3.3 Our Energy Future
| Site: | Cowichan Valley School District - Moodle |
| Course: | Science 10 with CSS teacher |
| Book: | 3.3 Our Energy Future |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Saturday, 26 April 2025, 2:33 PM |
Renewable Energy
At this point, you have a good appreciation for the HUGE role that energy plays in our society.
As scientists, we need to be smart about the technical aspects of energy and how to best develop technology. There's no doubt that fossil fuels were a big factor in making your life as sophisticated as it is. Given that, we need to be intelligent as we evolve our sources of energy.
| The Big Challenge |
| Three quarters of the world’s energy is currently being generated by burning fossil fuels. Changing is going to require good scientists and a determined population (who will push for policy changes). |
Climate Change
Changing from fossil fuels to other forms of energy is a big challenge! There are lots of opportunities for businesses, but also some stress for those who are making a lot of money on our fossil fuel infractructure. Energy is BIG business.
For this reason, it's not surprising that there is a lot of resistance to the change. In fact, there are a number of studies being published regularly that question climate change. Who funds these studies that oppose the evidence? Who's going to loose billions of dollars? Critical thinking is required.
There's no doubt that this will be a challenging change, but certainly a necessary one.
Renewable Energy
Solar Energy
| Lots of Solar Energy! |
| Enough sunlight reaches the earth’s surface each minute to satisfy the world’s energy demands—for an entire year. |
Wind Energy
| World's Largest Windfarm |
| The world’s largest wind farm is the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center near Abilene, Texas. Covering 92 square miles, the center has more than 400 turbines that are 262 feet tall. They produce 735 megawatts of electricity. |
Hydro Energy
| World's Largest Hydroelectric Project |
| The most powerful hydroelectric project in the world is China’s Three Gorges Dam. The controversial and enormous power plant brings power to millions of Chinese villagers and will generate more than 22,000 megawatts from six generators. |
Nuclear Energy
| Nuclear Environmental Impact |
| While the process of getting all of the materials to build a nuclear plant created environmental pollution, and nuclear waste is an issue – the process of using nuclear energy and producing it has no significant environmental impact. Worldwide, there are over 400 commercial nuclear reactors producing energy for 31 countries. |
Your Footprint
As mentioned, scientists and engineers are working hard to evolve our sources of energy.
Given that, as an energy consumer, you are definitely part of the solution.
The impact you have on our planet with your lifestyle can be called your "footprint" (referred to as "energy footprint," "carbon footprint," "ecological footprint," or "environmental footprint."
Leaving a big footprint means that your lifestyle leaves the Earth significantly worse off. To have a small "footprint" means that you don't negatively impact the Earth's resources as much.
Footprint Calculation
First Nation Perspectives
The BC First Nations Energy & Mining Council (FNEMC) is a provincial First Nations non-profit organization. FNEMC’s mandate is to support and facilitate First Nation efforts to manage and develop energy and mineral resources in ways that protect and sustain the environment forever while enhancing the social, cultural, economic and political well-being of First Nations in British Columbia. The mandate was established by the BC First Nations Leadership Council – the political executives of the BC Assembly of First Nations, the First Nations Summit and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs – and the Chiefs of British Columbia.
FNEMC operates under the authority of BC First Nations to advocate and facilitate the priorities outlined in the BC First Nations Energy Action Plan and the BC First Nations Mineral Exploration and Mining Action Plan.
Click on the link below to visit the FNEMC site (reference for Learning Guide questions).
Our Future
Interview
What do physicists, technologists, and engineers do? Here's an example.