Every day we rely on energy to provide us with electricity, hot water, and fuel for our cars. Most of this energy comes from fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

These are nonrenewable energy sources, which mean that if we use them all up, we can never get more during our lifetime.

Fossil fuels also contribute greatly to global climate change by releasing carbon dioxide into the air when they are burned.

These are energy sources that are constantly being replenished, such as sunlight, wind, and water. This means that we can use them as much as we want, and we do not have to worry about them running out.

Additionally, renewable energy sources are usually much more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels. Overall, they release very few chemicals, like carbon dioxide, that can harm the environment.

Common of Renewable Resources

Geothermal energy - The heat of the Earth and comes from under the ground. Power
plants use this as well as geothermal heat pumps for homes.

Hydropower - Uses moving water to generate electricity in dams, rivers, ocean surface
waves and the tides in the ocean

Jatropha - A weed that can be made into biodiesel

Landfill gas, or methane - Can be used for heat and power

Manure - Can be converted to methane that can produce biogas

Microbiota (an evergreen plant) - Used to make bioplastic

Nuclear power - Created through nuclear fission

Alcohol - Used in the production of biodiesel

Algae - Can be harvested and made into jet fuel, biodiesel and biobutanol

Animal fat - Used to make biodiesel or bioplastic

Bark and sawdust - Used for heat and power

Barley - Can make fuel ethanol

Corn - Used to make ethanol to power cars and heat homes

Corn starch - Used to make bioplastic

Crop residues - Such as wheat straw or corn stover

Duckweed - Used fore ethanol production

Palm oil - Used to make biodiesel

Pea starch - Used to make bioplastic

Poultry litter - Can be used to make biogas or can be burned to make electricity

Rapeseed oil - Used to make biodiesel fuel

Rice hulls - Gas produced from these is used to make biogas

Solar energy - Energy from the sun. The sun can be used to charge batteries, can be
Collected with solar cells to make electricity, or used passively to heat a building.

Soybean oil - Useful to make biodiesel

Sugarcane - Used in the production of ethanol as fuel for heating or automobiles

Sunflower oil - Can be made into biodiesel

Switchgrass - Used to make ethanol

Vegetable oil - Used in the manufacture of biodiesel or bioplastic

Water hyacinth - Used for methane fermentation

Wheat - Used to make ethanol

Wind power - Used to make electricity and mechanical energy. There are wind turbines
From residential homes to wind farms.

Important Renewable Food Crops
Apples
Bananas
Cassava
Corn
Grapes
Plantains
Potatoes
Rice
Sorghum
Soybeans
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
Wheat
Ydile
Deer
Doves
Ducks
Emu
Frogs
Goats
Geese
Guineafowl
Kangaroos
ams

Animals Used for Food
Alligator
Antelope
Bison
Camels
Carp
Catfish
Cattle
Chickens
Cod
Cornish game hen
Croco
Lambs
Lobster
Mackerel
Moose
Mussels
Ostrich
Pigs
Pheasants
Prawn
Quail
Rabbits
Salmon
Sardines
Sharks
Sheep
Shrimp
Tilapia
Trout
Tuna
Turkeys
Turtles
Water buffalo
Yak

Trees as Renewable Resources

Trees are used for many things, including making paper and furniture. They also clean the air we breathe. Here are some examples:

Alder
American black walnut
American white wood
Balsa wood
Maple
Oak
Obeche
Olive
Pine
Spruce
Teak
Wenge
Yew
Birch
Cedar
Cherry
Elm
European lime
Fir
Laurel