APES 6.1 Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

Enduring Understanding:

• Humans use energy from a variety of sources, resulting in positive and negative consequences.

Learning Objective:

• Identify differences between nonrenewable and renewable energy sources.

Essential Knowledge:

• Nonrenewable energy sources are those that exist in a fixed amount and involve energy transformation that cannot be easily replaced.
• Renewable energy sources are those that can be replenished naturally, at or near the rate of consumption, and reused.

Nonrenewable

• Cannot be replenished as fast as it is used
• Exists in a fixed amount and involve energy transformation that cannot be easily replaced
  • Technically these resources will be produced again, but only after millions of years
  • It is not reliable to think of this as renewing itself because it is not within a feasible timeframe for us to use
• Nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas
  • Nuclear is non renewable but not a fossil fuel like others in this category

Fossil Fuels

• Fossil fuels come from carbon-base fossils, highly compresses organic matter that contains a ton of energy
• Fossil fuels go by many names because there are many kinds of them

Renewable

• Is or can be replenished as fast as it is used
• If manages correctly, these sources could be used indefinitely
• Biomass, hydroelectric, solar, wind, waves, geothermal