Energy is everywhere.
Since the beginning of the universe, 13.8 billion years ago,
energy's been the driver of everything we know.
It's powered our dynamic planet
and its many processes.
It was energy from the Sun
interacting with matter that caused all living things to evolve,
resulting in the wide diversity of life on Earth today,
including humans.
Every sensation we have comes about because of some kind of energy.
Our understanding and uses of energy--and its sources over time--have dramatically changed human possibilities and activities.
Yet when the power goes out
it focus our attention
on just how important a reliable energy supply is for our daily lives.
It's a major event for everyone involved.
One can even see it from space!
When this happens, we often revert to earlier forms of energy.
Fire to see,
keep us warm,
and for cooking.
Over time, we have developed an understanding of energy that has allowed us to harness it for uses well beyond basic survival.
Mastery of fire came first, more than 400,000 years ago, using wood as the fuel.
That led us to build ovens for making pottery,
and refining of metals from ore.
We learned to use energy from wind,
from water,
and from animals for transportation,
and agriculture.
Through years of exploration and innovation, humans developed technologies that harnessed en- ergy in steam to do useful work.
In fact, the invention of the steam engine triggered the Industrial Revolution.
Steam engines powered railways,
great ocean liners,
industry,
and even early automobiles.
We've also used the force of moving water for centuries
to turn water wheels that transfer energy, to make many kinds of machines work.
Today we use water to make elec- tricity at large hydroelectric dams, which can power entire cities,
and in small-scale hydroelectric projets that provide electricity to communities or even individual homes.
We can transport electricity over vast distances on the electric power grid--
one of our major ways of distributing and accessing energy.
In recent times we found new ways to generate electricity-- for example, with nuclear power plants,
turbines that harness wind energy,
photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into electricity,
geothermal power plants that use steam from beneath the Earth's surface,
and with biofuels from materials like agricultural waste, and algae.
In addition, we can all save money by using energy more efficiently.
Understanding energy helps us manage our lives.
It also helps organizations to promote economic development,
and improve national security.
As we develop sustainable energy sources and we improve the efficiency of how we use energy,
we will reduce our environmental risks, like climate change, and avoid negative impacts now and in the future.
Learning about energy is important.
It helps us make informed decisions about energy use,
and may lead to a career path in energy related fields, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Everyone, however, needs to know enough to make good energy choices.
Energy Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Energy Education,
can help us understand the role energy plays in all our lives.
It explores the seven essential principles of energy education that everyone should know.
This Energy Literacy framework is not just available in a printed booklet;
you can also download it from the web,
and it has online videos that highlight each of the seven energy literacy principles.
Energy is everywhere.
And we all make energy decisions many times each day that have an impact on our communities,
and our planet.
Becoming more "Energy Literate" enables us all to make these decisions wisely.