In this topic you will learn about conserving energy.

You use a number of different energy sources each day. Energy to provide heat for homes, schools and businesses may come from burning oil, natural gas, coal, or wood. Common devices like computers, lights, and TVs use electricity for energy. Electricity comes from a power plant. The power plant makes electricity by using energy from fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Most vehicles get energy from burning fuels such as gasoline or diesel oil.

Most energy you use can be traced back to fossil fuels—coal, oil, or natural gas. Burning a fossil fuel gives off smoke, gases, and other by-products. They pollute the environment. That is why the search is on for cleaner fuels. Our supplies of fossil fuels are limited. Fossil fuels are not a renewable resource. If we continue to use fossil fuels at our present rate, we will run out of them. There are two possible solutions to this problem. One is to conserve our energy resources so that they will last longer. Another is to search for other sources of energy..

Sources of energy other than fossil fuels are called alternative energy sources. Modern waterwheels can harness the energy of running water. In a hydroelectric plant, running or falling water spins a generator to make electricity. Wind, or moving air, can also spin a wheel. Holland is well known for its windmills.

The Earth's interior is very hot. Earth's internal heat is called geothermal energy. Geothermal energy can be used to heat homes and produce electricity. Homes in Boise, Idaho, have been heated by hot springs since the 1890s. At The Geysers in California, steam drives turbines that generate electricity. The steam comes from underground water heated by geothermal energy.

Every day the Sun bathes Earth in energy. Plants harness the Sun's energy through photosynthesis to make chemical compounds rich in energy. When you burn wood, you are releasing energy that a tree absorbed from the Sun..

There is renewable energy we can get from plant matter and animal wastes or other remains. It is called biomass. Plant materials and animal wastes that might wind up as garbage can be processed to form fuel. These treated wastes can be burned.