Lesson 1: Energy Resources

Where does energy

come from?
How much energy is
available?
What are the
renewable and
nonrenewable energy
sources?
Sources of Energy:
• Nonrenewable resources are resources
that are used faster than they can be
replaced by natural processes.
• Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas,
and uranium.
• Renewable resources are resources that
can be replaced by natural processes in a
relatively short amount of time.
• Solar energy, wind, water, geothermal.
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Fossil Fuels
The energy used to power lamps, heat
houses, and run vehicles comes from fossil
fuels.

They are nonrenewable because they form

over millions of years.

Coal and oil (petroleum), natural gas are

fossil fuels.
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels we use today are formed from
the remains of prehistoric organisms.

The decayed remains of these organisms

were buried by layers of sediment and
changed chemically by extreme heat and
pressure.

▪ The type of fossil fuels depends on

– type of organic matter
– temperature and pressure
– how long the organic matter was buried
 Monday, January 13, 2025
Chapter 5 – Lesson 1

1- Differentiate between Renewable and nonrenewable energy resources.

2- List the two main groups of nonrenewable energy resources.
3- Give the three types of fossil fuels.
4- Indicate how fossil fuels are used to produce electricity.
5- Explain briefly how fossil fuels are formed.
6- List the main factors that affect the type of the fossil fuel formed.
 Monday, January 13, 2025
Answers: Chapter 5 – Lesson 1
1- Renewable energy resources are replaced quickly by nature. However,
the nonrenewable energy resources are also naturally replaced, but it
takes millions of years for them to be replaced.
2- Nuclear energy and Fossil fuels
3- Coal, Oil, Natural Gas.
4- They are burned.
5- Fossil fuels are formed by the remains of prehistoric living things that
were buried underground for millions of years, and changed due to
bacteria and high heat and pressure.
6- The type of the fossil fuel formed is affected by:
- The type of the organic matter buried underground
- The temperature and pressure
- The time duration that the organic matter has been buried for.
 Fossil Fuels : Coal
• 350 million years ago plants from prehistoric
swamps died.
• Bacteria, extreme temperatures, and pressure
affected the plants over time.
• Peat formed.
• Peat can be used as fuel, but it contains a lot of
water so it makes a lot of smoke when it burns.
• Over time, peat can change into coal (harder and
dryer).
Fossil Fuels : Coal
Fossil Fuels : Oil & Natural Gas
• Similar to coal, oil and natural gas used
today formed millions of years ago. The
difference is the organisms that it is made of.
• Plankton died and fell to the ocean floor
where it was buried under layers of
sediment.
• Pressure and high temperatures caused a
thick liquid oil to form.
• If temperatures got higher, natural gas
formed.
Fossil Fuels : Oil & Natural Gas
• Often, hundreds of layers of sediment and
rock cover oil and natural gas.
• In places where the rocks were porous, the
oil and natural gas rose closer to the surface
until it met impermeable rock layers.
• Oil deposits were formed.
• We drill underground into these deposits to
get oil and natural gas.
Fossil Fuels : Oil & Natural Gas
 What are the Advantages and
Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels?
- Limited supply
- Burning of fossil fuels is - Habitat Disruption
used to transform (Coal comes from underground
chemical energy into mines; Oil and natural gas
come from wells; Forests are
electrical energy. destroyed and animal life is
- They are inexpensive disrupted)
and easily transported - Pollution
(coal by train and oil by (Run off from coal mines
pipes or large ships). pollute soil and water; Oil spills
from ships can harm marine
life; Burning fossil fuels
produces air pollution which
can harm respiratory systems
and cause acid rain)
 Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Chapter 5 – Lesson 1

1- Why peat isn’t used as a fossil fuel?

2- Which fossil fuel is formed by the dead remains of prehistoric plants
near swamps?
3- Give two disadvantages of using fossil fuels.
4- Give one advantage of using fossil fuels.
 Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Chapter 5 – Lesson 1
1- Why peat isn’t used as a fossil fuel?
2- Which fossil fuel is formed by the dead remains of prehistoric plants
near swamps?
3- Give two disadvantages of using fossil fuels.
4- Give one advantage of using fossil fuels.
Answers:
1- Peat has high amount of moist, so it would release a lot of smoke when
burned.
2- Coal
3- They cause pollution
They cause habitat disruption
4- Fossil fuels are easily transported and used.
 Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Even though
Nuclear Energy
you cannot see an atom, since it is the
smallest building block of matter, the atom can release huge
amounts of energy.

Nuclear energy is the energy released from atomic

reactions.
- Nuclear fusion: joining atoms

- Nuclear fission: splitting atoms

Nuclear-fuels are commonly the radioactive metals:

Uranium or Plutonium
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Nuclear Energy
- Nuclear power plants produce electricity
using nuclear fission (splitting atoms).

Uranium atoms are split releasing thermal

energy (heat).
This energy heats water and changes it to
steam.
The steam turns a turbine (fan) inside a
generator which produces energy.
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
Nuclear Energy
 What are the Advantages and
Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy?

- You only need a small - Nonrenewable

amount of uranium - It is dangerous if the
atoms to produce large energy is released out
amounts of energy of control – radioactive
waste
- No pollution to air, soil, - Waste materials are
or water dangerous for 1000s of
years.
 How can the disadvantages on the
environment of using fossil fuels be
reduced?
• Reclamation
A process in which mined land would be covered with soil
and planted with vegetation.
• Limiting Air Pollution

Using filters that can clean out some of the pollutants from
the released gases out of factories or power stations.
How can we save energy?
• Turn off lights if we are not in the room
• Unplug appliances we are not using
• Use the bus or share a car