Renewable Energy WebQuest

Anthony Medeiros

Use the following link to help you complete the questions on energy.
o http://www.eia.gov/kids/energyfacts/index.html

1) How do scientists define energy? Energy is the ability to do work.

2) Explain the law of conservation of energy. Give examples of energy transformations. It means that
energy is neither created nor destroyed, example: chemical energy in gasoline is converted into
mechanical energy.
3) What is energy efficiency? Energy efficiency is the amount of useful energy you get from any type of
system.
4) What does it mean for energy to be nonrenewable? Renewable? Nonrenewable means that energy is
limited, when renewable means that it is replenished naturally regularly.
5) According to the U.S. Energy Consumption by Energy Source, 2012, what percentage of energy that
we use is renewable? What percent is nonrenewable? 9.3% renewable and 110.5% nonrenewable.

Renewable Energy Sources

6) What are the 6 forms of renewable energy resources? Biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower,
and biofuel.

Solar

7) What is solar energy? It is the suns rays that reach the earth.
8) Solar energy is converted into what energy? It is converted into thermal energy.
9) Give two examples of how solar energy is used. We can use it for heat and electricity.

10) What do solar cells do? Solar Cells change sunlight into electricity.
11) What do solar power plants do? Solar plants generate electricity by concentrating solar energy to heat a
fluid to produce steam that is then used to power a generator.
12) What are the 2 main disadvantages to solar energy? Amount of sunlight is not constant and the sun
doesnt deliver that much energy to any one place at any one time.
13) Explain how solar energy is beneficial for the environment. Sunlight effects weather and climate
conditions.
Wind.
14) What is wind and how is it caused? Wind is movement of air and it is caused by uneven heating of
earths surface.
15) What did American colonists use windmills for? The used windmills to grind grain, pump water and cut
wood.
16) What do wind machines produce? Wind machines produce electricity.
17) Describe a wind power plant. A wind power plant is an area developed for wind turbines and there are
many of them.
18) Describe the negative effects of wind machines. They take up space and are expensive.

Geothermal
19) What does the word geothermal mean? The word geothermal means earth heat.
20) What is geothermal energy? Geothermal energy is energy within the earth.
21) Geothermal energy is generated in the earths core.
22) Where is geothermal energy found? Volcanoes, fumaroles, geysers, and hot springs.
23) Name 2 ways people have used direct geothermal energy? Building geothermal power plants, and
district heating systems for hot water from geysers.
24) Describe how has Iceland used geothermal energy? A district heating systems heats most of buildings in
Iceland by the geysers and hot springs.
Biomass
25) What does Biomass mean and what does it contain? Biomass means renewable energy from plants and
animals and it contains stored energy from the sun.

26) Name 5 things that are biomass materials. Wood, crops, animal manure, garbage, alcohol fuels, and
landfill gas.
27) What is the most common biomass material? Methane gas is the main ingredient.
28) 84% of wood energy is used where? _About 84% is used in the USA.
29) How can biomass energy be negative to the environment? It can be negative because there is waste gases
that come with the use of biomass energy.
Hydroelectric.
30) Hydroelectric power generates what type of energy? Renewable electric energy.
31) What 3 states hold over one-half of the total U.S. hydroelectric capacity for electricity is Washington,
Oregon, and California
32) Most dams in the United States were not built to provide electricity, but for irrigation and flood control.

Ocean
33) Tides are the rising and falling of the ocean shore. What are tides caused by? They are caused by the
gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
34) Compare wind turbines and wave turbines. Wave turbines are heavier and more expensive to build than
wind turbines.
35) Not only could the ocean provide us with tidal energy, but renewable energy.
36) What is Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion? It is a system that uses a temperature difference to operate
a turbine to produce electricity.
37) Since the ocean expands almost two-thirds of the Earth, it makes sense to use that open ocean to provide
us with energy. What are the two forms of energy have scientists considered placing over the open
ocean? Tidal turbines, and tidal fences.

Use of Energy.

38) What are the 4 areas in which energy is used? Transportation, industry, commercial, and residential.

Residential- homes.

39) List the 5 ways in which energy is used in our homes. Electronics, space heating, water heating,
refrigeration, and air conditioning.
40) What is the most used type of energy in the home? The most used type is space heating._

 Saving Energy
Energy Efficiency
41) How much energy does the United States use? The 2nd most bth world wide
42) The average American consumes 3x more energy than the world average.
43) Identify 5 different ways in which we can conserve energy. Turn lights off, use fluorescent light bulbs,
turn off machines, recycle, and carpool.