The world is driven by fossil fuels like oil and gas. This has some negative repercussions: Rising energy prices due to decreasing deposits, dependence on unstable oil and gas producing regimes and global warming.
It becomes clear, that a revolution in the way how we produce and use energy is necessary. Central to this energy transition are new technologies, which produce energy from renewable sources such as wind or sun.
With Germany as an example, this clip shows what renewable energies are and how they work as well as what the concept of energy transition means.

The clip is part of the WissensWerte Project of the german non-profit organization /e-politik.de/ e.V.

Students learn how to build simple piezoelectric generators to power LEDs. To do this, they incorporate into a circuit a piezoelectric element that converts movements they make (mechanical energy) into electrical energy, which is stored in a capacitor (short-term battery). Once enough energy is stored, they flip a switch to light up an LED. Students also learn how much (surprisingly little) energy can be converted using the current state of technology for piezoelectric materials.

Students learn about power generation using river currents. A white paper is a focused analysis often used to describe how a technology solves a problem. In this literacy activity, students write a simplified version of a white paper on an alternative electrical power generation technology. In the process, they develop their critical thinking skills and become aware of the challenge and promise of technological innovation that engineers help to make possible. This activity is geared towards fifth grade and older students and computer capabilities are required. Some portions of the activity may be appropriate with younger students. CAPTION: Upper Left: Trey Taylor, President of Verdant Power, talks about green power with a New York City sixth-grade class. Lower Left: Verdant Power logo. Center: Verdant Power's turbine evaluation vessel in New York's East River. In the background is a conventional power plant. Upper Right: The propeller-like turbine can be raised and lowered from the platform of the turbine evaluation vessel. Lower Right: Near the East River, Mr. Taylor explains to the class how water currents can generate electric power.

In this lesson, students will learn about how we can take renewable sources and use them for energy. Students will start by building an electric vehicle and then discussing the benefits and drawbacks of electric vehicles.

Students are introduced to the idea that energy use impacts the environment and our wallets. They discuss different types of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, as well as the impacts of energy consumption. Through a series of activities, students understand how they use energy and how it is transformed from one type to another. They learn innovative ways engineers conserve energy and how energy can be conserved in their homes.

This lesson enables students to see where their energy comes from and the future of renewable energy.

Several activities are included to teach and research the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources and various energy resources. The students work with a quantitative, but simple model of energy resources to show how rapidly a finite, non-renewable energy sources can be depleted, whereas renewable resources continue to be available. The students then complete a homework assignment or a longer, in-depth research project to learn about how various technologies that capture energy resources for human uses and their pros and cons. Fact sheets are included to help students get started on their investigation of their assigned energy source.

Fact sheets are provided for several different energy resources as a starting point for students to conduct literature research on the way these systems work and their various pros and cons. Students complete a worksheet for homework or take in-class time for research and presentation of their findings to the class. This approach requires students to learn for themselves and teach each other, rather than having the teacher lecture about the subject matter.

Posters are provided for several different energy conversion systems. Students are provided with cards that give the name and a description of each of the components in an energy system. They match these with the figures on the diagram. Since the groups look at different systems, they also describe their results to the class to share their knowledge.

Students explore the use of wind power in the design, construction and testing of "sail cars," which, in this case, are little wheeled carts with masts and sails that are powered by the moving air generated from a box fan. The scientific method is reviewed and reinforced with the use of controls and variables, and the engineering design process is explored. The focus of the activity is on renewable energy, as well as the design, testing and redesign of small cars made from household materials. The activity (and an extension worksheet) includes the use of kinematic equations using distance, time traveled and speed to enforce exponents and decimals.

Students form expert engineering teams working for the (fictional) alternative energy consulting firm, Greenewables, Inc. Each team specializes in a form of renewable energy used to generate electrical power: passive solar, solar photovoltaic, wind power, low-impact hydropower, biomass, geothermal and (for more advanced students) hydrogen fuel cells. Teams produce poster presentations making a case for their technology and produce an accompanying PDF document using Adobe Acrobat that summarizes the presentation. This activity is geared towards fifth-grade and older students, and Internet research capabilities are required. Some portions of this activity may be appropriate with younger students.

Students explore heat transfer and energy efficiency using the context of energy efficient houses. They gain a solid understanding of the three types of heat transfer: radiation, convection and conduction, which are explained in detail and related to the real world. They learn about the many ways solar energy is used as a renewable energy source to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and operating costs. Students also explore ways in which a device can capitalize on the methods of heat transfer to produce a beneficial result. They are given the tools to calculate the heat transferred between a system and its surroundings.

This activity simulates the extraction of limited, nonrenewable resources from a "mine," so students can experience first-hand how resource extraction becomes more difficult over time. Students gather data and graph their results to determine the peak in resource extraction. They learn about the limitations of nonrenewable resources, and how these resources are currently used.

Students are presented with examples of the types of problems that environmental engineers solve, specifically focusing on air and land quality issues. Air quality topics include air pollution sources, results of poor air quality including global warming, acid rain and air pollution, as well as ways to reduce air pollution. Land quality topics include the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources, the results of non-renewable resource misuse and ways to reduce land pollution. (Water quality is introduced in a later lesson in a separate presentation, as it is the focal point of this unit curriculum.)

There are two types of energy sources. One is renewable and the other is non-renewable. In renewable source, the substance which is used for production of energy is not consumed, but remains the same as it was before the production of energy, while in non-renewable source of energy the fuel substance is consumed and its chemical compostion is changed. Examples of non-renewable anergy are fissile material, coal, oil, gas, and wood, while examples of renewable energy sources are wind, flowing water, geothermal energy etc. The primitive means of energy are wood, and fissil fuel energy. Primitive sources of energy caused excessive green house gases, which are harmful for atmosphereand. Due to the excessive use of the fossil fuel energy, it caused harms to the environment. The world is trying to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel/ non-renewable sources. Growing dependence on Solar, Wind, Hydropower, geothermal energy (renewable) is a hope to achieve a clean and healthy environment. https://geostudies.org/energy-resouces/

This article provides background information related to natural resources of the poles, and renewable and non-renewable energy.

Students learn about a fascinating electromechanical coupling called piezoelectricity that is being employed and researched around the world for varied purposes, often for creative energy harvesting methods. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation provides an explanation of piezoelectric materials at the atomic scale, and how this phenomenon converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A range of applications, both tested and conceptual, are presented to engage students in the topic. Gaining this background understanding prepares students to conduct the associated hands-on activity in which they create their own small piezoelectric "generators."

A quantitative illustration of how non-renewable resources are depleted while renewable resources continue to provide energy. Students remove beads (units of energy) from a bag (representing a country). A certain number of beads are removed from the bag each "year." At some point, no non-renewable beads remain. Student groups have different ratios of renewable and non-renewable energy beads. A comparison of the remaining beads and time when they ran out of energy shows the value of utilizing a greater proportion of renewable resources as a sustainable energy resources.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the types of renewable energy resources. They are involved in activities to help them understand the transformation of energy (solar, water and wind) into electricity. Students explore the different roles of engineers working in renewable energy fields.

Students use real-world data to evaluate various renewable energy sources and the feasibility of implementing these sources. Working in small groups, students use data from the Renewable Energy Living Lab to describe and understand the way the world works. The data is obtained through observation and experimentation. Using the living lab gives students and teachers the opportunity to practice analyzing data to solve problems or answer questions, in much the same way that scientists and engineers do every day.