Reuters, V. Y. (2016, July 20). Nuclear developers have big plans for pint-sized

                          power plants in UK.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/08/22/business/22reuters-britain-nuclear-smr.html?_r=0

This article talks about nuclear subsidies that are very important for New York’s “Clean-Energy Plan.” The plan is to withdraw half of its electricity from renewable and clean energy sources such as solar power and wind by depending on new technologies. However, as the idea plans to go public, the discussion of new technologies have been “overshadowed” of something old, which are nuclear power plants.
I think this article is important because it addresses multiple financial and environmental issues. Focusing on the environmental issues, this article does a good job of stating that the replacement of nuclear plants with gas-powered generators releases more greenhouse emissions, leading to pollution. This article relates to environmental science because it talks about the different ways nuclear-powered plants and gas-powered plants treat the environment.

Thomas, S., & Croft, A. (2016, August 22). Nuclear Developers Have Big Plans

                          for Pint-Sized Power Plants in UK. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/08/22/business/22reuters-britain-nuclear-smr.html?_r=0

This article is about power plants in London, in which the main topic is aimed the lack of mini-nuclear power plants that could solve “Britain’s looming power crunch.” In these kind of power plants, small modular reactors (SMR) utilize existing or new nuclear technology in order to produce about one-tenth of the amount of electricity produced by well-known businesses and companies. According to critics, the big issue is that it might be very expensive, and that it is not worth the cost.
This article completely leaves out the conversation of pollution. The critics mentioned in the article did not even talk about the effects of pollution, only the cost of the nuclear power plants. The fact that they do not even address the state of pollution underscores the lack of  general human concerns for the consequences of the environment. When people read this, they will not even think about the negative effects of the plants because it wasn’t even talked about in the article.

Hirstenstein, A. (2016, July 20). These Clean Energy Projects Pollute More Than Coal Power Plants. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from                                                                                                   

                                http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/these-clean-energy-projects-pollute-more-than-coal-power-plants

The main topic this article addresses is a kind of power plant that supplies a steady supply of clean energy from the natural heat of Earth: Geothermal plants. However, it was found evident that, in Turkey, some of these wells pollute the atmosphere as much as coal-fired power plants. The main substance emitted from these power plants is carbon dioxide. A graphic showed how much Turkey’s geothermal plants pollute the air compared to coal, lignite, and natural gas, revealing that lignite produced the most grams of carbon dioxide out of the three.
This article is related to environmental science because it calls into question the reality of different kinds of “environmentally friendly” power plants. Clearly stated in the article, the geothermal power plants were presented to be “clean” and “renewable”, however they were proved to be just as polluting as coal-fired power plants. I think this article is great because it is able to disprove the fact that “clean” power plants are not so clean after all.

Bayar, T. (2016, June 22). Romania coal power plants violating EU law says

                      report. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2016/06/romania-coal-power-plants-violating-eu-law-says-report.html

This article talks about how Romania is defying the European Nation’s emissions law on releasing a coal-fired plant fleet. Bayar reported that, “The report found that, of Romania’s 11 coal-fired power plants, only two have avoided exceeding EU emissions standards while the rest have continued to operate illegally.” Five plants of the eleven had failed to reduce EU-mandated levels including other thermal plants that happened to be suspended by the European Guard.
Again, this brings up the conversation about power plants being an environmental issue due to the fact that it can cause widespread pollution across the world. I think that the actions of the EU tackling this power plant fleet is very important because of the long terms effects of pollution.

Williams, D. (2016, August 15). World Bank considers financing of Kosovan coal-fired power plant.

                           Retrieved August 28, 2016, from  

                           http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2016/08/world-bank-considers-financing-of-kosov       

                           an-coal-fired-power-plant.html

This article mainly discusses the debate of whether to implement a coal-powered plant in Kosovo. Their government says the plant is essential to the territory’s energy security. This plant is aimed at alleviating energy consumption in public buildings and demonstrating economic viability of energy investments. In order to approve the investment towards the power plant, requiring to meet all relevant environmental, social, and technical analysis.
I believe that implementing a power plant in Kosovo is not a good idea because of the amount of pollution it may induce on the world. This is an environmental issue because some people build useless power plants for their own financial benefit. This one in particular is aimed to reduce energy consumption and demand within the main population, however that can backfire because of the environmental pollution it can cause. Yes, it can save energy, but everything these days comes at a cost with a certain consequence. This plant, in my opinion, is just not worth the kind of damage it can do to our atmosphere.