Fran: We are talking about what makes things work.
And everything from your TV to your car needs an energy source to make it work.
This torch is powered by a battery, whilst some cars are powered by petrol and some hobs are powered by gas, so I candrink my cup of tea!
Now, there are lots of natural energy sources such as the Sun, the wind, or water.
All of these are known as renewable energy sources as they will never run out.
These energy sources are better for the environment as they occur naturally and they cause less pollution.
Then, there are also fossil fuels.
And these are remains of plants and animals from millions of years ago.
And over time, they have been buried under layers of sand and mud and become coal, oil, and gas.
We extract, so take these, and burn them to give us energy we can use.
Coal, oil, and gas are all non-renewable energy sources as there’s only a certain amount within the ground, and we’ve takena lot of them already.
They will eventually run out.
Now, when we burn fossil fuels, carbon that’s trapped inside them is released into our atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
And this carbon dioxide traps heat in our atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
Non-renewable energy sources like coal, oil, and gas cause pollution in our air when they’re burnt.
Renewable energy sources like the sun and wind are cleaner, and because they won’t run out, they are more sustainable.
This is why governments are committed to using more renewable energies in the future.