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Energy in Your Life

You are constantly using energy. Think about it: Did you use hot water or electric lights today? Did you talk on a cell phone, or text someone? How was your food cooked? Energy helped make all these things happen.

So where does the energy you use come from?

Natural gas and electricity are the forms of energy that people use most often in their homes, schools, and businesses. Natural gas is found deep underground and delivered to buildings through underground pipes.

Electricity is a little more complicated. Whenever you use anything that runs on electricity, a power plant is most likely generating that electricity from nuclear power or fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas).

Fossil fuels and nuclear energy are nonrenewable resources, which means that once we use them up, they are gone forever. We can make these resources last longer by conserving energy and not wasting it, and by using energy from renewable resources that will not run out, such as the sun, wind, and moving water. You or someone you know is probably already using electricity made from solar panels, wind turbines, or a hydroelectric plant!

 

Energy makes things happen. It’s what makes anything and everything move, change, and/or grow. Everything that occurs does so because of energy, and all living things
use energy.



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