|Energy of the Future|
Created by:Nicholas Simpson
|Types of Renewable Energy|
Hydropower is energy from moving water. It is the element that completely depends on the water cycle. The water has lots of force. The water will go through pipes and push against a turbine to spin a generator which produces electricity. This is considered renewable because like I said before it depends on the water cycle. The water cycle repeatedly collects the water and it ends up back in the same place. This water will basically be going in a circle and always end up powering a generator and producing energy.
╓Wind:
Wind energy is the energy produced when wind (Warm or cold air being produced above water.) flows through a wind turbine. The kinetic energy from the wind is collected by the wind turbine. How it works? The wind will flow through the blades creating lift. (Similar to the effect of the wings on an airplane.) This causes the blades to turn. The blades are connected to a drive shaft which turns an electric generator to produce energy. This is renewable because we will always have wind and it will always find its way through a wind turbine.
╓Solar:
Solar energy is energy that is produced from the sun. The sun sends rays of energy towards the planet that we can and always collect. We collect it all the time and we don't even know it. Such as when you're eating fruit. Your actually eating energy. Another way we can collect energy is mechanisms such as solar panels or a solar dish. These will reflect the energy coming among the sun from every direction. This produces energy!
Okay I understand but why should we use these when we already have other ways of creating electricity?
Sure we do have other ways of creating electricity but these ways are not very efficient and are not renewable. Even worse it harms our planet and us! These other ways burn fuel which then goes in to our atmosphere and lowers the air quality. This also warms the planet. This has resulted in melting essential elements such as glaciers. Like I said it also pollutes our air. This means that what we breath can have bad chemicals in it that may result in disease for all animals. This means that us humans breathe bad air and so do all other animals. These other resources are also not renewable which means we have to find more of it to use it again. Eventually it will run out and we often need these sources for other reasons. If we changed then much less of this material will be used and after time the chemicals in our air will be reduced by a large amount.
Well how are these other resources any different?
Hydropower, Wind power, and Solar power does not harm us nor does it harm the Earth. With these other methods pollution will decrease by large amounts and it can be used repeatedly so we do not have to keep collecting more.
Hydroelectric Dam
Solar Power
Wind Turbine
|Still not interested?|
|Solar Power|
- Solar energy travels all the way to Earth within about 10 minutes. That's 90 million miles away from earth! That means that it wouldn't take long to collect it.
- An air force base in Nevada has saved $83,000 a month just from switching to solar energy! If we all switched to solar energy we would be saving MILLIONS of dollars that could be spent on other essential things such as improving schools and employing more people.
- Many satellites,space stations and other objects of the type are powered by solar energy! Why don't we all use it too?
Well why don't we just use this stuff later? I mean what we're using right now works well. Right?
We do manage pretty well without it but like I stated in the last section it pollutes and is harmful to the Earth and everything living on it. If we switched before we ran out of coal and other resources that are being used right now then we wouldn't have to worry about the other things we use those materials for.
So then why isn't everybody already doing this?
The companies. The companies that provide our oil and harmful resources we use now don't want that to happen. They make BILLIONS OF DOLLARS selling these products. They will also hire people to tell others not to switch because it's "better" to keep using their products. They will also pay the state not to switch and pay lots of money for commercials that give them a good image. It makes people think that the companies are good.
Solar panels save you more money.
Wind turbines save you more money.
|Make the switch!|
|Sources:|
Source 1:
"What Is Energy?" EIA Energy Kids -. EIA, Web. 12 Mar. 2014.<http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=1>.
Source 2:
"10 Interesting Facts about Solar Energy!" Renewable Resources Inc Stamford CT. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
<http://renewableresourcesinc.com/10-interesting-facts-about-solar-energy/#.UyHYBj_om1g>