<aside> 🎮 Welcome back Ecowarriors! Today, we'll be learning about renewable energy! Renewable energy will never run out no matter how much of it we use. For example, the sun, wind, and ocean will be able to give us energy as long as the Earth exists. No matter how many wind-turbines we set up, they will never slow the wind down!
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As you know from yesterday’s lesson, we humans currently use a lot of non-renewable energy in the form of coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy. These energy sources give us lots of electricity, but they are running low. They can also be very harmful to the health of our planet.
Luckily, scientists have come up with ways to get energy from sources that will never run out! These are called “renewable” ****energy sources. Many of these sources of renewable energy are also “clean” energy, meaning they don’t pollute the environment!
Today, you will learn about five main types of renewable energy: solar, wind, tidal, hydroelectric, and geothermal.
Solar power comes directly from sunlight, and can be used to create both heat and electricity. We can harness the sun’s energy through solar, or “photovoltaic” cells (photo means light and a volt is a measure of electricity) which make up solar panels. These solar cells absorb the energy within the sun’s rays and convert it into electricity!
Wind energy is generated directly from the wind through the use of wind turbines. A wind turbine works like a fan, but in reverse! While a fan uses electricity to turn its blades to make wind, a wind turbine uses the naturally occurring wind to turn its blades, which creates energy. This energy is then converted into electricity!
Tidal energy is generated from the movement of the powerful tides within our oceans. This form of renewable energy works very similarly to wind power; there are even tidal turbines beneath the surface of the water, just like there are wind turbines sitting high on hilltops. The blades of the tidal turbines are turned by the motion of the waves. This turning creates energy, which can be used to create electricity.
Hydropower is generated from sources of flowing water, such as large rivers. Flowing and falling water contain a lot of energy, which can be harnessed through dams and other hydroelectric systems. As the water flows through the river, it is directed through a large pipe, which contains turbines. The flowing water turns the turbines, which spins a generator and creates electricity!
Geothermal energy is created by converting the heat from Earth’s core into electricity. The most common way of harnessing this energy is through the use of geothermal heat pumps. These pumps sit about 10 feet beneath the Earth’s surface and contain water which is heated naturally by the planet. The heating of the water creates steam, which turns a turbine, creating electricity!
Now, let’s play a **game!** In this game, you will explore 5 different regions on Earth, and install various renewable energy devices. Your goal is to power the battery to 100% in each region. Be careful, though, you can only use three of each device at a time!
First, listen to the explanation about how generation works. Then click “continue” to navigate to the large world map.
Let’s get started!