Energy sources & resources

Renewable or non-renewable? How to energise our world?

There are many different ways to harness energy for human use. Though in the end, nearly all types of energy can be traced back to the sun and other stars.

We can loosely split energy harnessing systems into two types :

Non-renewable sources, Energy from the sun and stars has been stored in chemical or atomic form as minerals which are dug up and consumed to release their energy. There is a fixed, limited supply of these and they will eventually run out.

Renewable sources. Energy can be harvested directly from the sun. It can even be harvested by copying the sun itself! Tidal power is slightly different in that the energy source arises from the gravitational pull of the moon. Most importantly, these sources will not run out.

The key question to ask is: which ways of generating power will best allow us to avoid climate change and to successfully cope with peak oil?

Question: What do you think could happen if we make the wrong decisions about energy supplies? Create an image or a 3D model to show your vision of the future.