Energy is an essential part of our lives. Energy from the world around us, for example oil, flowing water and wind is used to make electricity and fuel.

What does your school use energy for? For heating, lighting, cooking, pumping clean water to the toilets, can you think of more?

The amount of energy you use affects your Ecological Footprint.

• Land is needed to provide the sources of energy.
• Energy can be produced from renewable sources that are replaced quickly by nature e.g. sun, wind, flowing water and plants. But most of Scotland’s energy comes from fossil fuels, non-renewable sources such as coal and oil.
• Increased use of fossil fuels releases more carbon dioxide, changing the climate across the planet.

Follow the navigation buttons at the top of the page to complete this section, to help you to understand the environmental impact of your energy use and how you can reduce your school’s impact.