2024 Texas Envirothon

Students will learn about the different sources of renewable energy; the challenges facing the transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewables; the environmental, economic, and social impacts of energy consumption; and how individuals can affect change in their communities.

• Key Topic 1: Introduction to Energy and Traditional Energy Infrastructure
  
  1. Define energy and explain how energy is relevant in our everyday lives.
  2. Describe the different levels at which energy decisions are made, and what factors affect energy decision-making.
  3. Explain the setup and design of traditional energy infrastructure and distribution systems.
  4. Explain how traditional non-renewable energy sources such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas are extracted and utilized to create energy.
  5. Identify the environmental, social, and economic advantages and disadvantages of these traditional non-renewable energy sources, and evaluate their suitability for meeting the world's energy needs in the future.
  6. Identify threats to the energy system for both traditional and renewable sources.
• Key Topic 2: Renewable Energy and Infrastructure
  1. Describe the criteria for an energy source to be renewable, and identify examples.
  2. Explain how solar, wind, and hydroelectric systems generate electricity, and identify the technological advancements that have made this possible.
  3. Identify the environmental, social, and economic advantages and disadvantages of solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, and evaluate their suitability for meeting the world's energy needs in the future. (See also Key Topic #3)
  4. Explain the setup and design of renewable energy infrastructure and distribution systems.
  5. Describe how renewable energy can contribute to energy security.
• Key Topic 3: Renewable Energy and Natural Resources
  1. Describe the impact renewable energy projects have on natural resources and the environment on both local and global scales.
  2. Identify actions or innovative approaches to address negative impacts from renewable energy on natural resources and the environment.
  3. Explain the benefits and limitations of concurrent use of renewable energy projects on agricultural lands.
• Key Topic 4: Global Perspectives on Renewable Energy
  1. Describe the landscape of renewable energy across various regions of the world, including strengths and challenges.
  2. Explain the barriers to transitioning to renewable energy and identify solutions to these barriers.
  3. Evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches to renewable energy given varying environmental, social, and economic conditions.
  4. Explain the roles of economic and political policy, public perception, community advocacy, and scientific advancements in a successful transition to renewable energy.
• Key Topic 5: Local Action and Energy Equity
  1. Identify actions that can be taken on the individual and local level to support renewable energy.
  2. Define Energy Justice, and describe its connection to environmental justice and climate justice.
  3. Explain the components of Energy Justice and how these interact with the transition to renewable energy.

2024 Current Issue Study Guide (NCF-Envirothon)

• Power Up Texas - Alliance of stakeholders bound by a mission to educate and advocate for innovative, sustainable electricity generation in Texas, including the expansion of clean, renewable energy resources
• Texas' Energy Profile - A review of the state's current traditional and renewable energy capabilities
• NEED Energy Information & Resources, National Energy Education Development Project - Energy at a Glance fact sheets and other energy education resources

Articles and Videos

• Video: Texas goes green: How oil country became the renewable energy leader
• Texas power struggle: How the nation’s top wind power state turned against renewable energy
• These 6 charts show how rapidly the Texas power grid is changing

Wildlife Issues

• Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC) - Alliance of experts from government agencies, private industry, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations that cooperate to develop and disseminate solutions to monitor and mitigate the impact of wind turbines on bats...
• Behavior of Bats at Wind Turbines, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Ultrasonic Acoustic Deterrent for Reducing Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines, PLOS One (2013)
• Impacts to Wildlife of Wind Energy Siting and Operation in the United States, Issues in Ecology (2019)