Energy

Energy causes things to happen around us. Just look out the window. During the day, the sun gives out light and heat energy. At night, street lamps use electrical energy to light our way. When a car drives by, it is being powered by fuel, a type of stored energy. The food we eat contains energy. We use that energy to work and play.

Energy can be found in a number of different forms. It can be chemical energy, electrical energy, heat (thermal energy), light (radiant energy), mechanical energy, and nuclear energy.

Image by: Alex Ferguson

2014 warmest year on record

This means that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have occurred since the year 2000.  This serves as further confirmation that human emissions o...

2019 was greenest year for UK energy

According to a new report by the Carbon Brief website, renewable energy from solar, wind, hydro and biomass produced more electricity than fossil f...

Acid Rain

Acid rain is a result of air pollution. When any type of fuel is burnt, lots of different chemicals are produced. These can mix in the atmosphere a...

Agreement in Warsaw

In the meantime, the delegates will be returning home  to work on their own countries’ ‘contributions’ to reducing carbon emissions, which will com...

Another Crisis At Fukushima

The tanks have been built in a hurry from steel plates held together by bolts with plastic seals between the joints. It’s these seals which are now...

Around the world in 585 days

Planetsolar is a catamaran and in each hull, there are 4.5 tonnes of batteries, which can store sufficient energy to keep the boat powered for up t...

Ban on fracking lifted in England

Some 120 tremors were recorded in 2019 at Cuadrilla's exploratory fracking site in Lancashire, but most of these were too small to be felt. The ...

Being green isn’t black and white

But the full picture is more complicated than this.  A recent study comparing  electric and conventional cars, authored by the Norwegian University...

COP26 underway in Glasgow

World leaders, who have gathered in Glasgow for the conference have already heard impassioned speeches from United Nations Secretary General Antoni...

COP28 begins in Dubai

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN climate convention has already outlined ambitious targets for international leaders: "They must agree ...

Calling young writers

At YPTE, we would like to start giving young people the chance to have their voices heard about environmental issues.  So from now on, we'll be pub...

Conservation Education 13 - Energy

The Young People’s Trust for the Environment is delighted to announce that its residential Environmental Discovery Courses will be available in 200...

Electric Cars

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular.  In this factsheet we explore why.

Energy

The following chapters describe the various forms energy can take and the story behind humans, energy, fuel and the environment.

Even CO2 emissions are being outsourced

The UK’s emissions of carbon dioxide have reduced between 1990 and 2008 by 19% – mostly as a result of switching to gas rather than coal to fuel ou...

Fuels and Energy Resources

A suite of 3 lessons for Key Stage 3 with accompanying PowerPoint presentation to compare the pros and cons of different types of renewable and non...

Fukushima

The powerful earthquake which hit Japan on 11th March 2011 caused a tsunami which added to the destruction of millions of people’s homes and liveli...

Global Warming

Global warming is the increase of average world temperatures as a result of what is known as the greenhouse effect. 

Good news and bad news

IEA executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview, "I feel more optimistic than I felt two years ago."  He added, "Clean energy investments i...

Good news for the planet!

In the United Kingdom from April to September 2016, some 6,696 gigawatt hours (5.4% of the UK's electricity over the period) were generated by sola...

Have Your Say On Sustainability 2013

We travel with the winners of the Young People's Trust for the Environment and Eurostar's 'Have Your Say on Sustainabilty' competition to the Europ...

Have your say on sustainability!

For the competition, young people aged 11-18 are invited to create a short video clip sharing their views on the environmental issues that concern ...

Home Learning Pack: Energy and Power

Here are some amazing ideas for learning and activities focused on how we can make and use energy.  Try making your own circuit using a pencil and ...

How is electricity made?

Film on how electricty is made.  Take a look at how we generate electricity using coal, oil and gas, hydroelectric power and nuclear energy.  See a...

Introducing Better Planet Schools

Better Planet Schools is an online environmental education programme, created by the Young People's Trust for the Environment to engage children an...

List of Talks

The school talks service is available in person for schools within a 30-mile radius of our office in Yeovil OR on Zoom, Teams etc. for schools anyw...

Mass walkout by NGOs in Warsaw

The Conference of the Parties (COP) in Warsaw should have been an opportunity to make some progress.  And with the horror and devastation caused by...

More Radiation At Fukushima

Exposure to this level of radiation for one hour would give 110 times the maximum annual dose of radiation permitted for someone working in the Jap...

New videos now available

The two new short films, made by YPTE are on 'How electricity is made' and 'Renewable energy'.  Please take a look!

No relaxation of fracking regulations

A spokesman said on behalf of the government, “We set these regulations in consultation with industry and we have no plans to review them." Acco...

Nuclear fusion takes big step forward

So what is nuclear fusion? Fusion works by forcing atomic nuclei together.  This is a process that happens in the core of our Sun, where enormous ...

Offshore wind farms

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published its recommendations to the UK government regarding the UK’s fifth carbon budget, which is due t...

Oil Pollution Case Study

The 147,000 tonne oil tanker Sea Empress ran aground on February 15th 1996 at 8.07 pm, despite being under the control of one of Milford Haven’s ha...

Outcomes of COP28

Many countries and environmental groups remain concerned that the more definite "phase out" of fossil fuels - asked for by over 130 countries -  wa...

Ozone Layer

Ozone is a naturally occurring gas found in the atmosphere where it absorbs most of the sun's ultraviolet light - invisible rays which are harmful ...

Pollution

Pollution is a word that we are all aware of these days. What does it mean exactly? 

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. 

Renewable Energy

Renewable means that the energy won’t run out, unlike coal, oil and gas which will.  Before we get started on renewable energies let's take a look ...

Renewable Energy

Find out about renewable energy, including wind turbines, tidal turbines, solar power (photovoltaics, solar heating and solar power stations) and w...

Renewable Energy: Biomass Energy

Biomass is a versatile energy source. Organic matter that is used as a source of biomass energy includes trees, timber waste, wood chips, corn, ric...

Renewable Energy: Solar Energy

Throughout history the suns heat has been used as a form of energy – in the beginning it was used to cook food. Then we learnt to collect the sun’s...

Rudi and Harry's Eco Home

Rudi (age 8) and Harry (age 10) learned about eco homes as part of their work with 'Explorium Lights On', with a presentation on the topic from YPT...

Science Cross-Curricular Pack

At YPTE, we believe that young people need accurate information about how human actions can impact our planet. By inspiring pupils to care for the ...

Scotland bans fracking

The public consultation attracted more than 65,000 responses, with 99% of replies originating from areas targeted by the fracking industry opposed ...

Solar Energy Activity Pack

A package of activities and short lessons on solar energy, produced by YPTE in partnership with Essex County Council for use in primary schools. Th...

Surge in demand for biomethane

There are now 98 biomethane plants in the UK, which produce methane gas using food leftovers and waste from farms, including manure and grass silag...

Sussex: The Weald

Thanks to support from the Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust, we have produced this set of classroom reference guides to the regions of Sussex, for...

Sustainability

The United Nations says that sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet...

Sustainable Living

This suite of 5 lessons looks at human impacts on our planet, current attempts to be more sustainable and the changes we will need to make in order...

The Greenhouse Effect

Here is a short video to explain the greenhouse effect.  Great for teachers to use in lessons!

The era of 'global boiling'

He went on to say "The air is unbreathable, the heat is unbearable, and the level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable.  Lea...

The problem with biofuel

A report issued today by Chatham House shows that biofuels will cost us more too. Biofuel comes in two basic forms – ethanol, which can be added to...

Transport

This suite of lessons and activities for Key Stage 2 looks at the following issues: What were the earliest types of transport? Why do so...

UK fracking gets the green light

Shale gas is found deep in the layers of sedimentary rocks like, generally several kilometres underground.  There is an estimated 200 trillion cubi...

UK homes to be wind powered by 2030

Mr Johnson said, “We believe that in 10 years’ time offshore wind will be powering every home in the country, with our target rising from 30 gigawa...

UK’s new cars are greener than ever

The average emissions of new cars sold in 2011 was 138.1g/km.  By 2015, average emissions must fall to below 130g/km to meet with EU targets and by...

Wall Of Ice For Fukushima

It sounds bizarre, but it would prevent leaking water from spreading further, if it works. It’s absolutely clear that something has to be done to p...

Wave energy

Here's a fab video from our friends at Explorium showing how wave energy gets converted into power we can use every day!

What did COP26 achieve?

Ending deforestation Over 100 nations, including Brazil (home to a large proportion of the Amazon rainforest) and Russia (with over 20% of the wor...

Wind energy exceeds coal in 2016

The government has pledged to remove coal from the UK's energy mix completely by 2025, but it is now expected that the final plant will actually cl...

York Minster to fit solar panels

Visitors to the Minster will be able to see how much energy the panels have produced and the amount of carbon emissions they have prevented via a d...