The statement that best describes energy release in cellular respiration is:
Stored chemical energy is broken down and released in the mitochondria.
In cellular respiration, glucose and other organic molecules are broken down in the mitochondria, where the majority of ATP (the energy currency of the cell) is produced during the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. While some processes of cellular respiration (like glycolysis) do occur in the cytoplasm, the critical energy-releasing steps primarily take place in the mitochondria.