About I’m a Scientist

I’m a Scientist is like school science lessons meet the X Factor! School students choose which scientist gets a prize of £500 to communicate their work. Scientists and students talk on this website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. But only the students get to vote.

This is the Energy Zone. It has a range of scientists studying all different topics. Who gets the prize? YOU decide!

RSCThe Energy Zone is funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.

To delve further into the world of chemistry, or chat to others studing chemistry, have a look at RSC ChemNet.

About this Zone

Wind power is just one alternative to fossil fuels, image by Rotatebot for Wikimedia

Wind power is just one alternative to fossil fuels, image by Rotatebot for Wikimedia

Energy is vital, and with a growing world population we’re using more and more of it. Currently most of the world’s energy is generated by burning fossil fuels, which really isn’t helping climate change.

There are lots of renewable sources of energy that can be used instead, from biomass (burning natural materials) and geothermal (using heat under the ground) to solar, water and wind.

Apparently enough sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface in one minute to satisfy the whole world’s energy demands for an entire year. Makes you wonder what makes it so difficult to harness all of this energy.

Fridges in the US consume the same amount of energy as 25 large power plants produce every year. That’s a lot of energy just for keeping your food cool. And Google uses around 0.013% of the world’s energy – enough to continuously power 200,000 homes (remember that when you’re next googling your homework!).