Chapter 2: Energy

We use energy for everything we do, whether it is in industry, agriculture, transport, or the domestic setting. Since the industrial revolution, the majority of this energy has come from a dense, energy rich resource known collectively as fossil fuels. The impacts of the use of fossil fuels are becoming more recognised, in the form of resource depletion and pollution caused from burning these fuels. This chapter will firstly give an introduction to energy; how to measure it and what forms there are. It will then outline worldwide energy use – what we use energy for and where we get this energy from. The effects of this consumption pattern will be highlighted, before presenting a sustainable energy strategy which includes reducing energy, using it more efficiently and introducing renewable energy technologies.