Updated Jun 05, 2024
This kit was created to assist you in completing the Renewable Energies patch challenge. Included are facts, stories, crafts, games, recipes and other information that can be copied and distributed to the participants.
What do you think it is? How do you materialize it? Where can you find it?
Energy is a transferable kind of work that can take multiple forms. We see energy as heat, light, and movement. Heat and sunlight are one type of energy: for example, lizards take ‘sunbaths’ to keep their body warm; plants use sunlight to grow.
Energy can be stored as food, fuel, or electricity. Food is one type of energy: you can convert food in your body to stay warm or to keep moving.
Gas or fuel, as well as electricity, can allow a plane to fly or a bus to transport people.
Of course, there are a lot of places where food is seriously lacking, but in the case of energy shortage, we’ll be considering fuel and electricity as the two major forms of energy.
Energy usage: What do you think is the major consumption of energy? What have you done/ used today that requires electricity?
Daily, we use a lot of energy for entertainment, cooking, transportation, lighting, and heating/cooling homes. Industries also use a lot of energy to produce and transport food. While you can easily picture the electricity and fuel that you consume at home, it is more difficult to evaluate how much energy brought your pineapple to your plate or how much it took to produce your T-shirt.
Energy is everywhere, and it is transferable. Everything that moves needs energy. We use energy for everything we do, from jumping to baking cookies, to driving cars or sending astronauts to space.
Over time, we have developed an understanding of energy that has allowed us to harness it for uses beyond basic survival. Since the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution, an increasing demand for energy is occurring to help us improve our quality of life and build new technologies. The invention of the steam engine was the center of the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine converted the energy stored in wood or coal into motion energy. As technology improved, steam was soon used to drive the manufacturing of machinery and power locomotives, ships and even the first automobile. Coal remained the major fuel supply until the middle of the 20th century, when it was overtaken by oil.
Industry, transportation, urban development, agriculture, and most other human activities are closely tied to the amount and kind of energy available. The availability of energy resources is constrained by the distribution of natural resources, availability of affordable technologies, socioeconomic policies, and socioeconomic status. A nation that has direct access to diverse sources of energy is more secure than a nation largely depending on foreign energy supplies. Access to energy resources, or lack thereof, affects human health, access to education, socioeconomic status, gender equality, global partnerships, and the environment.
Fossil fuels provide the vast majority of the world’s energy, but their supplies are limited. If society has not transitioned to sources of energy that are renewable before depleting Earth’s fossil fuel supplies, it will find itself in a situation where energy demand far exceeds energy supply. This situation will have many social and economic consequences.
Coal, Fuel and Gas are products that took several millions of years to materialize out of a dense accumulation of dead plants. But we are using it faster than it takes to replenish this energy source.
Most vehicles move on fuel combustion, and only a very small but growing percentage are electric or hybrid vehicles. Fuel is a non-renewable energy.
We get energy from coal, gas, and oil by digging it out and burning it.
Non-renewable energy is a resource that is not replenishing itself, and its amounts are dramatically diminishing with human consumption and will run out in our lifetime if we keep on using it that extensively.
Relying on fossil fuels for energy is a problem for many reasons:
Fuel is called fossil energy because it is the product of old buried accumulations/conversions of dead plants/organisms. This accumulation and transformation took millions of years, and we’ve almost burnt it all in one century, while the world stock didn’t get the time to replenish itself.
Canada is the sixth largest oil-producing country in the world after Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran and China.
Fossil energy is the number one factor responsible for greenhouse gases. In addition, we keep consuming more fossil fuels, which causes them to disappear.
These are two excellent reasons to favour the use of renewable energies.
Unlike fossil fuels, which are finite in supply, renewable energies are inexhaustible because
they naturally replenish. This includes hydroelectric power, which is derived from flowing water and biomass such as wood, waste, biofuels, geothermal, solar, and wind.
Energy generated from renewable sources (also called clean or green energies) is less harmful to the environment because it does not use up the Earth’s precious resources and is often less polluting than non-renewable sources of energy.
There is also a great advantage to using renewable energies: they are virtually free, and they don’t belong to anyone (v.s. war and economic fluctuation over fuel).
Burning leftover wood or crop wastes produces steam that can be used to enter a turbine, make it spin and create electricity. Biomass is a renewable source of energy because the energy it contains comes from the sun; through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture the sun’s energy. When the plants are burnt, they “release” the sun’s energy they contain. However, to be renewable, the plants have to be grown sustainably. Biomass can be converted to other useable forms of energy, such as methane gas or transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. Manure from farm animals can be used to generate electricity. The electricity produced often stays right on the farm, where it powers light and machinery, but in some areas, the poop is powering whole neighbourhoods. In a similar way, trash can be used to generate electricity.
Geothermal energy is found in underground reservoirs, but it also rises to the Earth’s surface in the form of volcanoes, hot springs, and geysers. It is possible to collect the hot steam that is below the Earth’s crust to directly use as heat or to convert it into electricity. Geothermal energy is a reliable source of energy because it is generated continuously. It is the main energy source in Iceland.
The heating and cooling patterns of the Earth’s surface based on the position of the sun create wind (energy that comes from the power of moving air). The wind has been used since the earliest civilizations (5,000 years ago) to grind grain, pump water and power sailboats. Wind turbines convert the wind-induced movement of the blades into electricity. The best sites for wind farms are open areas at high altitudes. They need a minimum wind speed of 14 miles per hour to produce electricity. Wind is the second most important renewable energy source in Canada (1.6% of energy generation). 95% of Prince Edward Island’s electricity comes from wind. Wind has been the world’s fastest-growing renewable energy source for the last seven years and is expected to continue with the falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.
You can see some of the sun’s energy (sunlight), and you can feel the sun’s energy (heat). Without the constant flow of energy from the sun, the Earth's temperature would be -237°C (-395F), and no life would exist. Solar energy reaches the Earth in the form of heat, light, and electromagnetic radiation, all of which can be collected to produce power. Photovoltaic cells made of silicon (sand) can collect the energy of the sunlight to convert it into electricity. Sunlight can also be used to heat water (your shower water). The largest solar power plant in the world is located in California's Mojave Desert and is made up of 930,000 mirrors that convert the sun’s heat into electricity. Solar energy is renewable because the sun will continue to burn for billions of years. You can use small electronics that are powered with solar energy (solar garden light to illuminate your garden/path at night – the photovoltaic cells collect and store energy during the day and return that energy at night). Certain flashlights can also be powered with solar energy.
Hydropower is one of the first sources of energy used by humans; it was used as early as 250 B.C. by ancient Egyptians to grind grains. Hydropower can be captured from different forms of water movements, such as river currents (by river dams), ocean waves and tides. Canada is the largest producer of hydropower in the world (it represents 59% of Canada’s
energy generation). Hydro energy is, so far, the most renewable energy used and the cheapest. Although hydropower, largely in the form of water wheels, has been in use by human society for centuries, hydroelectricity is a more recent phenomenon. The first hydroelectric power plants were built in the 19th century and, by the middle of the 20th century, were a major source of electricity. As of 2010, hydropower produces more than 15% of the world’s electricity.
Enough sunlight falls on the Earth’s surface every hour to meet the world’s energy demand for an entire year. The Sun will continue to burn for billions of years.
Since most renewable energies necessitate a turbine to transform wind or biogas energy into electricity, let’s describe the components inside. Basically, the wind, water or hot steam makes blades spin, and this spinning engages a rotor made of magnetic parts. The revolution of these magnetic parts inside the rotor is what generates electricity.
Did you know wind can be used as a source of energy for electricity? In Minnesota, a wind farm with 122 wind turbines produces enough energy to power almost 50,000 homes.
Renewable energies, are they the solution? Why do you think there are still people against using renewable energies?
While renewable energies produce a lot less CO2, there is also a great advantage in using renewable energies: they are virtually free, and they don’t belong to anyone (v.s. world war and economic fluctuation over fuel). But these energies remain expensive to harness.
Aside from the look and noise, it’s true that renewable energies are not yet a durable option unless they expand 10 to 20 times compared to what is actually here. Today, renewable energies are not captured at a sufficient level. The energy facilities still need to expand.
Renewable energies often rely on the weather: hydro generators need rain to fill dams to supply flowing water, wind turbines need wind to turn the blades, and solar collectors need sunshine to collect heat and make electricity. For now, it only supplies 16.9% of Canada’s
electricity.
And it is more expensive, but if we use less energy, we will be able to buy these types of energy.
The components of wind turbines or photovoltaic cells have a 10 to 20-year lifetime, and only some of their components can be recycled; the others are waste. Scientists are now working hard to make energy harness systems safer so that they live longer and with a better yield.
While we cannot get back to how we used to live a few centuries ago without electricity or cars, it is essential that we use what’s left of fossil fuel with caution and parsimony (don’t waste it) while at the same time, researchers are implementing new techniques to use renewable energies like wind, agriculture waste, sun etc.
The tides (the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the Moon, the Sun and the rotation of the Earth) can be exploited to generate electricity as water movement would lead to rotation of a turbine. Nova Scotia is home to the only commercial tidal power generating station in Canada.
It is important to understand the impact we have on the environment. One person may seem like a drop in the ocean, but if one person switched off a 60-watt light bulb for one hour, it would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 0.4 grams. If one-quarter of the people on the planet right now made the same decision, over 150,000 metric tonnes of CO2 could be saved; that is like switching off 200 average-sized coal power stations for an hour. This has an impact.
How do you think you can consume less energy?
Recycle and use reusable material: paper and tissues require a lot of energy for their production.
Improve in-house isolation to reduce the use of heaters and AC. The ideal temperature in a house is 19-20°C (66-68F) in the winter and 23-24°C (73-75F) in the summer.
Use eco-friendly appliances and turn them off (not standby) when you’re not using them. Compact fluorescent bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs.
Forget the screensaver; let the computer monitor go to sleep or turn it off to save the most
energy.
Buy local food as often as possible (products that travel by air have a footprint of almost a
hundred times higher than the products that travel by boat). Local food is more tasteful and ripe because it doesn’t have to travel.
Individually, these are small actions, but taken together, they make significant energy savings.
Earth Hour: Every year in March, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time, everyone is encouraged to turn off lights and electric appliances to raise awareness about climate change. Main buildings also usually have their non-essential lights turned off. Here is the official website of Earth Hour, supported by WWF, proposing ideas on how to get involved and what’s happening in your area to support that initiative: http://www.earthhour.org/. Enjoy this hour to do something different. Play board games with your family and friends, or dine with candles.
(Reference: wikihow.com/Make-a-Kite)
(Makes 5 servings)
(makes one 9-inch pie)
Take your group to a local orchard and make them pick their own fruits (rhubarb, apple, pear...), or get some fruits from the farmer’s market.
(makes 2 servings)
(makes 5 cups of strawberry jam)
Take the group to a local pick-your-own-fruit farm and have them pick up their own fruits (Saskatoon berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries - the last two have spikes, so just be careful). You can also make this recipe with rhubarb.
(makes 8 scones)
(makes one serving)
(makes 8 scones)
Before the great expansion of fossil fuel use (with coal in the late 1800’s), wood was the primary fuel used in Canada. In Florida, wastes from sugar cane farms manage to provide electricity for an entire neighbourhood (60,000 homes). In Wisconsin, a company uses manure from three farms to generate electricity for up to 2,500 homes. The natural degradation of manure produces methane gas that can be burnt to generate electricity.
Draw circles around the objects that require electricity to work.
Draw a happy face in front of the statements that are pro-renewable energies or a sad face next to those that are against renewable energies.
Statements:
Visit a wind farm or a hydroelectric plant if you have the opportunity.
Compare the Fossil Energies and Renewable Energies colouring boards and draw a coloured mark (such as an X or a circle) on each of the 10 dissimilarities between the two drawings.
Colour every renewable energy and the method used to harness it on the Renewable Energies colouring board, and every non-renewable energy and the method used to harness it on the Fossil Energies colouring board.
Show them what motion energy is: your legs are making your bike move, and the wheel spinning is making energy that is used to power the dynamo light. Solar or hand-powered flashlights work with electricity made out of solar energy conversion or manual motion.
Makes 1 LED and 3 Lemons.
What happens during the night? What happens on a day without wind?
Renewable energies like Wind and Sun are not always available, but when they are, we can collect enough energy to use when the wind stops blowing or on rainy days. It is possible to stock that energy in batteries to use it later.
This Meeting Plan was researched and written by our intern Maïlis Bietenhader.
