily And Travis Hi I’m Emily and I’m Travis we are working on solar energy and it is so easy to learn there are good facts and everything you can learn a lot !!! __ Energy From the sun __ The sun has produced energy for billions of years. Solar energy is the sun’s rays (solar radiation) that reach the earth. This energy can be converted into the forms of energy, such as heat and electricity. __ Solar Energy Can be used for Heat and Electricity __

When converted to thermal (or Heat) energy can be used for: - Heat water –for use in homes, buildings or swimming pools. - Heat spaces – Inside homes, Green houses, and other buildings. __ Two ways Solar Energy Can be used __ __ Photovoltaic __

Change sunlight directly into electricity. Individually P.V cells are grouped into panels that can be used in a wide range of applications ranging from single small cells that charge calculators and watches and batteries, to systems that powers single homes, to large power plants covering many areas. __ Concentrating Solar Power Plants __ Generate electricity by using the heat from solar thermal collectors to heat a fluid witch produces steam that is used to power the generator. Out of all 11 known concentrating units at the end of 2008, nine of these are in California, 1 in Arizona, and 1 in Nevada. __ Two Drawbacks of Solar energy are: __ - Depend on how much sunlight we get and it also depends on the weather, time, day and year - Sun doesn’t deliver sun all the time so you have to use your energy at a good rate. __ Sask’s Solar Power Pioneers __ No monthly bills and uses everything in the house. __ Like: __ - Fridge - Stove - Toaster - T.V - V.C.R __ Facts!!!!! __

In the 1880s the British Astronomer, John Herschel famously used a solar thermal collector box (advice that absorbs sunlight to collect heat) to cook food during an expedition to Africa. Today, people use the sun’s energy for lots of things.

Geothermal Energy Our science project is on geothermal energy. What is geothermal energy you may ask? Well the word geothermal comes from the Greek word geo meaning earth and thermal meaning heat. So geothermal energy is heat from the earth. Have you ever seen a picture of a volcano? If so you have seen geothermal energy in action! Here is how it produces electricity. Once geothermal water reaches the surface, the steam is sent to the power plant and used to start the generators to produce electricity, and the brine and the gases are re-injected back into the injection zone below the water table. Did you know that there are three types of power generating plants: dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle. Is geothermal energy used in Saskatchewan? Geothermal energy is in Saskatchewan but it is not used so much. The advantages of geothermal energy- renewable energy resource because the water is continuous produced deep within the earth so we will never run out of geothermal energy and also it can operate 24 7 and it is eco friendly. The disadvantages of geothermal energy- location because it has to be close to water and it has to be a large area, it could be expensive to drill and set it up, and could be dangerous. The future of the geothermal energy resource seems to be the energy of the future by turning heat energy into electrical energy by movement of the steam which turns the turbines to generate electricity and also it is renewable, less pollutant, eco friendly, and once it is set up it will be less expensive. By: Ashley and Tyler
 * Dry steam-** container primarily produces steam instead of water. The steam is brought through pipes from below the earth’s surface then the are used directly to power plant turbines.
 * Flash steam-** is the most common type of geothermal power plant. These plants use hot water from deep below the earth’s surface. The steam power turbines cool it and then the steam turns to water. The water is put back in the ground, reheated by the earth, and reheated again.
 * Binary cycle**- uses water from below the earth’s surface to heat a second liquid then the liquid is used to power the plants turbines.

12 kilometers southwest of Gull Lake. There were 9 wind turbines in 2002 with 7 added in 2003 for a total of 16. The turbines are 50 m high (as high as a 12 storey building). Each turbine blade is 23 m long. The wind power is fed into SaskPower's electrical system. The 33 turbines from both facilities produce enough power for 9000 homes. The advantages are that it is cheap and easy to use, it has many uses. Some disadvantages are that you need a lot of wind to power them and not everywhere in Saskatchewan has enough wind to power the turbine. Wind turbines are usually on tall towers. Long blades, or "rotors" catch the wind and spin. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns a generator to produce electrical energy. As the wind speed increases, the power output increases. The electricity is sent through transmission and distribution lines to a substation, then on to homes and businesses. In the future wind energy will be a good thing because it is cheap and can bring energy to many homes.
 * __Wind energy__ Morgan and Riley**
 * __Current use in Saskatchewan.__**
 * __Advantages/Disadvantages of wind energy.__**
 * __How it creates energy__**
 * __Future in this resource__**

__ Biomass __ Biomass is a great way to make energy. Nobody likes waste. That’s why biomass is so great you get rid of waste and create energy.

How does biomass produce electricity? Well it’s pretty simple. It all starts from the waste. That waste is put in to big bins then from there it is put into a boiler where it is burned. The heat from the waste being burned boils the water which creates steam which spins the turbine.

In Saskatchewan biomass isn’t used a whole lot. A place where it is used though is Nipawin. The Nipawin Economical Development represented Nipawin and reviewed the prospect of biomass in 2001 and decided to go on with it.

There are good and bad things about biomass. Some good things are it is renewable, it is good to get rid of waste products when we can and it can be used to generate electricity with the same equipment as fossil fuels. Some bad things about biomass are the cost, it creates greenhouse gases which is carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, other things are limited scale and the technology is still developing.

The future of biomass could be really good or bad. It will be a resource to relay on when fossil fuels run out. There is a pig barn outside of Cudworth, Saskatchewan and soon they will use the pigs manure for biomass. SaskPower will pay Cudworth, Saskatchewan for the manure. SaskPower will buy all the equipment and put up a biomass structure up.

Biomass is becoming more and more popular next thing you know biomass will be used everywhere.

By: Justin and Chase

Nuclear Energy By: Kayley Freeman and Zygnydd Calong

Nuclear Energy; not many of you will know much about it so that is why Zygnydd and I are going to tell you all about it. Our assignment will include the following things on nuclear energy; how it produces electricity, the current use in Saskatchewan, the advantages and disadvantages and lastly the future of nuclear energy.

Like coal, oil and natural gas, uranium is an energy resource, which must be processed through a series of steps to produce an in efficient fuel for generating electricity. Each fuel has its own distinctive fuel cycle however the uranium or nuclear fuel cycle is more complex than the others. Nuclear Energy can produce electricity but first it starts with uranium, which is mostly found in the Rocky Mountains. Uranium needs to be in the form of gas before it can be enriched. To do that you need to convert the uranium into the gas uranium hexaflouride at one of the conversion plants in Europe, Russia or North America. The majority of all nuclear power reactors in operation or under construction require enriched uranium fuel. The enrichment process removes the chemical we can’t use by separating the gas into 2 streams of uranium hexaflouride. The one stream enriched with the required level then passes to the next stage of the fuel cycle. The enriched uranium or what is now known as nuclear gas is transported in large tanks to a fuel fabrication plant where it is converted to uranium dioxide powder and pressed into small pellets. These pellets are inserted into thin tubes of stainless steel, to form fuel rods. The rods are then sealed and assembled in clusters to form fuel assemblies for use in the core of the nuclear reactor. Several hundred fuel assemblies make up the core of a reactor. For a reactor with an output of 1000 megawatts the core would contain about 75 tons of low enriched uranium or nuclear energy. In the reactor core the assemblies split turning to acid. The process relies on the presence of a moderator such as water or graphite, and it has to be fully controlled. Some of the nuclear acid in the reactor core is turned into plutonium providing about one third of the reactor’s energy output. As in fossil fuel burning electricity generating plants, the heat’s used to produce steam to drive a turbine and an electric generator, in this case producing about 7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in one year. To maintain efficient reactor performance, about one third of the spent fuel is removed every year or 18 months, to be replaced with fresh fuel. That is how nuclear acid can be used to create electricity.

There is no uranium or nuclear electricity being produced or used in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is in the process of considering nuclear energy through a panel (group or committee) to decide and discuss about using nuclear electricity here in Saskatchewan. The advantages to having nuclear electricity would be lower air emissions, abundant fuel sources in Saskatchewan and low operating costs. Other advantages are that nuclear energy has up to 60 years of generation life and it is proven technology. Those all sounded pretty good but the disadvantages may have you thinking different. The disadvantages to having nuclear electricity are that there are toxic wastes, uncertainty-surrounding costs to first build the structure, potential future upgrades required and significant cooling water where it sits waiting to be reprocessed. Other disadvantages are the long term management required for spent fuel storage, social acceptance, large unit sizes can be an issue for smaller grids and it will take to long to construct. With the very biggest worry is if it will blow up that would be a huge explosion and will have effects for a long time. The future of nuclear electricity could change but some scientists think they have found a few theories. This theory being that science shows that the nuclear option should be retained because it is an important carbon free source of power. Other scientists say that taking away nuclear electricity will prevent the world from achieving long term goals for the environment. Almost all statistics and scientists say over time if studies are correct, nuclear electricity will not have such expensive prices to maintain and build. We have more future theory to tell you about and it is that the 442 reactors currently in use should double in the next 29-30 years and in another 40 or so years it should triple.

Zygnydd and I hope you have liked and learned something from this assignment. And we have one question for you do you think nuclear electricity is a good or bad thing. You decide because it is a personal decision. Well we thank for reading our assignment and we hope you enjoyed it.

NATURAL GAS!

By: Courtney and Anthony

I will be talking about Natural Gas. Like how it produces electricity, current use, advantages and disadvantages, and the future of this resource!

There are 9 different power stations in Saskatchewan. Some of these stations are…Ermine Power Station, Landis Power Station, Meadow Lake Power Station etc. Ermine Power Station is owned by Sask Power.Landis Power Station however is also owned by Sask Power. Here is one we have never mentioned yet and it is the Sky Hill power Station it is owned by Northland Power.

Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Currently in Saskatchewan there are over 10,000 gas wells. Natural gas is used to heat your house and also is used for transportation.Gas can be transported through piplines.

In the future people will come more dependent. (dependent means they rely on it) The need for natural gas is in the future will increase. This is because natural gas will soon replace the older resources we once used often. Natural gas will also b replacing other resoures because it will decrease greenhouse gas admissions. Some Advantages of Natural Gas are : -Proven Technology -Lower GHG emissions -no salt dioxide emissions - Low capital cost - Compact simple and modular Some Disadvantages of natural gas are: -non renewable -hard to capture carbon dioxide from a gas turbine. -cost of natural gas supply

Coal By Jalen and Colton Our topic is coal. Coal is black or brownish black. Coal is a fossil fuel. It is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity world wide. Estavan is one of the top three places in Saskatchewan that coal is found. Along with Coronach Saskatchewan. Coal mining in Saskatchewan dates back to 1857, making it one of the earliest forms of power mined in the province. Coal is a non renewable resources. Coal helps us with heat and electricity. Coal produces electricity by soil piled up on top of the remains of plants that died million of years ago so the energy in the coal came from the sun and was stored in the plants. When the coal is burned it gives up that energy as heat. The coals heat can then be turned into electricity energy. This happens at a power plant. Coal can be useful but it can also be dangerous. You see when the coal gets lifted from the ground it releases chemicals with can cause pollution and fatal diseases. Coal has come a long way since the late 18 hundreds. It has made heat easier to use and have and it also has giving use electricity that we use for stoves, microwaves and much more. With out coal there wouldent be much heat and basically no electricity. Just imagine what it was like back then with no electricity and only a wood burning stove for heat.1.3 million peaces of coal are minned every day. Saskatchewan currently is the third largest producer in Canada for coal mining. Saskatchewan had produced 10 million tones of coal in 1993 with sales up too 93.9 million $. We don’t really know what it was like back then but it must have been hard. BY COLTON STOLZ AND JALEN SMITH