ENERGY is the ability to do work.

Even though you can't even really see it,
energy causes millions of different actions and reactions to occur every single day.

In fact, whenever something moves, heats, cools, grows, changes or produces light or sound, energy is involved.

NON-RENEWABLE energy

Non-renewable energy comes from sources that can't be replenished in a short period of time. We got most of our energy from non-renewable energy sources, which include fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, coal and from nuclear energy. Fossils fuel are thought to have been formed from the buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.

Fossils fuels take millions of years to make, but burn and disappear in seconds. Once they are used, they cannot be reused. people have irretrievably damaged the planet by extracting and burning these fuels. It is best not to waste fossil fuels as they are not renewable. We have to learn to conserve these sources of energy.

At present, the worldwide burning of coal, oil, and natural gas releases billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Burning any fossil fuel means pollution of some sort. Even if the fuel is low in sulphur, the atmosphere contains nitrogen, which combines with oxygen at the high burning temperatures found in boilers, jet, or car engines. This yields nitrogen oxides, which like sulphur dioxide,dissolves in rain toformnitric acid. Both gases are poisonous to humans.

Mining and exploration for fossil fuels can cause disturbance to the surrounding ecosystem. The burning of fossil fuels emits oxides of suphur and nitrogen into the atmsphere.

COAL

Fossil fuel in rock form.
Can be used to heat air and water and to produce electricity.
It is also used in manufacturing.

NATURAL GAS

Fossil fuel in gas fom. It can be used to heat air and water toproduce electricity, as a transportation fuel and as an ingredient in industrial products.

PETROLEUM

Fossil fuel in oil form. It can be used to heat air and water, to produce electricity, as transportation fuel and as a material in manufacturing.

NUCLEAR

Energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity. But first the energy must be released. It can be released from atoms in 2 ways: Nucleur Fusion and Nucleur Fission. The fuel most widely used by nucleur plants for nucleur fission is Uranium. Uranium is non-renewable. Relying on fossil fuels for energy generation is unsustainable. Hence the need to find more renewable, sustaiable ways of generating energy.

SOLAR ENERGY

Energy directly from the sun.
Solar power is used synonymously with solar energy or more specifically to refer to the conversion of sunlight into electricity. The solar collectors you see on rooftops use a process called photovoltaics. Silicon, an element found in sand, is used to convert sunlight i to energy If you have a solar-powered watch or calculator, you're using photovoltaics.

WIND ENERGY

Energy from the wind can be used to produce electricity.
A wind turbine (modern windmills) turn wind energy into electricity. Wind turbine can be found singularly, but usualy many together in wind farms. Wind energy is a pollutant-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn't use fuel, it doesnt pruduce greenhouse gasses, and it doesn't produce toxic or radioactive waste.

HYDROPWER

Hydro means water. Hydropower is the energy we make with moving water.
Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. It is a renewable source of energy, produces no waste, and does not produce carbon dioxide (CO2) which contributes to greenhouse gasses. Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator.

GEOTHERMAL

Geothermal energy is heat from within the earth.
We can use the steam and hot water produced inside the earth to generate electricity. geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because the water is replenished by rainfall and the heat is continously produced inside the earth. Geothermal energy can sometimes find its way to the surface in the form of volcanoes and fumaroles (holes where volcanic gases are released), hot springs and geysers.

BIOMASS

This is a decaying plant or animal waste. An organic material which can be burnt to provide energy such as heat and electricity. It is a remewable energy source bacause we can always grow more tree and crops, and waste will always exists, some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. Biofuels are transport fuels made from plant materials and recycled elements of the foodchain (biomass).

May, 2009. ENERGY MATTERS: Kids' corner.