We use electricity to power our lights, TVs and radios, refrigerators and washing machines, air conditioners, and sometimes our stoves and clothes dryers. We use energy to run our cars. Most cars use a form of oil called gasoline to make them run. Our cars can go a lot farther on a gallon of gasoline than they could 20 years ago. Almost half the energy we use in the United States today helps make the everyday products we buy in stores.
Factories use energy to make food, furniture, clothes, and toys.
Factories also make paper, which we use a lot of every day. You use paper in school. And all your books are made from paper. Some products are made of fossil fuels. For example, some plastics are made from oil.