Renewable Energy

D. Crowley, 2007

Renewable EnergyTo know what a renewable energy resource is

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Non-renewable• Why are fossils fuels non-renewable?

• Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy resources - once they have all been used up they cannot be replaced

• What alternatives to non-renewable energy resources do we have?

• Renewable energy resources can be replaced, never running out

Energy• Energy allows things to happen, but it cannot be created or

destroyed - it can only be stored or transferred

• Energy can be transferred from many different resources - in non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, energy is stored chemically in the fuel, and burning them releases this energy

• Energy can also be transferred from renewable resources, such as solar cells, where energy is absorbed from sunlight and turned into electricity

Energy Transfer• We need to get a lot of energy, but how we get this can vary

(between non-renewable and renewable resources)

• Your task is to research how renewable energy can help us, and with your findings produce an energy efficient house which only uses renewable energy resources (a green house)!

• You need to consider what renewable energy resources there are, and how they can be utilised for a house - how can we get the energy? How can we store it etc…?

• Follow the task sheet - first obtaining information about the types of renewable energy (use the internet / exploring science 7, pages 106 onwards)

• Then build your house, labeling your energy resource and how your house can utilise this energy…

Assessment

Criteria• Level 4 – pupils have attempted to include most of the energy

resources but have only labelled the names and not included any detail about how they work

• Level 5 – pupils included all the energy resources and the drawings imply understanding about how they work (e.g. geothermal is draw with pipes going into the ground etc…). There are labels included and the pupil has tried to explain how these work, although they may lack detail. Pupils may have attempted to think about the suitability of the resources to the task (e.g. wind energy will only provide power when it is windy, so alone it may not be appropriate for powering a fridge)

• Level 6 – pupils have used all the different energy resources and these are clearly labelled with an explanation, as well as suitability of energy resource to task and consideration of energy storage

Renewable EnergyRenewable energy resources can be replaced, never running out

• Biomass fuels - these are fuels from living things such as trees. As long as we continue to plant new trees to replace those cut down, we will always have wood to burn. Just as with the fossil fuels, the energy stored in biomass fuels ultimately came from the Sun

• Wind power - wind is caused by huge convection currents in the Earth's atmosphere, driven by heat energy from the Sun. The moving air has huge amounts of kinetic energy, and this can be transferred into electrical energy using wind turbines

Renewable Energy• Water power - moving water has kinetic energy:

– Wave machines use the up and down movement of waves to turn electricity generators

– Tidal barrages are built across the mouths of rivers. As water moves in or out of the river mouth when the tide turns, the kinetic energy in the water is used to turn electricity generators

– Hydroelectric power (HEP) schemes store water high up in dams (the water has stored gravitational potential energy). As the water rushes through pipes, this stored energy is transferred to kinetic energy, which turns electricity generators

• Solar power - energy is absorbed from the sun, and converted into electricity

• Geothermal power - water can be pumped deep into the ground where hot rocks heat the water

Renewable & Non-renewable Energy Resources

Energy Resource Advantage Disadvantage

Solar CleanRenewable

No electricity produced if there is little lightDo not collect much heat energy

Expensive, and need a lot of space

Hydroelectric CleanRenewable

Huge amounts of space needed, and very damaging to the environment

Wind CleanRenewable

No electricity produced if there is little windNoisy, ugly, and many are needed for viable amounts of

energy production

Geothermal CleanCheap

Renewable

Only possible in certain areas of the world

Wave CleanRenewable

Not much energy generatedNo electricity produced if there is calm water

Tidal CleanRenewable

Only works on rivers with big tides

Biomass Renewable Burning produces gases which cause global warming

Fossil Fuels Cheap Non-renewableProduce gases which cause global warming & acid rain

Nuclear No harmful gases produced ExpensiveNon-renewable

Dangerous radioactive substances produced

Energy – Save Today, Save Tomorrow