Energy production

2024-07-0919:17 Status:IBnotes Tags: Environmental damages

Forms of Energy

Some of the most popular forms of energy include coal, geothermal energy, wind energy, biomass, petrol, nuclear energy etc. Currently, we are most dependent on fossil fuels for energy production. Fossil fuels are a chemical store of solar energy from millions of years ago. The energy is released as electrons and are reorganized into new chemical bonds. Fossil fuels are not renewable in the short term, so alternatives are being investigated. Uranium is also non-renewable, meaning they are used faster than they can be replaced. An energy source needs to be cheap, abundant, and accessible and provide quality energy at a sustainable rate, not too fast not too slow. Ideally it has a minimal effect on the environment. Rain has gravitational potential energy, but it is far too slow to harness. For instance, dams are used more often as they have a more effective rate. Inversely, nuclear bombs produce energy too fast. The energy for nuclear bombs come from mass changes in the center of atoms, protons, and neutrons adopting a more stable arrangement. However, when determining an energy source on must consider the advantages and disadvantages of energy density, efficiency, availability, byproducts etc.

Energy Density

Energy is conserved, meaning the quantity of energy we have available to us does not change; but its ability to do useful work. Often energy transfer involves a loss of energy as heat, friction etc. This results in a lower efficiency. A lower efficiency per unit volume is the density efficiency. The formula for which can be expressed as in $kJ/L$. $energydensity=\frac{energy}{unitvolume}$

Similarly, the specific energy, the energy per unit mass measured in $kJ/g$.

$specificenergy=\frac{energy}{unitmass}$

These values are helpful when constructing crafts that require knowledge regarding how much fuel can be carried (both by space occupied and by weight), how much energy can be used to propel the craft etc. These values assume that all energy is being transfer at 100% efficiency, however this is often not the case:

$efficiency=\%yield=\frac{output}{input}\times 100\%$ Fossil Fuels Hydrocarbon processing Nuclear energy Electrochemical Cells