The following is the introduction of my Capstone project, titled "The Sustainable Energy Utility: What Delaware developed and if it is possible or necessary for Colorado," which was completed for my Master's degree in November 2010. It also has the Thesis statement to form a better understanding of what the project was as a whole. The entire study can be viewed by clicking on the icon at the end of this post.

For decades, the conventional way to deliver energy from the point of production to consumers was via centralized power plants. These plants emit immense amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, including particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Current estimates for 2008 energy related CO₂ emissions are 5,735 MMT, or 81 percent of the total emissions, are related to energy production. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 7,052 MMT for all gases in 2008 (EIA 2008). These include energy related CO_2, and other high global warming potential (GWP) gases including nitrous oxide (NO_x), and methane (CH₄) and CFCs. Energy related CO₂ has been emitted more than any other gas, and accounted for 81 percent of all emissions in 2008 (EIA 2008). Based on three major fuels, petroleum, coal, and natural gas, petroleum is shown to have the greatest emissions, followed by coal, and natural gas. When emissions were broken down by sector,  electric power shows the greatest impact. Residential, commercial and industrial has the smallest impact, but it can be argued that this sector should be included in the electric power sector since buildings are consumers of electricity as well. In addition to greenhouse gases, there is also waste heat, contaminated water, and solid materials such as ash, scrubber residue, and particulate matter polluting the land and waterways.