The National Academies
What You Need To Know About Energy
As debates about energy grow more intense, Americans need dependable, objective, and authoritative energy information. The National Academies, advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine, provide the facts about energy—a complex issue that affects us as individuals and as a nation.
Uses
Discover how the strength of American industry, speed of transportation, and countless modern conveniences all come from our ingenious use of energy.
Sources
The United States depends on a variety of energy sources. What advantages and challenges does each one present to our nation and its people?
Costs
Learn about the costs of our unprecedented standard of living—to the environment, to our national security, and to irreplaceable resources.
Efficiency
Increasing supply isn't the only answer to a stable energy future. Discover how reducing demand through improved efficiency achieves the same effect.
What do you know about energy?
Which source(s) of energy are not nuclear in origin?
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Sorry, that’s incorrect.Tidal energy is gravitational in origin. Solar energy comes from nuclear reactions in the Sun.
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Sorry, that’s incorrect.Tidal energy is gravitational in origin. Geothermal energy comes from radioactive decay inside the earth.
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Correct!Tidal energy is gravitational in origin. Solar energy comes from nuclear reactions in the Sun, and geothermal energy comes from radioactive decay inside the earth.
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Sorry, that’s incorrect.Tidal energy is gravitational in origin. Solar energy comes from nuclear reactions in the Sun, and geothermal energy comes from radioactive decay inside the earth.
Energy Defined
Source Material
- America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation (2009)
- Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States (2009)
- Electricity from Renewable Resources: Status, Prospects, and Impediments (2009)
- Liquid Transportation Fuels from Coal and Biomass: Technological Status, Costs, and Environmental Impacts (2009)
- America’s Energy Future: Summary of a Meeting (2008)
- America’s Energy Future
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