Featured Article: How Solar Cells Work
Solar cells use sunlight to produce electricity. But what happens on a cloudy day? Learn all about solar cells and what it would take to power your entire house with solar energy. See more »
energy production library
The greatest need modern civilizations have is energy. Learn about oil, electricity and newer forms of energy like solar and wind power.
How the Crude Oil Market Works
The ever-changing price of a barrel of oil has a lot to do with what we pay for gasoline at the pump. But do you know the four major factors that contribute to the price of oil?
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Inside a Power-Cube Transformer
You've probably never noticed how many of these you use everyday, but HowStuffWorks took the time to count them and take them apart to see what's inside!
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Is it possible to generate electricity directly from heat?
Is it possible to generate electricity directly from heat? Thermocouples do it, with no moving parts.
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What are amps, watts, volts and ohms?
OK, correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, volts measure the potential for energy to travel and ohms measure the resistance to the electrical flow, but then what are amps and watts?
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What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
In salt caverns that dot the Gulf Coast, the U.S. government stores a secret weapon -- an enormous reserve of crude oil. Why do we keep so much oil sitting around?
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What is thermal technology?
When gas prices shoot through the roof, alternative technologies start to look even more interesting. This type of technology uses heat to create energy. All we really need is the sun.
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What's a beer battery?
Scientists working with Foster's Brewing Company have made a fuel cell using bacteria and the brewery's waste water. They claim that their fuel cell generates non-polluting power as it cleanses the water. But is the "beer battery" simply a novelty?
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What's oil shale?
If oil shale can decrease U.S. dependence on foreign nations for oil, why aren't we making it yet? We're caught between a rock and a hard, geopolitical place.
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Where does America's gas come from?
Americans use a lot of gasoline -- hundreds of thousands of barrels each month, as a matter of fact. But did you ever wonder where all of that gas actually comes from?
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Why is it so hard to cut dependence on gasoline?
No doubt about it, we rely on gasoline for a lot of reasons. The truth is, we have for more than a century at this point. But is that the only reason it's so hard to cut our dependence on gasoline?
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Why is offshore drilling so controversial?
The outer continental shelf of the United States could hold a sizeable amount of oil. But is it enough to make a difference in the price of oil?
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Wild World: Solar Cell Quiz
Solar cells are on everything from pocket calculators to the roofs of buildings. So exactly how do they turn light into energy?
See more »Energy
Energy, in physics, the capacity to do work. (Energy in an economic sense is discussed in the article Energy Resources.) Work is done whenever an object is moved.
See more »Geothermal Energy
Geothermal Energy, heat produced within the earth. The major source of the heat is molten underground rock, or magma.
See more »How do the streetlights turn on automatically at night?
On the Flintstones, a small bird sits inside the light and turns it on every night before he goes to bed. In a modern streetlight, a small circuit replaces the bird.
See more »How much coal is required to run a 100-watt light bulb 24 hours a day for a year?
Where electricity is produced from a coal fired power station, how much coal is required to run a 100-watt light bulb 24 hours a day for one year?
See more »Joule
Joule, a unit of energy or work in the metric system of measurement. By definition, one joule is the work done when a force of one newton is exerted over a distance of one meter.
See more »Solar Energy
Solar Energy, the energy generated by the sun. This energy is in the form of electromagnetic radiation and travels to the earth in waves of various lengths.
See more »What are all the different ways to store energy besides using rechargeable batteries?
I know that one way to store energy is to use a battery, like a lead-acid battery or a nickel-cadmium battery. I am wondering if there are other ways to store energy that might be lighter or last longer than batteries do. There must be a better way!
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