Renewable vs Nonrenewable
 Renewable
 Naturally replenished on a human timescale
 Nonrenewable
 Also called a finite resource
 Resource that does not renew itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction
in meaningful human time-frames
vs
Nonrenewable
Renewable
 Solar
 Natural Gas
 Wind
 Petroleum or Oil
 Wood
 Coal
 Hydroelectric
 Nuclear Fission
 Ocean Tides
 Geothermal
 Biomass
 Renewable
 Primary source of all energy on
Earth
 Cleanest energy source
 0.25% of total U.S. 2012 Energy
Consumption
 Electricity Production
 Solar cell
 Concentrated solar
 Renewable
 Widely distributed
 Plentiful
 Unpredictable
 1.43% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Electricity Production
 Extracted from air flow using wind turbines or sails
Gansu Wind Farm
 Renewable
 Major source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
 “Poor man’s oil”
 Worldwide, provides 50-60% of the people with the
barest energy necessities
 1.98% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Heat is used to warm…
 1. surrounding areas and/or
 2. water
 Renewable
 Energy derived from falling water
 Used since ancient times
 2.83% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Electricity Production
 Hydroelectric dams
 Falling water turns giant turbines which drive
the generators
Three Gorges Dam
 Renewable
 Not yet widely used but future potential
 High costs & limited availability of sites
 0.001% of total U.S. 2012 Energy
Consumption
 Electricity Production
 Tidal steam generators
 Tidal barrage/lagoon
 Tidal turbines
 Renewable
 Generated from thermal energy generated
and stored in the Earth
 Cost effective & reliable
 Limited to areas near tectonic plate
boundaries
 U.S. is the largest producer of geothermal
electricity
 0.24% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Electricity Production
 Heat deep underground is used to warm
water that turns into steam and turns
turbines
 Renewable
 This is garbage!
 As bacteria decomposes organic waste
such as manure, food scraps, and pond
sludge, methane is produced
 Some cities produce electricity by
burning garbage in especially
designed power plants
 Can be converted into biofuels –
methane, ethanol, biodiesel
 4.45% of total U.S. 2012 Energy
Consumption
 Nonrenewable
 Fossil fuel formed when layers of buried
organic matter are exposed to intense heat and
pressure over thousands of years
 Hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily
of methane
 Found deep underground in rock formations
 Must be processed before use
 27.34% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Primarily used to heat homes
 Nonrenewable
 Fossil fuel
 Black, thick liquid pumped up from below Earth’s surface
 Formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually algae, are buried
subjected to intense heat and pressure
 Refining process separates the gasoline portion used in transportation
 Products from the remaining portions include: synthetic rubber, detergents,
fertilizers, and textiles
 36.48% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Nonrenewable
 Most abundant fossil fuel
 Combustible, black sedimentary rock
 Primarily carbon
 Burned for the production of electricity and/or heat
 Burning coal produces sulfur dioxide (SO2) – results in acid rain
 Mined either underground or by strip mining
 18.27% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
 Nonrenewable
 Discovered in the 1930’s
 Splitting the nucleus of an uranium atom releases a tremendous amount of heat
 Power companies use the heat to produce electricity
 Creates radioactive waste
 8.46% of total U.S. 2012 Energy Consumption
• Renewable
• Naturally replenished on
a human timescale
• Nonrenewable
• Resource that does not
renew itself at a sufficient
rate for sustainable
economic extraction in
meaningful human timeframes