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Nonrenewable resources:
◦ Exist in limited quantities, and cannot be replaced
 Examples: fossil fuels, uranium
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Renewable resources:
◦ Can be replaced in a relatively short period of time
◦ Directly or indirectly come from the sun
 Examples: biomass, wind, geothermal
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Passive solar designs
◦ Building design to heat using the sun WITHOUT
machinery
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Active solar designs
◦ Sunlight heats water which is pumped to locations
for heating use
◦ Photovoltaic cells collect solar rays and turn them
into electrochemical energy
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Drawbacks:
◦ Sun not always shining!
◦ High initial costs
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Energy captured from flowing water when
gravitational PE is converted into KE
◦ Kinetic energy turns turbines for electric generators
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Dams allow hydroelectric plants to store up
potential energy
Drawbacks: Environmental problems
◦ Fish spawning is disrupted
◦ Flow of sediments changes
◦ Water distribution changes downriver
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Converts horizontal KE into rotational KE
Output depends on size of turbine and wind
speed
Wind is caused by uneven heating of the Earth
Drawbacks:
◦ It isn’t always windy
◦ High initial costs