• Question: Name 5 renewable resources

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      Asked by amyjordan to Chia-Yu, Helen, Matthew, Matt H, Rhod on 19 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by djsfinest.
      • Photo: Helen Pritchard-Smith

        Helen Pritchard-Smith answered on 19 Jun 2013:

        Sunshine (solar panels), wind (wind turbines turn a cog that generates electricity), water (hydropower – moving water can push a cog that then generates electricity), biofuels (fermentation of crops to make ethanol, research in my group turns this into butanol which can be used instead of petrol), and geothermal energy (heat stored in the earth that is released in the form of geisers or hot springs).

      • Photo: Rhodri Jenkins

        Rhodri Jenkins answered on 19 Jun 2013:

        Very good question! Helen’s answered it pretty well, but I’ll go a bit further into the biofuels bit;

        Current biofuels are made from resources we could otherwise use for food … (corn and sugar beet are fermented to make ethanol, and vegetable oil undergoes a chemical transformation to make biodiesel) so whereas they are renewable … there is an argument that they’re not really sustainable. We currently produce enough food in the world to feed everyone, and yet so much food is wasted and some food is made into fuel … while some people in the world starve. So my work is on trying to make biofuels from TRULY sustainable and renewable resources, stuff which doesn’t compete with food.

      • Photo: Chia-Yu Lin

        Chia-Yu Lin answered on 19 Jun 2013:

        I can not answer as Helen has already answered. Yes! Solar energy, geothermal energy, wind power, hydropower, and biofuels.

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