Help Save the Environment

Americans use 21 million barrels of oil every day to power our cars, heat our homes, power our farms, factories, and cities. But as the price of oil goes up, many experts say that it will become too hard and expensive to tap the world’s underground oil supplies. That’s why scientists are searching for other ways to meet the nation’s energy needs.

Here are some ways that we can use the power of nature.

1. The Power of Waves

Dams are used around the world to channel rivers to produce electricity. But the future of water power may lie in using the motion of ocean waves and the rise and fall of tides along the shore. Tom Dennis and his company, Energetech, are trying to figure out the best ways to do this. One of their projects in Australia uses a four-story high floating power plant that turns the motion of waves into electricity. Wave energy is more consistent, predictable, and concentrated than wind. It’s also impossible to use up.

2. Nice Ride People

   in Brazil are filling up with fuel that comes from sugarcane. A new kind of car, called a Flex car, runs on either gasoline or ethanol, a kind of alcohol that is produced from sugarcane. Sugarcane is a crop that is grown all over Brazil.

3. Solar Power

   Many people are now turning to the power of the sun to power their houses. The light that comes from the sun can be useful to people with solar panels. Solar panels are like big black mirrors that absorb the power from the light from the sun.

I believe that we can help reduce the use of oil. Those are just some of the ways that we can help save oil. The earth takes a long time to make oil. It sometimes takes 1.5 million years! Scientist predict that we will run out of oil in about 2050. That’s in a lot of our lifetimes! Remember, save oil by using hybrid cars and using solar panels.