Course: REEC 120 Sustainability and Renewable Energy

Unit 2 Overview

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During the Live Seminar, the first topic we explore is renewable versus non-renewable energy. The most important thing to remember is as long as the source is infinite (think: Sun), it is renewable.

There is a debate that trees are renewable, and they are! It just takes a bit longer to harvest the stored energy.

Energy flows and energy can be changed from one form to another and that comes at a cost. The cost is efficiency. It will always be less efficient to convert from one form to another. Also energy will flow from a high area of concentration to a low area of concentration.

Finally, we look at basic solar science. The key points to retain are: The equinox is when the sun provides 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night time. Summer solstice is one day of the year with the maximum amount of daylight. The winter solstice is the minimum amount of daylight.