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Energy Resources Year 10 Energy Resources Everything we do requires energy to be converted from one form to another. As societies become more developed, their energy consumption increases. World energy use is doubling every 15 years as population increases and more countries strive to become industrialised. Much of this energy comes from non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels and uranium. This is a resource that cannot be easily replaced. Fossil fuels are cheap and easy to use, but reserves are finite. Our current rate of use of non-renewable energy resources is unsustainable. There is also increasing concern about the impact of non-renewable energy sources on the environment. The solution to the looming energy supply problem is to conserve non-renewable sources of energy by avoiding wastage and increasing the efficiency. At the same time we must increase use of renewable energy sources. These are resources that can easily R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 be replaced. But renewable energy sources are not without problems: some are expensive to set up and there are several technical and environmental problems to be solved. R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 Fossil Fuels Coal, oil and natural gas are referred to as fossil fuels because they formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Fossil fuel use has considerable impact on the environment. They are non-renewable. Coal formed from the remains of plants which grew in swamps and were buried by sediment. Australia has about 8% of the world’s coal reserves. Oil and gas formed from the remains of ancient marine organisms broken down by bacteria in the absence of oxygen. Australian deposits make up only 0.2% of world oil reserves. We import up to 25% of the oil we consume each year. R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 Renewable Energy R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 R Laugesen 16/07/2008 Energy Resources Year 10 R Laugesen 16/07/2008