Where Our Energy Comes From...

Non-Renewable Fuels

The heat from decomposing material combined with the pressure from being buried under the Earth’s surface form the fossil fuels that we use today. Fossil fuels are natural resources, but also non-renewable resources because they take so long to form. A list of non-renewable fuels is below.

• Crude Oil: Refined to make gasoline, diesel, heating oil, jet fuel, heavy fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas. First oil well in Texas began producing in 1866. Texas is the number one petroleum consuming state.
  
  
• Natural Gas: Generic name for a variety of gases that we use, mainly methane. Ethane, propane, and butane are also used for energy. Mostly used for home heating and cooking and electricity generation. In Texas, natural gas was last noted to produce 46.6 % of the electricity on the ERCOT grid.
  
  
• Coal: A combustible rock formed from prehistoric biomass. It is a combination of pure carbon and hydrocarbons mixed with moisture, minerals, and metals. In 2006, coal provided 36.5% of Texas’ total electricity.
  
  
• Nuclear: Heat energy released from the splitting of two Uranium atoms (fission). The heat creates steam that turns a turbine and generates electricity without producing greenhouse has emissions. There are two operating nuclear power facilities in Texas: one in Glen Rose and the other near Bay City.

Renewable Natural Resources

Sometimes renewable energy sources are also called inexhaustible energy sources, because these sources are present on a day-to-day basis.

• Solar: Texas ranks first in the nation in solar resource potential because of high levels of direct solar radiation. Solar energy can be either active or passive. Active uses photovoltaic systems (a.k.a solar panels) while passive uses creative building design to allow sunlight to provide natural light and heat in a building.
  
  I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. - Thomas Edison, in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, 1931
  
  
• Wind: As wind blows past a wind turbine, the kinetic (moving) energy is converted to mechanical power that a generator converts into electricity. Wind energy is variable due to differing wind speeds during certain times of day and seasons. In 2007, Texas’ wind power capacity rose by 57%, and is still rising.
  
  
• Hydropower: The most common source of renewable electricity in the U.S. Hydropower is generated through the force of falling water against a turbine connected to a generator. Hydropower is used in areas where dams can be built in large rivers. The amount of electricity generated increases when the amount of water, or the height from which the water falls, increases.
  
  
• Geothermal: The third largest source of renewable energy in the country! behind hydropower and biomass. Geothermal energy is the Earth’s heat. Beneath the Earth’s surface lie heated rocks, water, and steam. Getting to this source of energy is just like drilling for oil and gas. Power plants can use steam to drive turbine generators to produce electricity.