⇒ Our energy sources fit into two broad types: renewable and non-renewable

⇒ Facts about non-renewable energy:

• Eventually, all our non-renewable energy will be used up
• Non-renewable energy harms the environment
• Non-renewable energy accounts for most of the energy we use

⇒ Types of non-renewable energy:

• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Nuclear fuels (such as uranium and plutonium)

⇒ The fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal releast carbon dioxide, which contributes to something known as the greenhouse effect and climate change

⇒ Sulfur dioxide is released when we burn coal and oil - this, in turn, creates acid rain

⇒ Coal mines can create a mess of the environment, especially when an open-cast mine is in operation

⇒ When extracting oil it is possible for oil spillage to occur

⇒ Operating a nuclear power station is clean, but the waste produced is extremely dangerous and not the simplest thing to get rid of (see notes on this, here)

⇒ Facts about renewable energy:

• Renewable energy will not run out
• Renewable energy also can damage the environment, but less harshly than non-renewable energy
• The amount of energy produced by renewable energy tends to be less than non-renewable energy

⇒ Types of renewable energy:

• Geothermal
• Wind
• Solar
• Biomass
• Waves
• Tides
• Hydroelectric

⇒ A lot of the energy sources we have all really go back to the sun, which has been emitting a lot of energy (in the most part, heat and light energy)

⇒ For example, wind is powered by the sun because wind is created by the sun heating up the air, causing it to rise, and then the cold air rushes in to fill the gap.

⇒ Nuclear power, geothermal and tidal energy does not originate in the sun

• Nuclear energy is contained within the nuclei of atoms
• Geothermal energy is caused by nuclear decay within the Earth itself
• Tides are created by the gravitational attraction of the oceans to the moon and the sun

⇒ Also see our notes on:

• Moving and Storing Heat
• Melting and Boiling
• Conduction and Convection
• Heat Energy
• Saving Energy
• Energy Transfer
• Energy Transformation Diagrams
• Efficiency
• Nuclear and Geothermal Energy
• Wind and Solar Energy
• Biomass and Wave Energy
• Hydroelectric and Pumped Storage