Lesson video

Welcome to today's lesson.

It's called Using Renewable Energy Resources, and it's part of the fuels and energetics topic.

My name's Mrs. Mitham Smithson, and today we're going to look at renewable energy resources.

You might know something about this already or you might not, but don't worry because we're going to work through it step by step, and by the end of the lesson, you should be able to describe how renewable energy resources can be used to generate electricity.

Here are today's keywords.

Renewable energy resource, non-renewable energy resource, pollution, burning.

On the next slide, there's some sentences that include these keywords, so pause the video if you wish to read them, and then press play when you're ready to start the lesson.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Firstly, we're going to learn about renewable energy resources, and then we're going to move on to comparing renewable energy resources.

So let's get going with our first learning cycle.

Renewable energy resources.

Non-renewable energy resources are those which are running out and will not be replaced in our lifetime.

These include natural gas, oil, which includes petrol and diesel, and coal.

Renewable energy resources, on the other hand, are not used up, or we can replace 'em in our lifetime.

Generally, these are the ones that do not cause pollution.

So renewable energy resources include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and then we've got some from water, which is rivers, tidals, and waves.

Let's have a look at one of the first renewable energy resources we're going to learn about.

So this is wind power, and this often involves turbines.

These turbines are used to turn the generators that generate electricity.

So wind turbines are expensive to manufacture and instal.

However, once you've done that, once you've made them and you've put them where you want 'em to be, they are cheap to run and they don't cause pollution.

So here's some wind turbines.

Some people have got different views about what they think about what they look like.

Some people like the look of them and would be happy to have them near their homes, and some people don't.

So one of the disadvantages is that wind turbines only generate electricity when there is wind.

So if there's no wind, those turbines aren't going to turn, and therefore, they cannot turn those generators to generate electricity.

And also if the wind is too fast, then the wind turbines can't cope with that.

They might get damaged so they cannot generate electricity when there's too much wind.

Also, some people consider wind turbines to be noisy, that they spoil the landscape, and also that they disturb wildlife.

So once you put lots of these somewhere, the wildlife might not like to live there so it might disturb the wildlife.

Things that you might have seen before might not be able to live there anymore.

People don't like the look of them.

Maybe they want to have a nice view across fields without wind turbines on them.

So there are advantages and disadvantages to wind turbines.

You might be familiar with solar power.

It's when energy from the sun is used to generate electricity.

Now we can place solar panels on two different places so we can either place 'em on a house roof.

You might have seen some either on your house, or on other houses in your neighbourhood, or sometimes we place lots of them in fields, and they form something called a solar farm.

Unfortunately, solar panels are expensive to manufacture and instal.

However, once you've done that, they're really cheap to run.

So here's some solar panels on a house.

You can see them there, those black squares on top of the roof.

Here's some solar panels in a field.

Once we've put these in, we can call it a solar farm.

However, once we've put these in the fields, we can't use 'em for animals or crops.

So usually we'd grow food, so that's animals or crops in a field, and once we put these here, we can't do that anymore.

Another disadvantage is that they're only going to generate electricity if there's enough sunlight, so they don't generate electricity on a nighttime or on a dull day.

However, they do not cause pollution so that's a big advantage.

Now we're going to look at some of the ways that we get energy from water.

So firstly, we're going to look at hydroelectric power.

So here's the Hoover Dam, and you might have heard of this before.

It's in America, and it generates enough power for 8 million people.

So that generates enough power for a lot of people, and it works like this.

So this dam is built, so that's that wall, and it's holding back the river.

So you can see at the top all the water's held back by that dam, and at the bottom of the dam there are turbines that turn when the water flows through them.

Once those turbines turn round, they turn a generator and that generator generates electricity.

Hydroelectric power does not cause pollution, however, there are limited places to build these dams. It's very expensive to build, and it can greatly affect the environment and the landscape.

So it really changes the way that it looks, and that means it's going to change all of the environment around it.

So the landscape, so that's what it looks like.

It's all going to also going to affect all the animals that live there.

At times of low energy demand, the water is pumped back up to the dam using some of the electricity that's being generated from the hydroelectric power station.

This means that then the water is at the correct place so there's lots of water available then to turn those turbines when there's a greater demand for electricity, like during the day when people need it in houses and factories.

I've got a quick check for understanding for you now.

Which is an example or are examples of renewable energy resources in use? Is it natural gas, oil and coal burned in a power station, sun shining on solar panels in a solar farm, wind used in wind turbines to generate electricity, water used in hydroelectric dams? Pause the video for some thinking time, and press play when you've got your answer.

Well done if you said that examples of renewable energy resources are sun shining on solar panels in a solar farm, wind used in wind turbines to generate electricity, water used in hydroelectric dams. Well done if you got those correct.

What I want you to do now is select which renewable energy source or sources in use are affected by weather conditions? Wind turning wind turbines, the sun shining on solar panels, water used in hydroelectric dams. Pause the video now, and then press play when you've got your answer.

Well done if you said wind turning wind turbines and the sun shining on solar panels are affected by weather conditions.

So if there's not enough wind, the wind can't turn the turbines.

If there's not enough sun, the solar panels can't generate electricity.

Well done if you said wind turning wind turbines and the sun shining on solar panels are both affected by the weather.

So if there's not enough wind or there's too much wind, those turbines don't work.

And if there's not any sun or not enough sun, then the solar panels can't generate your energy either.

Now we're going to take a look at another renewable energy resource from water.

This one's tidal power.

So these tidal turbines are being lowered into position.

You can see that they're quite large, so perhaps they're about five or six metres tall, and these are using these tidal tap power stations.

They turn when the sea water flows through them during changes in the tides.

So when the tides come in and the tide goes out, water moves past these turbines and turns 'em around, and in turn, those turbines turn a generator to generate electricity.

It's good because they do not cause pollution, but there are limited places to put tidal turbines.

So you need to have the right location for them, which isn't always possible, and they are difficult to maintain.

So if anything goes wrong with them, they're at the bottom of the sea and somebody's got to dive down there to mend them.

So it's not as easy as if they were overground.

And there are some ecological problems so they're going to disturb the sea life under the sea.

Now we're going to have a look at our third renewable energy resource to do with water.

This one is wave power, and here the energy that's in waves is harnessed to generate electricity.

So you can see that white and blue thing that's attached to the concrete, that is the wave power generator, and unfortunately, that equipment is visible in the water so it might spoil the view.

It might also disturb wildlife including sea life and birds, and it does not generate large quantities of energy.

However, there's no pollution caused by it, but there are limited places to put wave equipment.

So we're going to look at biomass now.

So bio, biology, living things.

So this is where we grow wood and crops, so here's a biomass crop you can see in a field there taking up that whole field.

We can also make these wood pellets from the wood that's grown and then harvested, and these can be just easily just burnt to heat up water in a power station.

So these can be used in power stations just like you would use a fossil fuel.

You're going to burn them, heat that water up, and that water is going to turn into steam under high pressure, and that's going to turn the turbines which generates electricity.

However, these do cause pollution so there's carbon particulates that are produced from it, and also carbon dioxide, and also they're grown on land rather than food.

So if we grow in a biomass crop, we can't grow food, and that can be a disadvantage.

Now we're going to look at biomass from food waste.

So here's some food waste.

Now this is all of the biodegradable things, so all the living things that we've got that's wasteful.

So things like banana skins, and fruit, and vegetables that have gone off in our fridge, or fruit peelings, or vegetable peelings.

We're going to put all our food waste in a bin, and we're going to save it for collection.

However, it can be difficult to collect and store.

You don't wanna have rotten fruit and vegetable peelings kicking around in your kitchen for very long.

Once you've got it, however, it can be processed into fuel for vehicles, and it can also be burnt to heat up water in a power station.

So that's pretty good idea, but it is a cause of pollution.

Anything that you're burning is going to cause pollution.

Those carbon particulates and the carbon dioxide, that's going to be a source of pollution.

Here's a quick check for understanding now about tidal power.

So tidal power occurs when turbines are turned as waves in a river go up and down, turbines are turned when water from a dam flows through them, turbines are turned when the sea flows through them with the changing tides, turbines are turned when wood is burnt to heat water and change it to steam.

So what I want you to do now is pause the video, have a think about it, select your answer, and then press play when you're ready.

Well done if you said turbines are turned when the sea flows through them with the changing tides.

Well done if you got that correct.

You're going to select all answers that are correct here.

So biomass is where crops are grown and then burnt, the wind turns a turbine, food waste is converted into fuel, solar panels are placed in a field.

So what is biomass? Pause the video now have a think, then press play, and I'll tell you if you're right or not.

Well done if you said biomass is where crops are grown and then burnt, and also food waste is converted into fuel.

So well done if you've got both of those correct.

Geothermal energy is where hot water and steam from deep underground is used to turn turbines.

So it's got a low impact on the environment, only releases minimal greenhouse gases, and does not rely on the weather.

So if we have a look here, here's an image of a geothermal power station in Iceland.

Now geothermal power stations, they've got restricted geographical locations.

Obviously, you've got to go and put them wherever there's some hot water and steam that's not too deep underground, but unfortunately, earthquakes can be triggered due to the digging and installation of the geothermal power stations.

So they have to be sited away from the population.

So that's a big disadvantage really, is that there's such limited geographical locations to place these in the world.

There aren't actually that many of them around.

Here's a quick check for understanding.

True or false? Geothermal power stations can be located anywhere there is space to place one.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now, and then press play, and I'll let you know if you're right.

Well done if you said false.

Geothermal power stations cannot be located anywhere there is space to place one.

Let's do a justification now.

A geothermal power station needs to be located near naturally occurring hot rocks and steams, or a geothermal power station needs to be located near naturally occurring dams. Pause the video, come up with your justification, then press play, and we'll go through the answer together.

Well done if you said a geothermal power station needs to be located near naturally occurring hot rocks and steam.

And the issue with this is that you can only find these places at certain places in the world.

So there might not be any near you, so you can only place a geothermal power station wherever there are naturally occurring hot rocks and steam.

What I'd like you to do now for part one of task A is correct Laura and Andeep's statements by selecting the words in brackets and filling in the gaps.

So Laura says, "A renewable energy resources is or is not used up, or it can be or cannot be replaced in our lifetime, e.

g.

something and something.

Andeep says "A non-renewable energy resources will or will not run out, and can or cannot be replaced in our lifetime, e.

g.

something and something." So pause the video now, select the words and complete those gaps, and then press play and we'll go through the answers together.

Well done for completing that task.

Let's have a look at the answers.

So Laura said, "A renewable energy resource is not used up or it can be replaced in our lifetime." For example, and you could have picked any two from biomass, geothermal, solar, tidal, wave, hydroelectric, wind.

So well done if you got that correct.

Andeep's answer now.

A non-renewable energy resource will run out and cannot be replaced in our lifetime, e.

g.

and you would've got this correct if you'd written any two from coal, oil, or natural gas.

So well done if you got that correct.

Here's part two of task A.

What I want you to do now is match the renewable energy resource to the description.

Here's your renewable energy resource list.

So we've got hydroelectric, solar, and wind, and you're going to match those up to the statements.

So these are turbines are turned by the wind to generate electricity, water is held back by a dam until it is released to turn turbines that generate electricity, and panels are able to generate electricity from the sun.

Pause the video, complete the task, and press play and we'll go through the answers together.

Well done for completing that part of task A.

So let's have a look.

Hydroelectric, here water is held back by a dam until it is released to turn turbines that generate electricity.

Solar is panels are able to generate electricity from the sun, and wind here the turbines are turned by the wind to generate electricity.

So well done if you've got those three correct.

Now we've got some more matching up for you to do.

So this time the renewable energy resources are biomass, geothermal, tidal, and wave.

And we've got some descriptions here.

Turbines are turned by the water movement during the tide coming in and out to generate electricity, waves moving up and down to generate electricity, crops and wood can be grown to burn in power stations to generate electricity, food waste is made into liquid fuel for vehicles, hot rock heats water to steam to turn turbines to generate electricity.

So match the renewable energy resource to the description.

For this one, you can match more than one description to the energy resource.

Pause the video while you do this, press play and we'll go through the answers together.

Well done for completing that task.

Firstly, let's have a look at biomass.

So biomass crops and wood can be grown to burn in power stations to generate electricity, and also food waste can be made into liquid fuel for vehicles.

So these two for biomass, geothermal, that's to do with those hot rocks.

They heat water to steam to turn turbines to generate electricity, and tidal is turbines are turned by the water movement during the tide coming in and out to generate electricity.

And finally, waves.

Waves moving up and down generate electricity.

So well done if you've got all of those correct.

You've done really well.

Now we've completed our first learning cycle about renewable energy resources.

Now we're going to look at comparing renewable energy resources.

The majority of renewable energy resources do not require burning, and so do not cause pollution, and that's with the exception of biomass.

So here's some biomass crops, here's elephant grass, and what we can do is we can grow that elephant grass, we can cut it down, and that is burnt, and that produces energy quickly on demand.

So that's a really good thing.

However, carbon dioxide, which is linked to global warming, and particulates which are linked to global dimming, will be produced when biomass is burned.

So that's not a good thing.

When new crops are grown to replace those that are burned, the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the new crops through photosynthesis.

So if we grow a field of elephant grass, we cut it down, we burn it, it produces some carbon dioxide.

If then we grow a new field of elephant grass, it will absorb that carbon dioxide that was produced.

So overall, biomass does not contribute to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

What I want you to do now is select all of the correct statements.

Some renewable resources use burning to generate energy, all renewable resources use burning to generate energy, some renewable resources cause pollution, all renewable resources cause pollution.

Pause the video, have a think, and then press play when you've got your answers.

Well done if you said some renewable resources use burning to generate energy.

So they're the biomass energy resources, and some renewable resources cause pollution.

So again, if we burn something, we're going to produce those carbon particulates and carbon dioxide, and they can cause pollution.

The manufacture of solar panels, all turbines, and other electricity generating machinery uses energy and materials.

For example, metal, wood and plastic.

So here's a wind turbine being installed, and this is made from metal, wood, and plastic, and those resources are used up in order to make that machine.

And then once you've made the machine, that can generate electricity from renewable energy.

So once that's made, it can then generate electricity from the wind.

However, some materials are from finite resources which will eventually run out.

For example, plastic is produced from oil, which is a fossil fuel that's eventually going to run out.

We also have a limited supply of metals in the world, and those resources are used up when manufacturing turbines and solar panels.

A quick check for understanding.

True or false? No materials are required to generate electricity from a renewable resource.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now to have a think.

Then press play when you've got your answer.

Well done if you said that is false.

Materials are required to generate electricity from a renewable resource.

Let's have a look at some justifications.

The machines, e.

g.

turbines, need to be made before energy can be generated by a renewable resource, or turbines are made from renewable materials.

Pause the video now, select your answer, and then press play and I'll let you know if you're right or not.

Well done if you said the machines.

So for example the turbines or the solar panels, they need to be made before the energy can be generated by a renewable resource.

What I'd like you to do for part one of task B is I'd like you to complete the table by sorting the statements for wind and geothermal power to show the advantages and disadvantages of each.

So we're going to compare wind to geothermal.

So we've got a column there that says renewable energy type.

We fill that in with wind and geothermal.

Then we're going to look at the advantages of wind, the disadvantages of wind.

We're going to look at the advantages of geothermal, and the disadvantages of geothermal.

And I've got some statements for you to sort into these boxes.

So expensive to manufacture and instal, spoil the landscape, can trigger earthquakes due to digging, have to be sited away from the population, weather dependent, does not rely on weather conditions, have restricted geographical locations, does not produce pollution, only release minimal greenhouse gases, cheap to run, can be noisy, disturbs wildlife.

Pause video while you carry out that task.

Then press play and we'll go through the answers together.

Well done for completing part one of task B.

Let's have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of wind power.

So it does not produce pollution.

That's a really big advantage, and it is cheap to run.

We've got some disadvantages here.

It spoils the landscape so some people don't like the look of them.

It disturbs wildlife, it can be expensive to manufacture and instal, they can be noisy, and also they're weather dependent.

So the wind has to be enough to make the turbines turn, but not too fast so that it might damage them.

Well done if you've got all those correct.

Now we're going to have a look at geothermal advantages and disadvantages.

So it does not rely on weather conditions, so that's a really big advantage.

Only releases minimal greenhouse gases, but it does have some disadvantages, and they are that it's restricted geographical locations so you can only put 'em in certain places.

It can also trigger earthquakes due to digging, and therefore, what they have to do is they have to be sited away from the population.

Well done if you've got all of those correct.

Now let's take a look at part two of task B.

A country has two of its main geographical features described below.

State what renewable energy source you would develop in each region and why.

Give both advantages and disadvantages for each.

So we've got two geographical features, so we've got a sunny location with many hours of sunshine each day where crops are grown and much wildlife thrives, and we've got three coastal areas with a large tidal range and plenty of wildlife including sea life.

So pause the video and then press play when you've got your advantages and disadvantages for each.

Well done for completing part two of task B.

Let's see what renewable energy resource you chose to put in your sunny location.

So many of you might have chosen solar power due to the hours of sunshine, and there's some advantages.

So many hours of sunshine would generate plenty of electricity, there'd be no pollution produced, and no noise produced.

However, there are some disadvantages.

They are expensive to manufacture and instal.

So they cost a lot of money to make and put in place.

They're dependent upon the weather.

So if there's no sun, there's no electricity generated.

They could disturb the wildlife that are there 'cause it says much wildlife thrives.

Maybe the bird life might be disturbed by that.

So well done if you've got those correct.

So let's see what else you could have had for your sunny location.

So you could have had biomass because that's gonna be easy to grow crops due to the hours of sunshine you're gonna get.

Those plants are gonna carry out photosynthesis really quickly and grow fast.

So we've got some advantages here, we've got crops can be regrown, produces energy quickly on demand so we can burn those crops quickly, and that energy can be released.

And overall, biomass does not contribute to an increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Remember, once those crops are burned, the carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, but then the next crop will absorb that carbon dioxide.

So overall, it doesn't contribute to an increase in carbon dioxide.

So we've got some disadvantages.

Those crops are going to take up space, and therefore, you cannot grow food.

So you can't grow food crops or have animals there for food production.

Particulates will be produced when that biomass is burned so that contributes to global dimming.

So there's nothing you can do about those, and also crops do take time to grow and good weather.

So it's not necessarily reliable because one year you might produce more crop than another crop 'cause you need that good weather.

So well done if you've got those.

So now you've got some coastal areas with a large tidal range, plenty of wildlife and sea life.

So you could have chosen tidal power here.

So that uses the large tidal range of the area.

So the advantages of tidal power, it's reliable because that tide is going to come in or out no matter what the weather.

There's no pollution produced here.

We've got some disadvantages.

There's limited places to put tidal turbines.

So there's some countries that are really big, they don't have a coastline with some tides going in and out so they can't put tidal turbines there.

The underwater turbines can affect sea life.

So obviously, some creatures might not like to live around where those turbines are, and it's difficult to maintain because they are underwater.

So once you've installed the turbines, if there's something that goes wrong with them or you need to maintain them, you'll have to go diving underneath the sea, and that's a lot more difficult than if it was on the ground.

So well done if you've got some of those tidal PowerPoints.

Let's see what else you could have had.

You could have had wave power, so we've got a large coastal area.

So the advantage of wave power, there's no pollution produced.

Disadvantages, limited places again.

So if you're a large country with a small coastline, you're not gonna be able to place them there.

The equipment is visible so it can spoil the view.

They don't look very nice, and it might also disturb the wildlife, including sea life and birds.

And also, I think this is probably the biggest one.

It does not generate large quantities of energy, so it's gonna take you a long time to generate a large quantity of energy using wave power.

Well done if you've got some of those points.

Well done for completing those tasks.

Here's a summary for today's lesson.

Renewable energy resources are not used up, or they can be replaced in our lifetime.

Most renewable energy resources do not require burning and do not pollute the atmosphere.

Resources are used up in order to make machines that can generate electricity from renewable energy, and renewable energy resources have their advantages and disadvantages.

Well done for working really hard during that lesson.

I hope you're now more confident and knowledgeable about renewable energy resources, their advantages and disadvantages.

I hope you'll come back soon and watch some more lessons with me.