Chapter 08

What is energy?

 Energy is the force that makes something change, move or grow. All living organisms
including plants, need energy to live.
o Cars and trains and planes need energy to move.
o Lights and computers, fridges and phones all need energy to work.
o We need energy to transport and cook our food.
 Energy is a very important part of life. Fuel is used to create energy and to store energy until
it is used.
 There are many different kinds of fuel. Many but not all fuels are made out of carbon. Like
the natural resources, energy:
 Is renewable or non-renewable
o Renewable energy: is made from unlimited natural resources such as sunlight or
natural resources that can easily be replenished such as bamboo
o Non-renewable energy is made from fuels that cannot be replenished in our
lifetime. Fossils fuels are the major non-renewable fuel.

Electricity is a very important source of energy. It can be made from many different fuels. Including
coal, oil, nuclear energy, sunlight, and moving water. Electricity is useful because it is easy to
transport through electric wires) and store (in batteries).

There are many different kinds of fuel, including the following:

1. Wood
2. Natural gas
3. Coal
4. Charcoal
5. Kerosene
6. Diesel
7. Garbage (even garbage can be used as a fuel. Sometimes garbage is burned and the heat is
captured and turned into energy)
8. Gasoline
9. Sunlight
10. Moving water
11. Wind energy
12. Geo-thermal
13. Dried animal manure
14. Methane gas made out of animal manure
15. Ethanol, a type of alcohol-based fuel
16. Biodiesel (a fuel made out of vegetable oils and animal fats)

Non-renewable energy-fossil fuels

Fossil fuels are so named because they come from the remains of plants and animals and algae that
died hundreds of millions of years ago. That’s right-coal, oil and natural gas are made out of the
remains of dead plants. Remember the carbon cycle plants take in carbon atoms from carbon
dioxide gas in the atmosphere. They then use these carbon atoms to build their stems and leaves,
their flowers and seeds. These carbon atoms never go away, even when the plant dies. Instead-over
hundreds of millions of years-the carbon atoms change from plants into fossil fuels. When fossil fuels
are burned, the carbon atoms are released back into the atmosphere and turn in carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide harms our natural environment since it is one of the green house gases that causes
global warming and climate change.

Renewable energy

The energy sources listed below are renewable since they are made from unlimited natural
resources. They are considered to be cleaner than fossil fuels as they do no release greenhouse
gases when used or extracted from the earth.

However, even though these sources are cleaner they can still cause environmental damage.

Solar energy (fuel source: sunlight)

Energy from the sun is captured by solar panels and turned into electric energy. This electricity is
then sent to the electric grid or stored in batteries. Electricity stored in batteries can be used to
power lights, laptops, phones, TVs, and small appliance.

Hydroelectric energy (fuel source: rivers)

Hydro power is a very old form of energy. These days, spinning wheels convert river energy into
electricity. There are very small hydro-electric generators that can be placed in rivers to produce
small amounts of energy. These cause very little environmental damage. However, most
hydroelectric energy is made by building big dams across an entire river. The water is then forced
through a small opening in the dam where it spins wheels that produce energy which is converted
into electricity.

Wind energy (fuel source: wind)

Large spinning turbines capture wind energy and convert it into electricity. Wind energy has one of
lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources. However, the large turbines sometimes kill
birds. Currently wind produces only about 1.5% of all international electricity, but it is growing
rapidly.

Geothermal (fuel source: energy from the center of the earth)

Steam from very hot water deep inside the earth is captured and used to turn turbines which then
create electricity. As of 2012, five countries (USA, Philippines, Indonesia, MEXICO AND ITALY)
produce most of their electricity from geothermal sources.

Tidal power (fuel source: ocean tides)

As ocean tides rise and fall the moving water rotates generators under water which produce
electricity. Tidal power has great potential for the size of oceans. However, its availability is still
limited for its high cost.

Bio-fuels (fuel source: living and recently dead biological matter)

Biofuels-literally biological fuels-are created from plants and plant parts including sugarcane, corn,
and wood chips (ethanol). Ethanol is one of the most common biofuels. Biofuels are renewable and
are cleaner than fossil fuels as they do no release as much carbon dioxide. However, biofuels might
cause environmental damage since natural rain forests are cut down to grow corn and sugar cane.
Nuclear energy (fuel source: uranium and plutonium)

Nuclear energy is created by splitting atoms of uranium and plutonium. This creates a huge amount
of energy which is used to heat water to create steam which is then used to generate electricity.
Currently there are 439 nuclear reactors operating in 31 countries. Nuclear energy does not produce
carbon emissions so many people consider it to be a clean and renewable source of energy.
However, it does produce radio-active waste which must be stored very carefully.