ENERGY AND RESOURCES

ENERGY AND RESOURCES

1.The Earth's surface receives enough energy from the sun every minute to meet a whole year's    demand for the entire Earth! The amount of sunlight hitting the Earth's surface each year can  supply nearly thirty six thousand times the amount of energy currently provided by the total oil consumption in the world.

2.Fossil fuels account for more than ninety percent of the World's energy supply.

3.Coal provides almost twenty seven percent of the world's energy requirements. Over forty percent of the world's electricity is made from coal.

4.Fossil fuels are natural substances made deep in the Earth from the remains of ancient plants and animals. The heat and pressure in the Earth, over time converts the decomposing remains into fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

5.Oil has has been used for over five thousand years by humans. The ancient  Sumerian's and Babylonian's used crude oil collected from seeps on the Euphrates River in modern Iraq. A seep is a place where oil leaks up from below. Ancient Egyptians used oil on wounds and to provide lighting.

6.Natural gas is made up of methane, a gas which is compound of carbon and hydrogen. It was first discovered about eight thousand years ago in Iran, where natural gas seeped up from the ground.

7.The natural gas seeps probably provided the fuel for the  eternal fires' of the ancient Persian fire-worshipers.

8.Natural gas is usually found underground near petroleum reserves. It is pumped up from there and travels in pipelines to storage areas. Natural gas usually has no  odor color and is lighter than air. Before it is sent to the pipelines, it is mixed with a chemical that gives a strong odor, almost like that of rotten eggs. This makes it easy to detect a leak.

9.The most abundant element in Earth is oxygen, which makes up a massive forty six percent of it. The most abundant metal in the Earth is aluminium which makes up about eight percent of it.

10.One kilogram of uranium fuel can supply as much energy as does the burning of about hundred tons of coal. Nuclear power plants generate spent fuel which is radioactive and hazardous. Disposal of the spent fuel is one of the major outstanding problems in using nuclear power.

11.Offshore oil rigs like the ones at Bombay High are among the biggest threats to marine life. Offshore drilling destroys reefs and coastal wetlands.

12.Over it's lifetime, a single oil rig can dump more than ninety thousand tons of chemicals and metal into the ocean. The air pollution caused by one oil rig is as much as that caused by seven thousand cars driving about seventy five kilometers a day!

13.Nuclear radiations is very dangerous because it is causes the cells in our body to mutate,i.e., the genetic material in the cell, the DNA, gets altered. This can cause cancer and lead to death.

14.The first people to switch from burning coal to solar energy for heating their houses were the Romans about two thousand years ago! This is the first known use of solar energy in cities.

15.Solar energy is among the cleanest sources of renewable energy. Sunlight can be used to generate electricity, provide hot water and to heat and light buildings.

16.Solar cells or  photo-voltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity. The cell consists of a special material which can do this. Several of these are arranged in modules to provide electricity for a building. They are of great use in remote areas where laying power cables is expensive.

17.Solar energy is also used for heating water. The rays of the sun heat up the water running through tubes in the collector, a large box with a glass cover.

18.Wind energy is actually a form of solar energy. Wind is formed from the heating and cooling of the atmosphere, which causes air and air layers to rise and fall and move over each other. This movement results in wind currents.

19.A wind energy system transforms the moving energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy. You must have seen photographs of windmills-they are normally used to pump water or to grind grain.

20.The wind energy system can also provide electricity by using the energy of the wind to run an electrical generator. It is especially suited for regions where there are high wind speeds.Large wind energy farms can generate enough electricity for small remote communities.

21.Both solar and wind energy are clean energies because they do not create any waste products in their generation. Although they are more expensive, they can be used in remote locations where providing access to the regular electrical supply is difficult and expensive.

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