Energy

• Types of energy sources

  • Renewable Energy
  • Non-Renewable Energy
• Renewable Energy


  • Replenished by natural processes as we use it
  • Unlimited supply
• Non-Renewable Energy


  • Natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption
  • Limited supply
• Non-Renewable Energy


  • Fossil fuels: coal, petroleum, and natural gas
• Solar Energy


  Harnessed from photons in sunlight to generate electricity, solar thermal energy, and solar architecture
• Wind Energy


  Harnessed from moving air currents to generate mechanical power or electricity
• Wind Energy


  • Wind energy production is growing rapidly because the construction of wind generators is cheaper than building new fossil fuel-fired power plants
  • Wind energy is also clean and virtually limitless
• Hydropower Energy


  Harnessed from moving water currents and tides
• Hydropower Energy


  If a river is dammed, the energy of water dropping downward through the dam can be harnessed to turn turbines that produce electricity
• Spillway


  A passage for surplus water from a dam
• Spillways


  • They are used, when a reservoir is full, to pass floodwater safely, and in a controlled way, over a dam, around it or through it
• Geothermal Energy


  Harnessed from steam derived from Earth's heat
• Geothermal Energy


  Hot water is pumped from deep underground through a well under high pressure. When the water reaches the surface, the pressure is dropped, which causes the water to turn into steam. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces electricity
• In the cases of natural gas, coal, nuclear fission, biomass, petroleum, geothermal and solar thermal, the heat that is produced is used to create steam, which moves the blades of the turbine
• How generators create electricity


  1. Generators don't actually create electricity

  2. They convert mechanical or chemical energy into electrical energy

  3. They do this by capturing the power of motion and turning it into electrical energy by forcing electrons from the external source through an electrical circuit
• All matter is made up of atoms. They are the building blocks that create everything in the universe. When electrons move between atoms – that's electricity
• Fossil Fuel


  Generated from the decomposition of ancient plant and animal matter over millions of years
• Fossil Fuels


  • Coal
  • Oil
  • Natural gas
• Fossil Fuels

  Carbon is its base element
• Fossil fuels are used to produce energy; in the home they are burned to produce heat, in large power stations they are used to produce electricity and they are also used to power engines
• How fossil fuels are formed


  Fossil fuels are formed when organic matter that has been buried deep within the earth are subject to heat and pressure over millions of years
• When fossil fuels are burned, they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain