1. ENERGY RESOURCES
Frances Bueno
November 2016
HON 102 Taking Action

2. What is energy?
• Energy is the ability to do work, make
things, and change things
• You can “see” energy by looking for
motion, heat, and light
• Energy is everywhere

3. Why do we need energy?
• Energy is what keeps the world going!
• We use energy to turn on lights, drive cars, make things
• What uses energy?

4. Where do we get energy?
• Fossil fuels: 81% of the total energy in the United States
• Renewable energy sources

5. What are fossil fuels?
• Natural gas, coal, and oil
• Take hundreds of thousands of years to
form
• How to get fossil fuels:
1. Find where they are using sound waves
2. Drill to reach oil and natural gas
3. Put a pipe in to pump the gas to the
surface

6. Disadvantages of fossil fuels
• Do not replenish as quickly as we use them
• Getting fossil fuels will become more dangerous
and more expensive
• Pollution – nitrogen oxides lead to smog and acid rain

7. Pollution
• Smog: fog or haze combined with smoke and other
pollutants
• Acid rain: acidification of not just rain, but snow, fog,
hail, or even dust
• 1. Write and share: what effects might pollution have
on our world?

8. Advantages of fossil fuels
• Relatively cheap and plentiful
• Our technology is made to use fossil fuels
• Currently, no other energy source can replace fossil fuels

9. How can we make fossil fuels better?
• Advanced technology to make extraction safer and cheaper
• Clean up fossil fuels

10. The United States and
energy
• Americans are 5% of the global population, but use
20% of the world’s total energy use
• One American uses as much energy as:
• 2 people in Japan
• 31 people in India
• 370 people in Ethiopia
• 2. Discuss and share: Why do you think we use so
much more energy?

11. ENERGY BEANS
• 80 pinto beans for non-renewable energy, 20 black beans for renewable energy
• Let’s see what happens when we use the same amount of energy every year:
•Randomly pick 23 beans from the original bag and place them in the second bag - don’t
pick and choose!
•If you happen to pick a black bean, you can put that back in the original bag.
•We’ll do a couple rounds and see what happens to our available energy.
•3. Write and share: What do you think would happen if we don’t use renewable
energy? How would energy use change if the population increases each year?

12. Renewable energy
• Natural resources that continuously
replenish
• This energy cannot be completed used
• Examples of renewable energy:
• Wind, solar, hydropower

13. Wind energy
• Wind turns blades connected to a turbine

14. Solar energy
• Absorbs and stores the sun’s energy
• What is something in the natural world that uses
solar energy?

15. Hydropower
• Use flowing water that is usually directed
through a dam or other structure

16. The future of
renewable energy
• Mashups of renewable energy
sources
• Beaming down solar energy from
space
• Solar panels on our roads

17. Advantages of
renewable energy
• We will never run out of it
• Facilities generally require less and cheaper
maintenance
• Produces little or no waste and pollutants
• Why should we use renewable energy
sources?

18. Why don’t we use renewable energy
more?
• Difficult to generate the same amount of electricity generated by fossil fuels
• Reliability of supply
• 4. Discuss and share: Why might depending on the sun, wind, or water not be
such a good idea?

19. Why don’t we use renewable energy
more?
• Jobs - losing old jobs, but creating new ones
• Remember that there are two ways to improve how we create energy!
• 5. Discuss and share: How can we fix the disadvantages of renewable energy?

20. What is America doing
about energy?
• Investing more in renewable energy: $44 billion in
2015
• $560 million in Holt County, Nebraska
• Wind energy will power 120,000 homes
• $744 million in Primm, Nevada
• Solar energy will power 80,000 homes

21. What can we do about
energy?
• 6. Discuss and share: Why should we care about how
much energy we use?
• 17% of natural gas consumption belonged to
residential use
• 3% of natural gas consumption went to transportation
• Energy is used to make things, too!

22. ENERGY BUSTERS
• How many ways are there to save energy? Discuss and share!
• Turn off lights
• Wear sweaters around the house instead of turning up the heater
• Carpool with friends
• Buy food at a local farmers’ market