Read the Transcript. Could ocean waves be considered a renewable resource? [(lesson 6, slide 6) test essay question
Using Energy Resources Transcript
A collage of images is shown on a wood textured background. The camera focuses on a photograph of the setting sun.
NARRATOR: We get the energy we use from many sources—coal, oil, wind, flowing water. Still, no matter where the energy seems to come from, the ultimate source of all the energy we use on Earth is the sun.
Text reads: the sun.
The camera focuses on a photograph showing an aerial view of a large solar plant in the California desert.
NARRATOR: This solar power plant in the California desert gathers the sun’s energy directly. An array of thousands of mirrors focuses the sun’s rays on a central tower that creates steam. The steam spins a turbine to produce electricity.
A photograph shows a man on a roof installing solar panels.
NARRATOR: A growing number of people are putting photovoltaic cells like these on the roofs of their houses. Solar energy hitting these solar cells produces an electric current.
A photograph shows many spinning wind turbines under a blue sky.
NARRATOR: Wind produces a little more than 7% of the electricity used in the United States. But wind is just moving air created by the sun’s unequal heating of Earth’s surface. No sun—no wind!
The camera focuses on an aerial view of a dam showing water on one side and spilling over the other side.
NARRATOR: We also get about 7% of our electricity from hydropower. That’s the power of water flowing from a reservoir over a dam. The water spins a turbine that produces electric current. Remember, Earth’s water cycle is driven by the sun.
A photograph shows trees with colorful leaves in a forest with sunlight streaming in.
NARRATOR: Many of the world’s people use the wood from trees for heating homes and for cooking food. All plants get the energy stored inside them from the sun.
The camera focuses on a pile of burning coal with flames coming out of the center.
NARRATOR: Fossil fuels release energy when burned. That energy was stored in them millions of years ago by the plants and animals from which they were formed. That energy also came from the sun.
A bright sun in a blue sky with puffy clouds is shown.
NARRATOR: So for every form of energy we use, we can thank the sun. Because when you think about it, all energy is solar energy!