![]() ![]() All of these resources are available on a daily or seasonable basis. ![]() Renewable energy sources come from the fact that the Earth is a living organism. It will take thousands of years for the Earth to reproduce fossil fuels already used. When they are used up, they are gone forever. Fossil fuels are usually environmentally destructive in their harvesting and in their burning to produce usable energy. A small fraction of one percent of the sun's energy that the Earth absorbs is converted into plant tissue, and it is this tiny fraction that has produced all fossil fuels. Ironically, we have chosen to produce appreciable energy from only one source, fossil fuels. Most energy sources are ongoing or renewable while others are finite. Since the beginning of time, nature has been producing and reproducing energy in quantities so astronomical that we could never begin to use it all, not even with the most advanced technology. NATURAL ENERGY RESOURCES Energy is all around us and manifests itself in many different forms - heat, light, sound, magnetism, gravity, movement, and all life functions. In other words, if Neanderthal Man had used fission, we would be burdened with his radioactive waste even today. Nuclear fission has a by-product of radioactive waste that will last for 500,000 years. This form of energy is still experimental on Earth, but nuclear fission has been around since World War II. Nuclear energy is heat created by fission which is the splitting of atoms or by fusion where two atoms are fused together. It was supposed to be "too cheap to meter," and the hazardous waste problem would be solved in a "few short years." Oil and gas were an improvement over coal to run the machine man used to do work. The use of coal to produce steam was a major breakthrough in man's development along with the industrial revolution - the age of the machine to do the work. Fire was the first usable energy discovery, and animals began to share some of the work. He used himself to do any work and relied on the sun for a source of light and heat. Historically, man first had himself and the sun to provide energy. The first two come directly from the sun, the second two come indirectly from the sun, and the last two are independent from the sun. The unit measure of natural gas is the cubic foot (CF) which is about equivalent to 1000 Btu's.Įnergy can be in the form of thermal, radiant, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and atomic energy. The unit measure of electricity is the kilowatt hour (kWh), which is about equivalent to 3,412 Btu's. The unit of energy most often used in this country is the Btu (British Thermal Unit). LESSON / INFORMATION: Energy Energy is the capacity to do work. (3) Know the energy sources and explain why some sources are renewable and some are nonrenewable. (2) Be able to associate everyday energy use with the original sources. OBJECTIVE: The student will: (1) Recognize different energy sources. GOAL: To learn the different energy sources and to distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Natural Energy Sources NATURAL ENERGY SOURCES ![]()
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