5. Energy Resources

Flashcards about Energy Resources

Nonrenewable energy resource

Energy source that exist in fixed amounts and took millions of years to form, including fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Renewable energy resource

Energy source that is replenished by natural processes, including energy from the sun, wind, tidal, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass.

Coal

A burnable black or brownish-black sedimentary rock with a high amount of carbon and hydrocarbons.

Oil

Any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and mixes with other oils; examples include mineral oil, olive oil, cooking oil, and fuel oil.

Natural gas

An odorless, gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons predominantly made up of methane (CH4).

Solar energy

Radiation from the Sun capable of producing heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity.

Wind power

Kinetic energy of wind that can be captured and converted to electrical energy by wind turbines.

Biomass energy

Renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals, containing stored chemical energy from the sun produced by photosynthesis.

Hydropower

One of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, which uses the natural flow of moving water to generate electricity.

Geothermal energy

Heat energy from the earth with reservoirs of hot water that exist or are human-made at varying temperatures and depths below the earth's surface.