Renewable or Not?

The screen shows a landscape with several clickable features.

  1. An image of the sun. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “The sun. Renewable. Solar energy won't run out, no matter how much is used. Solar energy technologies do not produce carbon dioxide.”
  2. A power plant with a pile of coal. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “Coal. Nonrenewable. People are using coal at a much faster rate than it could ever be remade because it takes millions of years for this fossil fuel to form. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that stays in the atmosphere for a long time.”
  3. Three wind turbines. If you click them, you'll see a popup that says: “Wind. Renewable. Wind energy won't run out, no matter how much is used. Wind energy technologies do not directly produce carbon dioxide.”
  4. A dam on a river. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “Water power. Renewable. The Earth will always have water, and water power does not directly produce carbon dioxide.”
  5. An oil well. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “Oil. Nonrenewable. People are using oil at a much faster rate than it could ever be remade because it takes millions of years for this fossil fuel to form. Burning oil produces carbon dioxide.”
  6. A natural gas tanker ship, docked at a port with storage tanks. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “Natural gas. Nonrenewable. People are using natural gas at a much faster rate than it could ever be remade because it takes millions of years for this fossil fuel to form. Burning natural gas produces carbon dioxide, though not quite as much as coal and oil.”
  7. A field of switchgrass. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “Plants. Renewable. Plants are renewable because they can grow back after they're harvested. Burning fuel made from plants produces carbon dioxide, but when the plants grow back, they also take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.”
  8. A geothermal power plant with pipes that are bringing hot water up from underground. If you click it, you'll see a popup that says: “The Earth's heat. Renewable. Energy produced by the earth's heat—called geothermal energy—is a resource that won't run out, no matter how much is used. Geothermal energy technologies do not directly produce carbon dioxide.”