Energy Ivan Hrabric

There are two types of energy: FINISHED

GEOTHERMAL WATER BIOMASS WIND SOLAR BACKEXIT

Solar energy is radiation from the sun that reaches the earth.

Solar energy is the most renewable energy. It has no waste and creates no pollution.

Solar energy can be turned into electricity. It also directly heats homes and water used in the home.

Wind is caused by the sun heating the earth. Warm air rises and cold air moves in.

As long as the sun shines, wind will be created.

For 5,000 years humans have harnessed the wind to sail and grind grain. Today wind farms exist to create electricity.

Power from water is known as hydropower. Hydropower uses the force of falling or flowing water.

Hydropower does not pollute the air or water and is almost free. Building dams to create falling water can cause changes to the ecology.

Hydropower is the most often used source of renewable energy. It is almost three- quarters of the USs renewable energy.

Biomass is organic material. This means it comes from plants and animals.

Examples of biomass are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. The materials can be burned or rot producing heat energy and methane gas.

Though not quickly renewable, wood and crops will grow (using CO 2 ) and trash will always be generated.

Geothermal energy is made from the heat within the Earth.

Ancient cultures (Romans, Greeks, and Native Americans) used hot springs for cooking, heating and bathing.

Power plants use the natural, very hot steam to generate electricity.

NUCLEAR NATURAL GAS COAL OIL BACKEXIT

Oil is a fossil fuel formed after hundreds of millions of years of pressure and heat react with dead animals and plants (peat).

While improvements have been made, drilling for oil disturbs natural habitats and affects the environment.

Oil is refined to create the fuels that are used in cars, planes, trains and most other engines. Burning petroleum, and products made from oil, creates harmful pollutants for our air and atmosphere.

Coal, another fossil fuel, is also formed from buried plant life and hundreds of millions of years of heat and pressure.

Mining coal disturbs natural habitats and greatly effects the ecology.

Coal is used to generate about half of the USs electricity, produce steel, and manufacture other industrial materials. Burning coal causes acid rain greatly contributing to pollution of the air and water

Nuclear power is the energy released when atoms, the smallest building blocks of any object, combine or split.

Nuclear power plants obtain power by splitting the atom of a rare element called Uranium 235. The used up Uranium fuel is highly radioactive and there is a lot of concern about how to get rid of it.

Nuclear power causes less pollution than burning fossil fuels. It makes up 19% of the USs electricity.

Natural Gas is formed, along with oil, from millions of years of pressure and heat reacting with dead animals and plants.

Machines can be used to turn plant and animal waste into natural gas.

Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Just over one fifth of the energy used in the US is from natural gas.

FACTS Energy is consumed by everyone. The continual burning of fossil fuels will contribute to greenhouse gasses and further global warming. Renewable energy sources are a cleaner alternative that can be implemented into society.

US Energy consumption in quadrabillions of BTUs

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CITATIONS PICTURES FOR RENEWABLES Lightning - Sunflower - Sun and Sea - Solar Panels - Dandelion - Wind Sock - Wind Turbines - Niagara Falls - Water on Rocks - Waterfall - Tree in Sun - Garbage Heap - Wheat Field - Geiser of steam - Bathers - Geothermal -

Citations continued PICTURES FOR NON-RENEWABLES Oil Drip - Oil Pumps - Oil Rig - Coal - Discovering_Your_Environment.htmlhttp:// Discovering_Your_Environment.html Strip Mine - Coal bed - u-s-coal-generation-ecoseed/ u-s-coal-generation-ecoseed/ Nuclear Core - Radiation sign - TMI - Natural Gas Burner - Natural Gas Plant - Natural Gas Field - Sound Bytes Electric spark -

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