How might your project help improve our use of current energy sources, enable the transition to alternative energy sources, or reduce our energy footprint?

Check out this list of questions to get you thinking about your project, inspire some research, and help you decide what question or problem you might want to investigate.

Brainstorming project ideas:

Using Current Energy Sources Better

• How can homes, schools, or vehicles use less electricity or fuel without losing function or comfort?
• How could insulation, materials, or designs help buildings stay warmer in winter or cooler in summer?
• What everyday devices use more energy than we think and how could they be improved?
• How does a nuclear power plant work? Is there a specific process or piece of technology that could be improved?
• What different energy sources do you use each day? How could these be used more efficiently?

Alternative & Renewable Energy

• How can solar, wind, water, or bioenergy be made more efficient or affordable?
• How could you use renewable energy to power common devices? How would your prototype be different than other products on the market?
• How are current wind or water turbines designed? How could the design be improved?
• What’s a creative way to store renewable energy (e.g. better batteries or new systems)?
• Imagine you’re building a tiny home that needs to run only on renewable energy—what solutions would you use?

Reducing Our Energy Footprint

• How could you design a tool, app, or system to track and reduce energy use?
• What role do transportation choices (e.g. biking, carpooling, electric vehicles) play in energy footprints?
• Test how different materials or colours absorb or reflect heat. How could this be used to our advantage?
• What is the energy footprint of certain products or foods? What would the impact be if they were produced locally?
• If you could redesign one everyday object to use less energy, what would it be and how?

Remember

Start by picking a topic or idea that sparks your curiosity. Then think about whether you could discover (test an idea through an experiment, research or survey) or innovate (design a new solution) around that problem. Learn more about the difference between Discovery and Innovation projects here.