POWER UP! Energy from Wind, Sun, and Tides POWER UP! Energy from Wind, Sun, and Tides Frank Muschal Cher r y Lake Publishing Ann Ar bor, Michigan Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor, MI www.cherrylakepublishing.com Photo Credits: Page 19, © Shawn Baldwin/Corbis; Page 24, Photo Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Page 29, © Photo Courtesy of Verdant Power, Inc. Copyright ©2008 by Cherry Lake Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Muschal, Frank. Energy from wind, sun, and tides / Frank Muschal. p. cm. — (Power up!) Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-1-60279-046-9 (lib. bdg.) 978-1-60279-096-4 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 1-60279-046-9 (lib. bdg.) 1-60279-096-5 (pbk.) 1. Wind power—Juvenile literature. 2. Solar power—Juvenile literature. 3. Tidal power—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. TJ820.M875 2008 621.31’2136—dc22 2007005661 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Please visitwww.21stcenturyskills.org for more information. Table of Contents C H A P T E R O N E Today’s Energy Dilemma 4 C H A P T E R T W O Using Nature to Do the Work 11 C H A P T E R T H R E E Energy from Wind 15 C H A P T E R F O U R Energy from the Sun 21 C H A P T E R F I V E Energy from Tides 27 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 CHAPTER ONE Today’s Energy Dilemma We use energy to toast the bread, make the coffee, heat the soup, roast the turkey, wash the dishes, and turn on the lights. M odern people use a lot of energy. Energy powers our cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes. Energy keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer. 4 21st CENTURY SKILLS LIBRARY Energy provides us with light. It allows us to watch 21 st Century C television, listen to music, and surf the Internet. ontent Although most Energy cooks our food and keeps it cool. Americans now cook their food In the past, many people didn’t worry about how on gas or electric stoves, not everyone in the world today much energy they used. Basic needs, such as keeping is so lucky. Some people in desert warm and cooking food, didn’t require much fuel. environments still use camel dung to cook their meals Most people had good supplies of fuel such as trees when no other fuel is available. growing close to their homes. They just cut down nearby forests. This was true for the Pilgrims and other early immigrants. It took many, many years to use up the fuel that the forests provided. 5 POWER UP!Energy from Wind, Sun, and Tides Things are different today. Most Americans no earning I & nnovation longer cook their food in fi replaces as they did when Skills As the time line George Washington was president. There are also in the passage indicates, the world’s population many more people alive today than ever before. is growing faster every year. Why is It took more than 10,000 years for the human that the case? population to reach one billion in the early 1800s. It took less than 100 years to increase to two billion. Now, 6.5 billion people live on Earth, each one needing energy resources to live. About 95 percent of today’s energy comes from coal, oil, and gas. These three things are called “fossil fuels.” They were formed from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals. Over millions 6 21st CENTURY SKILLS LIBRARY The remains of prehistoric plants and animals such as these became, over millions of years, fossil fuels we use every day. 7 POWER UP!Energy from Wind, Sun, and Tides 21 of years, the remains of ancient forests and beasts st Century C ontent became buried deep underground. Once there, The leading these dead trees, fl owers, dinosaurs, fi sh, and other consumers of primary energy— energy from plants and animals went through tremendous petroleum, natural gas, coal, and chemical changes. several other sources—are the U.S., China, Russia, One result of these chemical changes was the Japan, Germany, and India. The creation of petroleum. Oil companies drill for leading producers are the U.S., petroleum all over the world and turn it into gasoline Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Canada for our cars. Another result of the chemical changes created coal. Electric companies burn coal to make electricity. A third result created natural gas. It is used to heat many homes. 8 21st CENTURY SKILLS LIBRARY