Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Resources

An energy resource is not somewhere you get energy from, it is a fuel or force which produces energy. Examples of energy resources: Solar Power Nuclear Plants Wind Turbines Coal Crude Oil Wave Energy Hydroelectric Power Geothermal Energy

Solar Power
Solar Power, which is a renewable energy, is generated by Solar Panels. These panels are made from silicon (which comes from sand). Photons of light knock into the first layer of silicon (which is negatively charged and therefore it must have more electrons than protons in it) and knock electrons off it. These free electrons then go to the next layer of silicon (which is positively charged and therefore it must have more protons than electrons in it) because they are negatively charged and this layer of silicon is positively charged and they then travel from this layer of silicon along a wire towards a rechargeable battery. This therefore creates an electric current (because electricity is made of electrons). Most of this energy is caused by the emission of light (or photons) from the Sun. The rest of the energy is caused in the same manner by bulbs or lights. 1 square meter of silicon solar panels can produce enough energy to power a 100watt bulb. It is a good, reliable source of energy.

Advantages
1. It is renewable. 2. Once installed it costs close to nil. 3. It produces a large portion of electricity.

Disadvantages 1. Is expensive to install. 2. Does not produce a lot of energy when it is dark. 3. Uses a lot of energy to make.

Crude Oil Crude Oil, which is a non-renewable energy, is mostly used as fuels for vehicles. We commonly refer to crude oil as Petrol or Diesel. Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons. Here is a hydrocarbon diagram for Kerosene and Refinery gas: H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H H-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-H H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H HHH H-C-C-C-H HHH C=Carbon H=Hydrogen

Here is a list of the different Hydrocarbon fuels and what they are used for: Refinery Gas-This has the shortest chain of atoms. It is used for things like gas cookers or fires. Petrol-This is nearly triple the amount of carbon atoms as Refinery Gas. It is used as a fuel for most cars. Naphtha-This has 2 more carbon atoms than Petrol. It is used in lanterns, as solvents and in some gas stoves. Kerosene-This has five more carbon atoms than Petrol. It is used as a fuel for Jets. Diesel-This has double the amount of carbon atoms as Naphtha. It is used in Lorries and some cars. Oil-This has as many carbon atoms as Kerosene and Diesel combined. It is used in a lot of things such as in cars and cooking.

Bitumen-This has five more carbon atoms than oil. It is used as tar for roads.

All these different types of Crude Oil come from fossil fuels and are therefore formed over millions of years. Some of them produce kinetic energy in vehicles; others are just useful for other purposes. If we ran out of them, we wouldnt get them back for ages. They are one of the most commonly used fuels that we have available. Crude Oil is definitely a key fuel to the world. Advantages
1. It is a great type of fuel because it is used for so many different things. 2. There are veins of it nearly wherever you look. 3. Once rigs are assembled, it is easy to mine.

Disadvantages
1. It is non-renewable. 2. Costs a lot to assemble rigs. 3. Produces carbon dioxide which adds to greenhouse gas emissions.

Comparison
Overall, these two types of fuels are both important to us. One is used for generating electricity; the other is used to power vehicles. Crude Oil is better than the Solar Panels because it is used for a lot more purposes and there are future mining sites sprouting up all the time. Solar Panels of course are renewable sources of energy whereas Crude Oil is not. Solar Panels are also cost nothing to produce energy once they are installed but on the other hand, it is expensive to install them. As for Crude Oil, the running costs are a problem because you would need men to watch over the rigs or mining veins for most of the day and it would also cost to build these mining sites. Personally, I think

Solar Panels are the best fuel because hopefully, in the future, nearly everything will run on electricity and so there will be no need for Crude Oil, Solar Panels and other renewable energy resources will provide us with what we need.