Lesson 2.

Sun as the Main

Source of Energy
 describe the sun as the
1 major source of energy;
Objectives
At the end define what the Earth’s
2 energy budget is; and
of the
lesson, you
should be identify the factors
able to: 3 affecting Earth’s energy
budget.
 Learn about it!

Albedo
● All objects can either absorb or reflect light. This is a property
known as albedo. It has a value that ranges from 0-1.

Albedo Values
 Learn about it!

The Sun
● The Sun is the Earth’s main
source of energy, and powers
many of the processes in the
planet.

Sun as the main source of

energy.
 Learn about it!

The Sun
● Plants are dependent on the Sun for photosynthesis.

Importance of the sun on humans and other life forms.

 Learn about it!

Solar Energy is Renewable

● As long as the sun shines, solar

energy is available for everyone
to utilize.

● This is advantageous since the

sun is an environmentally-
friendly source of energy.
Utilization of solar energy
by using solar panels.
 Learn about it!

Earth’s Energy Budget

● Earth’s energy budget is the
balance of energy absorbed
and energy reflected.

● 30% of the energy from the

sun is reflected and
scattered by clouds,
atmosphere, and Earth’s
light-colored surfaces. Earth’s energy budget
 Learn about it!

Factors Affecting Earth’s Energy Budget

● There are certain factors that affect Earth’s energy budget
such as:
○ the amount of light colored surfaces
○ amount of radiation received
○ Earth’s axial tilt
○ presence of greenhouse gases.
 Learn about it!

The Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse effect is one of the factors that affects Earth’s energy budget.
Key Points

1 Albedo is the ability of a material to reflect light.

Earth’s energy budget ensures that the absorbed

2 solar radiation is balanced to the radiated ones.

The factors that affect Earth’s energy budget are the

amount of light colored surfaces, amount of
3 radiation received, Earth’s axial tilt and the presence
of greenhouse gases.
 Check Your Understanding

Write true if the statement is correct.

Otherwise, write false.
1. Albedo is the ability of the material to absorb light.
2. High albedo means more light energy is reflected.
3. Black surfaces have an albedo value of 1.
4. Earth’s energy budget ensures that energy in is always
balanced to energy out.
5. When the size of the area of light surfaces, energy balance
is also affected.
 Challenge Yourself

Compare the albedo values in Alaska and Sahara. Which do

you think has higher albedo? Explain.
 Bibliography

Naotatsu Shikazono. 2012. Introduction to Earth and Planetary System Science: New View of Earth,
Planets and Humans,Germany:Springer Science & Business Media.

Renu Anand. 2016.The Story of Planet Earth,New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Ronald Martin. 2012. Earth's Evolving Systems: The History of Planet Earth, Massachusetts: Jones &
Bartlett Publishers.

Michael Pidwirny. 2016. Chapter 4: Solar Radiation and Earth: Single chapter from the eBook
Understanding Physical Geography, Our Planet Earth Publishing.

Rubin, Kenneth. 2016. Geochemistry Lecture 33 Accessed March 17, 2017.

https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/krubin/GG325/lect33.pdf.