Energy Is In Everything

We use energy to do everything we do, from making a jump shot to baking our cookies to sending astronauts into space - energy is there, making sure we have the power to do it all.

The impark of renewable energy on the world's energy picture is significant. The use of renewable energy is not new. Five generations (125 years) ago, wood supplied up to 90 percent of our energy needs. Due to the convenience and low prices of fossil fuels, wood use has fallen.

Renewable energy can be replenished in a short period of time. There five renewable sources used most often are:

1. SOLAR

2. Hydropower (water)

3. Solar

4. Wind

5. Geothermal

6. Biomass

Solar energy is radiant energy that is produced by the sun. Every day the sun radiates, or sends out, an enormous amount of energy. The sun radiates more energy in one second than people have used since the beginning of time.

Hydropower is energy that comes from the force of moving water. The fall and movement of water is part of a continuous natural cycle called the water cycle. Energy from the sun evaporates water in the earth's oceans and rivers and draws it upward as water vapor. When the water vapor reaches the cooler air in the atmosphere, it condenses and forms clouds. The moisture eventually falls to the earth as rain or snow, replenishing the water in the oceans and rivers. Gravity drives the water, moving it from high ground to low ground. The force of moving water can be extremely powerful.

Wind is simple air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth's surface be radiant energy from the sun. Since the earth's surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun's energy at different rates. Water usually does not heat or cool as quickly as land because of it physical properties.

Geothermal energy is generated in the earth's core, almost 4,000 miles beneath the earth's surface. The double-layered core is made up of very hot magma (melted rock) surrounding a solid iron center. Very high temperatures are continuously produced inside the earth by the slow decay of radioactive particles.

Biomass is any organic matter--wood, crops, seaweed, animal wastes--that can be used as an energy source. Biomass is probably our oldest source of energy after the sun. For thousands of years, people have burned wood to heat their homes and cook their food.