Billcashey's blog: "Earth For Energy"

Everyday, we make use of energy to assist us in our lives. For example, we use it for electricity, for heating, and to travel. Energy makes our lives easier. Click here to read more - Building Solar Panels and Renewable Energy

The Energy Supply

Most of our energy comes from fossil fuels – oil coal, and gas. We use billions of tones of them every year for fuel and to produce electricity. Today, there is just about enough energy to go round. Demand is growing, however. Eventually, supplies of usable fossil fuels will run out. So what about the future? We will have to conserve our resources and develop new ones. Scientists and energy experts are developing power from renewable sources.

Renewable Sources

A renewable energy source is one that doesn’t run out, however much we use. There are certain processes that always take place on Earth. Somewhere in the world, the wind is blowing and the Sun is shining. Living things are growing everywhere. Water is on the move in rivers and seas. The layers of rock under our feet pump out heat. These constant processes are sources of renewable energy. We can use them to fuel cars, warm our homes, and make electricity. They will not get used up.

Climate Change

When we burn fossil fuels, they release gases into the air. Some of these gases cause pollution. Several of the gases absorb the Sun’s heat. We call them greenhouse gases because they trap heat like a greenhouse (a glass-walled building for growing plants). Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas. Others are methane and nitrous oxide. The heat trapped in the atmosphere keeps Earth warm and allows like to exist. We are using such large amounts of fossil fuels that greenhouse gases are increasing. They are putting the world’s climate out of balance. Scientists have shown that greenhouse gases are causing Earth’s climate to change. The change is happening quickly. The world is getting warmer, and weather patterns are changing.

How Renewable Help

To slow climate change, we need to reduce the amounts of fossil fuels we burn. This will reduce the quantity of gr5eenhouse gases in the air. We can use renewable forms of energy that do not increase greenhouse gases. We can make hydroelectricity from water. Underground heat, called geothermal energy, can heat our buildings. The heat of the Sun can give us solar energy, and the spinning blades of a wind turbine (a kind of engine) capture energy from the wind. We can turn these sources of energy into electricity, too. Explore more about the uses of home solar power systems and home wind turbine

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