REVIEW: Summary

Summary

Geothermal energy is a renewable resource. Photo courtesy of HowStuffWorks. 

• Nonrenewable resources are used faster than they are replaced. Once they're gone, they're gone!
• Renewable resources are so abundant or are replaced so rapidly that for all practial purposes, they cannot run out
• Fossil fules are the most commonly used nonrenewable resources
• Renewable resources include solar, wind, hydro power and in some ways, nuclear 
• Solar energy uses radiation from the sun to create energy and does not use fossil fuels
• Hydroelectric power, or water power, is clean, but dams can damage ecosystems
• Wind energy is clean and uses wind power to turn a turbine to generate electricity
• Wind energy does not produce greenhouse gases 
• Geothermal energy is clean and does not produce greenhouse gas emissions
• Nuclear power is released when the nucleus of an atom is split
• Nuclear power plants use uranium in fuel rods, which later become nuclear waste
• Periodic accidents involving nuclear power plants seem to slow the devleopment of nuclear power in many countries
• Ancient living organisms are buried quickly and altered by intense heat and pressure to form fossil fuels
• Fossil fuels include coal, oil, liquid petroleum and natural gas
• Coal is solid fossil fuels formed primarily from ancient swamp plants, especially during the Carboniferous
• Coal is the source of most electricity
• Coal mining may bring dangerous materials to the air and it is quite dirty
• Liquid fossil fuels include petroleum, which is useful for vehicles because it is easily stored and transported
• Petroleum is also extremely important for materials like waxes, plastics, fertilizers
• Extracting petroleum from the ground and transporting it is harmful to the environment 
• Natural gas forms with crude oil but at higher temperatures
• Natural gas burns more cleanly than petroleum and produces fewer greenhouse gases
• Fracking is a new method for extracting natural gas, which may be linked to groundwater contamination

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