In talking about the environment, global warming, and actions we can all take to reverse our negative impact on the environment, the term “energy” comes up frequently. However, when we learned about energy in fourth grade we probably were not thinking about how our use of certain sources of energy was causing devastation to our planet and we probably were not taught this by our teachers. Many of us were born into a world where non-renewable sources of energy are consumed as mindlessly as breathing; with no thought to what we did or did not learn in elementry school on the subject. I believe that we need to be educated about these things, which begins with having a basic understanding, so that when the topic of energy comes up in discussion we won’t just tune what is being said out and when the time comes to making a decision about what source of energy we are going to choose, we can’t just play dumb because we DO know that it matters. So, listen up class! Here is a lesson/review on the basics of energy for those of us who need it. (Thank you to Wikipedia (and it’s contributors) and to Energy Information Administration for providing most of the content for this post.)

Definition of energy: The potential for causing a change.

There are two types of energy: Kinetic and Potential.
Kinetic: is energy that a body possesses as a result of its motion. EX: The kinetic energy a river possesses as a result of the movement of water.
Potential: is energy stored in matter or the energy in matter due to its position against a specific force. EX: Potential energy is created when a river is damned and the water and the force of the river and the force of the damn are working against each other.

Potential energy can be turned into kinetic energy. EX: The potential energy of the damned river is turned into kinetic energy when the damned in removed and the water begins again to move.

5 types of kinetic energy
Electrical: the movement of electrical charges (applying force to make electons move). Electrical charges moving through a wire is called electricity.
Radiant: electromagnetic energy that travels in transverse waves. Radiant energy includes visible light, x-rays, gamma rays and radio waves.
Thermal: (heat) is the internal energy in substances––the vibration and movement of the atoms and molecules within substances.
Movement: the movement of objects and substances from one place to another.
Sound: the movement of energy through substances in longitudinal (compression/rarefaction) waves. Sound is produced when a force causes an object or substance to vibrate––the energy is transferred through the substance in a wave.

4 types of Potential energy
Chemical: energy stored in the bonds of atoms and molecules. It is the energy that holds these particles together. Biomass, petroleum, natural gas, and propane are examples of stored chemical energy.
Stored Mechanical: is energy stored in objects by the application of a force. Compressed springs and stretched rubber bands are examples of stored mechanical energy.
Nuclear: is energy stored in the nucleus of an atom––the energy that holds the nucleus together. The energy can be released when the nuclei are combined or split apart. Nuclear power plants split the nuclei of uranium atoms in a process called fission.
Gravitational: is the energy of position or place. A rock resting at the top of a hill contains gravitational potential energy.

There are many different sources of energy and those sources can either be renewable(comes from an energy resource that is replaced rapidly by a natural process) or non-renewable (which comes from an energy resource that cannot be replaced rapidly by a natural process).

renewable sources of energy
Wind: is created by the sun heating up the earth unevenly. Wind turbines collect the energy created by wind so that it can be transformed into electricity.
Water/Hydropower: Energy in water can be harnessed and used, in the form of motive energy or temperature differences. Since water is about a thousand times heavier than air, even a slow flowing stream of water can yield great amounts of energy that can be used for electricity.
Solar: Energy directly collected from sunlight. Solar panels are used to collect the energy from sunlight and transform it into energy for lighting, heating, and electricity.
Geothermal: Energy that comes from comes from radioactive decay in the core of the Earth, which heats the Earth from the inside out, and from the sun, which heats the surface. This energy is collected and used for heating and electricity.
Biomass: Energy from organic non-fossil material (hemp, peat, rice hulls, etc.). This energy is transformed through various methods to use for heating, electricity, and transportation.

non-renewable sources of energy
Petroleum: Is formed from the decayed remains of prehistoric marine animals and terrestrial plants. Over many centuries this organic matter, mixed with mud, is buried under thick sedimentary layers of material. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure cause the remains to metamorphose, first into a waxy material known as kerogen, and then into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. These then migrate through adjacent rock layers until they become trapped underground in porous rocks called reservoirs, forming an oil field, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping. 150 m is generally considered the “oil window”. We use this source of energy for transportation and manufacturing.
Coal: A fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining and is the largest single source of electricity world-wide and is also used in manufacturing.
Natural Gas: a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane (an extremely efficient greenhouse gas which contributes to enhanced global warming when free in the atmosphere). Natural gas is used for heating, manufacturing, and electricity.
Uranium: Is a chemical element used for nuclear power plants which supply electricity and nuclear weapons. It is heavy, silvery-white, metallic, naturally radioactive, pyrophoric, toxic and teratogenic. Uranium is commonly found in very small amounts in rocks, soil, water, plants, and animals (including humans).
Propane: A three-carbon alkane, is derived from other petroleum products during oil or natural gas processing and is used for manufacturing and heating.

Now you should have a better understanding of where the energy we use comes from, I know that I now do, and be able to make better choices regarding the source of that energy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Environment, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.