<aside> 🌦️ Hello Ecowarriors! Today, we'll be looking at a few different ways energy can generated for human use. All these are what we scientists call nonrenewable energy sources. Nonrenewable energy comes from a limited source, like oil or coal, meaning one day we might run out.

</aside>

Hey everyone, today our topic of learning will be non-renewable energy! “Non” means “not”, and renewable can mean “infinite”. So, non-renewable energy sources are fuels we use to make energy that may one day run out. There are four main types of nonrenewable energy.

First up we have coal.

Bonjour everyone, I am Camille the Coal! I’m what you might call a fossil fuel. You see, hundreds of millions of years ago, dead plants were buried deep in the earth by years of sand and soil build up. Those plants ended up fossilizing, kind of like dinosaurs! As you could guess, I am one of those buried remains.

I am a black rock made mostly of an element called carbon. There are other things inside me, too. Some of these other ingredients can be dangerous.

Humans mine me and my brethren, sending us off to coal plants like this one!

There, they burn us. The carbon in us burns really hot. Our heat makes water boil into steam. The steam moves really fast and turns electricity-producing turbines.

I am the cheapest form of electricity production. Someday, though, humans will run out of coal and will be forced to use a different source for energy. Now I’ll hand you over to my distant cousin, Oliver the oil.

Hi! I’m another fossil fuel called oil. I can be found in large underground lakes called oil reservoirs. There are many ways to turn me into power. You can burn me to boil water like coal.

You may have heard of my other names, too. When I’m cleaned and purified, I become a black liquid fuel called petroleum or gasoline.

In that form, I can also be burned to form the energy that runs cars and busses! I’m a really useful guy, but I am also limited. One day, there may be no more oil left to burn. Scientists are working hard to make sure it’s a long time before that ever happens, though.

Hi! I am Nancy Gordon the Natural Gas, nice to meet you! I am the last important fossil fuel. I’m actually brothers with oil! There’s a layer of stinky brown gas on top of most oil reservoirs. That’s me! I’ve been waiting deep underground for millions of years, but it wasn’t until the 1800’s that people started digging wells to get to me.

Big machines called frackers break into the ground, sucking me up and putting me into big containers where I can be shipped off to you. I can be used as a source for cooking, making electricity, and heating. I can even be used in some vehicles!

Our last non-renewable energy source for today is nuclear energy. Normal will take it from here!