Non-renewable Energy

• NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY

  • A source of energy which will never run out
  • E.g. coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear.
• Fossil fuels = non-renewable as once used up, they take millions of years to reproduce.
• FOSSIL FUELS

  • Formed by dead creatures and plants from years ago.
• COAL

  • took millions of years for coal to form from land plants (existed 300+ million years ago).
• OIL + GAS

  • took at least a million years for oil and gas to form from ocean plants, like phytoplankton and algae (hundreds of millions of years ago).
• ADVANTAGES -coal, oil, gas

  • Reliable
  • Large power output
  • Affordable
  • Quick, easy access
• DISADVANTAGES - coal, oil, gas

  • Non-renewable
  • Produce greenhouse gases
  • Cause acid rain (mainly coal)
• ADVANTAGES - nuclear

  • Reliable
  • Large output power
  • No greenhouse gases
• DISADVANTAGES - nuclear

  • Non-renewable
  • Long start up time
  • Produces radioactive waste which must be stored for a long time
  • Expensive to commission + decommission