Energy resources
● Energy
○ The ability or capacity to do work
● Energy resources
○ Something that can produce heat, light or electricity
Renewable energy
Non-renewable energy
Solar
Nuclear
Wind
Fossil fuels
Tidal
Petroleum
Geothermal
Coal
Hydroelectric
Biomass
Easily available
Not readily available
Unlimited
Limited
Non-conventional
Conventional
Readily available
Production takes millions of years
Renewable energy
● Solar
○ Obtained from the sun
○ Expensive → solar panels, converts light to electric energy
○ Stored light/solar energy → no pollution
○ Sun → nuclear fusion reaction
○ Solar cell → Device used to store electrical energy
● Wind
○ Generators are driven by wind turbines
○ Windmills → large, remote, windy sites are needed
○ Noisy , can spoil and scape
● Biomass
○ The energy produced from the dead organic matter or dead plants and animal parts
○ Wood, leaf parts and crop residue
Advantages
Disadvantages
Renewable
Less efficient
Abundant/easily available
Not clean(carbon dioxide and monoxide) produced
Low cost
Large amount of space needed
Reduces waste
Not as efficient as fossil fuels
● Tidal
○ Form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power
○ During high tide, the water flows into the dam.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Renewable
Cost of construction is high
Environment friendly
Only few locations
Doesn’t produce greenhouse gases
Tidal waves are predictable
More efficient than coal, solar or wind
Influences aquatic life adversely, can disrupt
migration
Cost of construction is high but maintenance is
low
Generates only twice a day
Energy density is higher than other
Frozen sea, low or weak tides
Renewable energy sources
Expensive as produced at far away places than
consumption
● Geothermal
○ Deep underground, the Earth’s rocks are very hot. We can turn their heat energy into
electrical energy
■ Cold water is pumped below the ground
■ Hot rocks heat the water turning it to steam
Advantages
Disadvantages
Inexhaustible
Very few places in the world
No environment impact
High start-up costs
Pumps can store heat for later use
Non renewable energy
● Energy taken from sources available or earth → limited quantity
● Petroleum
○ Remains of marine organisms
● Fossil fuels
○ Coal, petroleum and natural gas are fossil fuels as these are formed by the decomposition
of the remains of dead plants and animals
Advantages
Disadvantages
Widely and easily available
Growing demand
Easy to store and transport
Non-renewable and fast depleting
CLeaner and easier to burn than coal
Releases harmful products while combustion
Reliable electricity
CO2 major cause of global warming
Increasing prices
● Nuclear Energy
○ Energy in the nucleus of an atom
Advantages
Disadvantages
Jobs and prosperity to the country
Disposal of waste is very difficult
Provides the world with most of its electricity
Storing is dangerous and radioactive
Do not emit CO2
Expensive to build
Causes less pollution
Leads to environmental problems (mining and
processing)
Lots of energy produced from a small amount of
uranium
