Energy and Its Types

Energy Nothing can live without energy. People, animals and plants need energy to live and machines need energy to work. Today, most of the energy we use still comes from fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, which have been formed underground over millions of years. We called these non-renewable forms of energy because they can only be used once. Because of this, we need to reduce our use of non-renewable fuel and use more renewable forms of energy like that from the sun, wind or geothermal energy. For centuries, the wind has been used to sail ships and to pump water. Now it is used to produce electricity. Groups of wind turbines along the red sea in Egypt generate large amounts of electricity. Water is also a renewable form of energy. Huge quantities of water go through the high dam at Aswan from lake Nasser. This hydroelectric power supplies Egypt with a lot of its electricity. As well as being inexpensive to produce, this clean energy does not pollute the environment. Other countries depend on nuclear power- power produced when atoms split. However, nuclear power produces dangerous waste which must be stored for thousands of years before it is safe. Accidents at nuclear power stations are extremely dangerous to people’s health and to the environment. Energy from the sun is probably the best form of renewable energy. Scientists believe that the sun’s energy will last for another five billion years. This energy can now be captured and stored.
It’s important for us to save energy in our homes and workplaces in order to stop using up non-renewable sources of