Energy is the ability to do work. Everything we do requires energy. Our bodies get the energy they need from food. We use fossil fuels to power our cars and provide our houses with electricity.

Energy is an easy ecological address component to overlook because we often don't see the source where our energy comes from. It is also, however, the component that touches our lives the most and on which we have perhaps the greatest impact. Think about the energy that you use in a day. How does your food get to your table? How far did it travel to get there? What resources were used to produce it? Photo courtesy of Paul Thomas

Check This Out!

U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - NC
http://www.eere.energy.gov/states/
Click on "NC" and then click on "Energy Statistics" to find news about advances in renewable energy and energy efficiency in North Carolina and links to Web sites published by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) that have specific information for North Carolina.

NC State Energy Plan
http://www.energync.net/sep/docs/sep_12-04.pdf
This is quite a large document from the NC State Energy Office, but it has great information, charts and graphs about who is using how much of what kind of energy in North Carolina.

NC OneMap
http://www.nconemap.com/
Just click on the NC OneMap logo to launch the program. Once launched, on the left side under the "Query" subheading, click on the mailbox icon. This allows you to type in your address. Enter your address and click the "Find Address" button. A box will come up with X and Y coordinates. Click where it says "GoTo" to zoom in to your address on the map. On the right side of the page are all of the layers you can turn on and off. NC OneMap can show you everything from river basins to elevation, landcover to weather. It's a FANTASTIC resource, and a great place to start learning about your ecological address!

For More Resoures

North Carolina State Energy Office
http://www.energync.net/
The State Energy Office is North Carolina's lead agency for energy programs and services and serves as the official source for energy information and assistance for consumers, businesses, government agencies, community colleges and schools and the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.

The State Energy Office's main areas of focus are alternative fuels; energy information and education; energy efficiency for industry and state agencies, universities, community colleges and local government; and renewable energy.

The Energy Story
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/
Do you need a refresher on how exactly fossil fuels were formed? Want to know how efficient different types of energy are? The Energy Story gives a great overview of, well...the energy story.