Energy Literacy Quiz

Answers:

• Gasoline
• Wind
• Coal
• Biofuels Are all derived from solar energy

Biofuels derive energy from photosynthesis which is powered from the sun. All fossil fuels can be thought of as "paleo-biofuels" and are a form of stored solar energy. Wind energy is created by the uneven heating of the earth's surface, which is driven by solar input.

Nuclear energy is not derived from the sun. Nuclear energy comes from the energy released when atoms are split apart and some mass is converted to energy.

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A graph of the US Energy Consumption by source

Provenance: Katie Boyd, University of Colorado at Boulder
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

79% of the US energy supply comes from fossil fuels, while 8% is from nuclear energy.

If you consider only electricity generation instead of total energy, then renewables accounted for 21.5% of the total in 2022, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Learn more: US Energy Consumption by Source, from the US Energy Information Administration. Note that this link is updated with new statistics each year.

Coal is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

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Global CO2 emissions by fuel type

For updated data and graphics about fossil fuel use, see Our World in Data's fossil fuel section.

Burning oil is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.  This includes gasoline, diesel and other transportation fuels, which are the largest consumers of oil.

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Graph of CO2 emissions by fuel for the US

Provenance: Katie Boyd, University of Colorado at Boulder
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

For updated data and graphics about fossil fuel use, see Our World in Data's fossil fuel section.

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Graph showing the CO2 emissions from various energy sectors in the U.S. from 2000 through 2020. Emissions fell in the electricity sector, but remained fairly flat in other sectors.

Provenance: Underlying graph from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, with modifications by Karin Kirk
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Over time, each of the other sectors has remained fairly flat, aside from a dip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Use the graph below to see how emissions from different sources of energy have either increased or decreased over time.

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Graph showing the CO2 emissions from various energy sources in the U.S. from 1975 through 2020.

Provenance: Underlying graph from the US Energy Information Administration, with modifications by Karin Kirk
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

The main reason the U.S. has decreased emissions is because of a reduction in coal burning. Note that this graph shows emissions from all energy sectors, not just electricity generation.

Sources:

U.S. Emissions, from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

U.S. Energy Information Administration, energy data from the Monthly Energy Review (updated every month)

Data for emissions from the June 2021 version of EIA's Monthly Energy Review

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Energy use in US homes, 2015. From https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/homes.php Data on the EIA page may be updated periodically.

Provenance: Image from the National Academy of Sciences http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-use/home-work.php
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Sources:

Energy Use in Homes US Energy Information Administration

How we use Energy at Home and Work, from the National Academy of Sciences. Contains a useful graph of various energy uses in the home.

The primary solution for climate change is systemic reductions of carbon emissions. In other words, the changes that are necessary to curb the worst effects of climate change hinge on large-scale action. The scale of needed reductions is vast; only national and international efforts can achieve what's needed.

However, individual actions are significant in several ways.

1. Small reductions in emissions do add up. It's worthwhile for individuals, families, and communities to identify their largest sources of emissions and minimize them where possible.
2. Making personal reductions in energy use or greenhouse emissions is helpful to illustrate the types of solutions needed, and the scale that the problem demands. For example, if someone makes an effort to use public transit to get to school, they will also learn about the strengths and weaknesses of their community's transit system. That may allow them to understand the role of public transit in reducing transportation emissions.
3. Taking part in small scale solutions can contribute to larger-scale solutions. In the examples above, each person that uses the transit system helps make the overall system worthwhile, thus helping the solution be successful, and perhaps leading to additional transit routes or services.

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Leading causes of human-related bird mortality in the US. Data from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, compiled from multiple studies.

Provenance: Karin Kirk, Freelance Science Writer and Geoscientist
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

False.

Cats are far and away the leading cause of 'unnatural' bird deaths, followed by collisions with buildings, vehicles, electrical lines, and communications towers. Wind turbine collisions are relatively small compared to these other threats. Nonetheless, the effect of wind turbines on bird populations is a serious problem that merits careful attention. But at the same time, it's important to consider the impact wind turbines alongside other threats and to prioritize bird health in many ways, such as protection of habitats and siting structures out of migratory paths and breeding areas.

As with many aspects of energy literacy, a quantitative approach can illuminate the scale of different problems.

Source: Threats to Birds, by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, compiled from several studies.

None of the above.

There is no single "silver bullet" technology that will give us a simple transition to carbon-free energy for home heating, transportation, manufacturing, and other large uses of energy. Every source of energy has its drawbacks and benefits, and a transition to new forms of energy will involve many different technologies, along with improvements in efficiency and changes in infrastructure.

The longer we wait to decarbonize our energy supply, the more challenging it will be to do so in time to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Transitioning to carbon-free energy is a high priority in some societies, but not all.

Making a coffee can be achieved in many ways. An average coffee maker typically uses 900 watts of electricity and runs for about 15 minutes, which requires 225 watt-hours. To make a coffee on the stove, a burner requires 2,500 watts and lasts about 5 minutes in boiling water. This equals 208 watt-hours,

You can see and tweak all the variables yourself using the following spreadsheet for coffee makers and laptops. Coffee vs Computer Spreadsheet (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 12kB Dec14 10).

Practical reference:  How much electricity do household items use? by Michael Bluejay 

This question relates to Energy Literacy Principle 6: The amount of energy used by human society depends on many factors.

See teaching materials about energy policy.