What is Energy4me?

Energy4me is the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) energy education program that helps students, teachers, and the public find factual, unbiased information about ALL types of energy sources.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is a nonrenewable fossil fuel formed hundreds of millions years ago from the remains of plants and animals. Not to be confused with gasoline, it is used for heating buildings and generating electricity.

Petroleum

Petroleum is a nonrenewable fossil fuel made naturally from decaying prehistoric plant and animal remains. It is a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules that exist sometimes as a liquid or a vapor. It's primarily used for power and transportation, as well as household items.

Coal

Coal is a nonrenewable energy source that is part of the fossil fuels family. It is a combustible sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons, it is primarily used to generate electricity.

Uranium

Uranium is a nonrenewable source that makes nuclear energy. It occurs in the nucleus, or core, of an atom. Bonds that hold atoms together contain large amounts of energy that is released in the form of heat.

Hydropower

Hydropower is renewable energy captured from moving water. Nature’s water cycle is important to making hydropower work. Hydropower was one of the first sources of energy used for electricity generation.

Solar

Solar energy is the radiant energy (light or heat) that comes from the sun. Only a small amount of the sun’s energy strikes the Earth but is still an enormous amount of energy.

Wind

Wind energy is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. People have used wind energy for hundreds of years to pump water or grind grain. Wind power has a relatively high output, but only a fraction of its potential is currently used.

Geothermal

Geothermal energy comes from reservoirs of hot water below the Earth's surface. Wells are drilled into these reservoirs to tap steam and hot water that are brought to the surface for electricity generation and other uses.

Biomass

Biomass is any organic matter – wood, crops, seaweed, animal wastes – that can be used as an energy source. Biomass has been used longer than any other energy source. Biomass now makes up only a small percentage of total world energy use.

Which energy source is best?

It depends. Many alternative sources of energy are still being researched and tested. Technologies are continually being developed and enhanced to improve energy sources. Not all energies are ready for mass consumption, so you have to ask the right questions to find out which energy source does the job.

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For Teachers:

Bring Energy in to the Classroom!

Energy4me promotes fact-based education to help demystify the industry. It is designed to promote an energy conscious and educated society, and create interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. Energy education is not a topic that is widely taught in school systems globally. By making this curriculum available to teachers for use in their classroom, energy4me can reach thousands of students every year.

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