Foundations of Social Studies
ECONOMICS
ENERGY AND ENERGY RESOURCES
For much of human history people have used the energy provided by animals and themselves to
accomplish tasks from plowing fields by hand to transporting goods on the back of an animal. Even
today, some less developed countries still rely on this type of power. For the more developed
countries of the world the Industrial Revolution changed many of the tasks we do from being
powered by hand to being powered by machine. The machines and devices we use today, however,
do not power themselves. They need a form of fuel in order to run. The power they use comes from
some type of energy resource.
Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources
The word renewable means that something is reusable; non-renewable means that something
cannot be reused. Examples of non-renewable resources are coal, petroleum or oil, and natural gas.
Once these types of fuel are burned they cannot be reused. We use these types of fuel often. Many
power plants run on coal in order to generate electricity. The gasoline that we put in our vehicles is
refined from oil. Our homes are often heated with natural gas.
Renewable resources, on the other hand, are not depleted, or can be readily replaced, when we use
them. Examples of this type of energy are solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal. Solar power is
energy that comes from the sun. The sun’s energy is harnessed through solar panels that convert
the heat energy into electricity. Wind power uses large windmills to turn turbines that generate
power, while hydroelectric power uses running water to turn turbines located in dams. Geothermal
power uses heat from below the earth’s surface to generate energy. All of these forms of energy
can be used over and over again, as long as the sun continues to shine, the wind continues to blow,
rivers continue to flow, and the earth’s interior continues to generate heat.
Nuclear Energy
Another type of power is nuclear energy. Technically speaking nuclear energy is non-renewable;
however, it generates so much power that it lasts much longer than the other forms of nonrenewable energy. For example, one unit of nuclear energy has about 2 million times the power of
one unit of coal. About 30 countries around the world use nuclear energy and accounts for around
10% of power generated in the United States.
Because nuclear energy is very powerful and dangerous, some people worry about its challenges.
When nuclear energy is created through splitting uranium atoms, it also creates radioactive waste.
This waste is harmful to humans, animals, and vegetation. Though nuclear power plants will not
explode like nuclear bombs, overheating of a nuclear reactor could release radioactive particles into
the atmosphere.
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Another concern about nuclear energy is how to store the spent fuel. The waste remains dangerous
for several thousand years. No one has come up with a way to permanently store it. For now, the
waste is stored in cooling tanks at power plants. Some people would like to store the waste
underground, but others worry that it could contaminate the ground water. Though nuclear energy
has drawbacks, many feel the value of nuclear energy outweigh the hazards.
Energy Use and Supply
Energy is used by different countries at different rates. Half of the world’s energy is consumed by
wealthy countries and the other half by less developed counties. North America uses the most per
person. North America uses 25% of all of the world’s energy, but contains only about 5% of the
world’s population. In the United States, we use our energy in three main places: businesses,
homes, and transportation. Businesses need to use energy to produce products and sell items. The
main energy resource businesses consume is coal, by either burning it directly or through using
electricity from coal fired power plants. Homes use energy mainly to heat and cool the living spaces,
but also use energy through electricity consumption. The main type of energy resource used in
homes is natural gas. Finally, transportation mainly uses oil. Not only is oil used in fuel for vehicles,
it is also contained in asphalt roads.
Non-renewable energy is not distributed evenly around the world. Some regions have much more
than others. Most of the world’s coal is located in the middle latitude regions. China extracts more
coal than any other country. China, Russia, and the United States have over two-thirds of the
world’s coal reserves. When it comes to oil, the Middle East has as much as 40% of the supply. Saudi
Arabia alone has 20% of the supply. When dealing with natural gas, Russia has over one-quarter of
the reserves.
Pollution / Global Warming
One of the major concerns with energy use is the high amount of pollution that can occur. As
humans’ burn fossil fuels, it releases carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and other
polluting chemicals into the atmosphere. These gases can be harmful to the health of people,
plants, and animals in the region. The three most common human activities that cause air pollution
are motor vehicle travel, industries, and power plants.
Pollution is a concern to many people because there is evidence that suggests burning fossil fuels
may be causing the earth’s temperature to increase. The gases in air pollution, such as carbon
dioxide, trap heat and may be increasing temperatures. This is worrisome to many because it could
change climate patterns, raise sea levels, and lead to more violent storms. For this reason, many
countries pass laws to try to decrease the amount of pollution such as placing limits on the amount
of chemicals that industries can release into the air or setting gas millage requirements on vehicles.
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