c
 



   
 

Solar power, that's obvious, but the energy in coal originally came from the Sun too.
Prehistoric plants stored the Sun's energy in their leaves, and when they died and eventually
formed coal seams, that energy was still there. So when we burn coal (or any fossil fuel),
we're releasing chemical energy that was stored in plants millions of years ago.

The same goes for Wind and Wave power. Waves occur because of winds, and winds blow
because the Sun warms our atmosphere. Warm air tends to rise, and winds are due to other
air moving in to replace it.

Most power stations burn coal, oil or natural gas to run the generators. Others use uranium,
or the flow of water. Electricity is sent around the country using high-voltage power lines.
Nearly all of the power we use comes from large power stations, although some places such
as isolated farms, or hospitals, have their own diesel generators.

  
    

Most of our energy comes from fossil fuels²coal, oil, and natural gas supply about 85
percent of US primary energy consumption. Although the supplies of these fossil fuels are
vast, they are not unlimited. And more important, the earth's atmosphere and biosphere may
not survive the environmental impact of burning such enormous amounts of these fuels.
Carbon stored over millions of years is being released in a matter of decades, disrupting the
earth's carbon cycle in unpredictable ways.

But fossil fuels are not the only source of energy, and burning fuel is not the only way to
produce heat and motion. Renewable energy offers us a better way. Some energy sources are
"renewable" because they are naturally replenished, because they can be managed so that
they last forever, or because their supply is so enormous that they can never be meaningfully
depleted by humans. Moreover, renewable energy sources have much smaller environmental
impacts than fossil and nuclear fuels.

 

  , from plants, is a rich source of carbon and hydrogen, and one that can be
used within the natural carbon cycle. Fast -growing plants, such as switchgrass and willow
and poplar trees, can be harvested as "power crops." Biomass wastes, including forest
residues, lumber and paper mill waste, crop wastes, garbage, and landfill and sewage gas,
can be used to produce heat, transportation fuels, and electricity, while at the same time
reducing environmental burdens.

    , power from the sun, is free and inexhaustible. Converting sunlight into useful
forms is not free, but the fuel is. Sunlight has been used by humans for drying crops and
heating water and buildings for millennia. A twentieth -century technology is photovoltaics,
which turns sunlight directly into electricity.

  is another ancient energy source that has moved into the modern era. Advanced
aerodynamics research has developed wind turbines that can produce electricity at a lower
cost than power from polluting coal plants.

_    taps into the heat under the earth's crust to boil water. The hot water is
then used to drive electric turbines and heat buildings.

     uses the force of moving water to produce electricity. Hydropower is
one of the main suppliers of electricity in the world, but most often in the form of large dams
that disrupt habitats and displace people. A better approach is the use of small, "run of the
river" hydro plants.

  is the largest source of fuel for electricity production, and also the largest source of
environmental harm. Coal provides 54 percent of the US electricity supply.

is used primarily for transportation fuels, but also for power production, heat and as a
feedstock for chemicals. The US imports over half of the oil we use, more than ever before.

 
is a relatively clean burning fossil fuel, used mostly for space and water heating
in buildings and running industrial processes. Increasingly, natural gas is used in turbines to
produce electricity.

   harnesses the heat of radioactive materials to produce steam for power
generation. Nuclear power provides about 21 percent of US power, but is expected to
decline as old plants retire.
Earthquakes, also called temblors, can be so tremendously destructive, it¶s hard to imagine
they occur by the thousands every day around the world, usually in the form of small
tremors.

Some 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean,
called the "Ring of Fire" because of the preponderance of volcanic activity there as well.
Most earthquakes occur at fault zones, where tectonic plates ²giant rock slabs that make up
the Earth's upper layer²collide or slide against each other. These impacts are usually
gradual and unnoticeable on the surface; however, immense stress can build up between
plates. When this stress is released quickly, it sends massive vibrations, called seismic
waves, often hundreds of miles through the rock and up to the surface. Other quakes can
occur far from faults zones when plates are stretched or squeezed.

Scientists assign a magnitude rating to earthquakes based on the strength and duration of
their seismic waves. A quake measuring 3 to 5 is considere d minor or light; 5 to 7 is
moderate to strong; 7 to 8 is major; and 8 or more is great.

On average, a magnitude 8 quake strikes somewhere every year and some 10,000 people die
in earthquakes annually. Collapsing buildings claim by far the majority of live s, but the
destruction is often compounded by mud slides, fires, floods, or tsunamis. Smaller temblors
that usually occur in the days following a large earthquake can complicate rescue efforts and
cause further death and destruction.

Loss of life can be avoided through emergency planning, education, and the construction of
buildings that sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake.

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