Guided Notes on Traditional Energy Resources Chapter 26, Section 1

1. The Sun is the ultimate source of the energy that humans use.

2. Whatever solar energy that is not used right away by green plants is stored. When consumers eat producers, they use this stored energy for their own life processes.

3. Traditional sources of energy, such as wood and peat, are derived from producers such as plants. When organic materials are burned, the energy stored in them is released in the form of heat.

4. The energy to make heat, provide light, and to cook food is provided by fuels, which are materials that are burned to produce heat or power.

5. Examples of traditional fuels include wood, field crops, and dried fecal material. Fuels derived from living things are called biomass fuels. The most important of these is wood.

6. The need to use wood as a fuel has led to deforestation in many areas of the world. This demand for wood has led to the complete removal of forests and the erosion and loss of topsoil.

7. Fecal material from cows often meets the energy needs of people in developing countries with limited forest resources.

Use the space below to describe how peat forms in a bog: When plants in a bog die, they fall into the water, which has low levels of oxygen. Instead of decomposing, the plant material builds up on the bottom of the bog, where it is compressed by the weight of overlying material into a light, spongy material called peat. When plants in a bog die, they fall into the water, which has low levels of oxygen. Instead of decomposing, the plant material builds up on the bottom of the bog, where it is compressed by the weight of overlying material into a light, spongy material called peat.

9. Fossil fuels, such as peat, are energy sources that formed over geologic time as a result of the compression and partial decomposition of plants and other organic matter.

10. Fossil fuels are considered nonrenewable because their formation occurred over thousands or millions of years.

11. Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas, and petroleum. The high concentration of carbon and hydrogen in fossil fuels makes them very efficient energy sources. Most industrialized countries, including the U.S, use them to fuel power plants that supply electricity and to fuel vehicles.

The three classes of coal are: 1. Lignite: a soft, brown, low-grade coal 2. Bituminous coal, which forms when lignite is compressed 3. Anthracite: the hardest and highest grade of coal

13. When bituminous coal burns, it releases carbon and sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which causes air pollution.

14. The term petroleum refers to natural crude oil found underground and on Earth’s surface. Crude oil is refined into a variety of products, such as gasoline and kerosene.

15. Crude oil and natural gas migrate sideways and upward from their place of formation, moving through the pores of permeable sedimentary rocks such as limestone and sandstone. These pores are the reservoirs in which crude oil and gas accumulate.