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Bio Energy / Biomass Energy
Bioenergy is stored energy from the sun contained in materials such as plant matter and animal waste, known as biomass. Biomass is considered renewable because it is replenished more quickly when compared to the millions of years required to replenish fossil fuels. The wide variety of biomass fuel sources includes agricultural residue, pulp/paper mill residue, urban wood waste, forest residue, energy crops, landfill methane, and animal waste. Energy in the form of electricity, heat, steam, and fuels can be derived from these sources through conversion methods such as direct combustion boiler and steam turbines, anaerobic digestion, co-firing, gasification, and pyrolysis. The co-firing method mixes biomass with coal, and may be the best near-term economic opportunity for biomass, particularly in combined heat and power applications, which make the most efficient use of biomass.Hydro Electric Energy
Water power, mechanical energy derived from falling or flowing water, e.g., rivers, streams, and the overflow of dams. The wooden water wheel, long utilized for driving machinery in flour mills and factories, was largely supplanted by the steam engine in the early 19th cent. In modern practice, water flowing from a higher level to a lower level (as from a dam or waterfall) is used to activate a turbine that drives an electric generator, a process called hydroelectric power generation. The amount of power furnished is proportional to the rate of flow of the water and the vertical distance through which it falls. In a pumped-storage plant, water is pumped upward to a high-level reservoir during periods of low electricity demand by using the excess electricity available. During periods of high demand the facility produces electricity by using the water that flows down from the reservoir. The availability of water power along a fall line, which is a boundary between an upland region and a coastal plain, influenced the location of many cities in the E United States. Similarly, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, which have mountainous regions subject to heavy rainfall near industrialized areas, have highly developed hydroelectric programs. Asia, South America, and Africa have the greatest potential for further water power development, the nations of Europe and North America having developed their resources to the greatest extent. In the late 1990s the countries that produced the most hydroelectric power—about 51 percent of the world total—were the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Russia.Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons. It is the most abundant fossil fuel produced in the United States. Coal is a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to create. The energy in coal comes from the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, when the earth was partly covered with swampy forests. For millions of years, a layer of dead plants at the bottom of the swamps was covered by layers of water and dirt, trapping the energy of the dead plants. The heat and pressure from the top layers helped the plant remains turn into what we today call coal.composting
Composting is the process of producing compost through aerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic matter. The decomposition is performed primarily by aerobes, although larger creatures such as ants, nematodes, and oligochaete worms also contribute. This decomposition occurs naturally in all but the most hostile environments, such as within landfills or in extremely arid deserts, which prevent the microbes and other decomposers from thriving.chemical energy
A useful but obsolescent term for the energy available from elements and compounds when they react, as in a combustion reaction. In precise terminology, there is no such thing as chemical energy, since all energy is stored in matter as either kinetic energy or potential energy. See also Combustion; Energy. When a chemical reaction takes place, the atoms of the reactants change their bonding pattern and become products. The breaking of bonds in the reactants requires energy, and the formation of bonds in the products releases energy. The net change in energy is commonly referred to as chemical energy.energy conservation
Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used while achieving a similar outcome of end use. This practice may result in increase of national security, personal security, financial capital, human comfort and environmental value. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote environmental values. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and maximize profit. On a larger scale, energy conservation is an element of energy policy. The need to increase the available supply of energy (for example, through the creation of new power plants, or by the importation of more energy) is lessened if societal demand for energy can be reduced, or if growth in demand can be slowed. This makes energy conservation an important part of the debate over climate change and the replacement of non-renewable resources with renewable energy. Encouraging energy conservation among consumers is often advocated as a cheaper or more environmentally sensitive alternative to increased energy production.energy pyramid
An ecological pyramid illustrating the energy flow within an ecosystem.geothermal power
Thermal or electrical power produced from the thermal energy contained in the Earth (geothermal energy). Use of geothermal energy is based thermodynamically on the temperature difference between a mass of subsurface rock and water and a mass of water or air at the Earth's surface. This temperature difference allows production of thermal energy that can be either used directly or converted to mechanical or electrical energy.kinetic energy
Form of energy that an object has by reason of its motion. The kind of motion may be translation (motion along a path from one place to another), rotation about an axis, vibration, or any combination of motions. The total kinetic energy of a body or system is equal to the sum of the kinetic energies resulting from each type of motion. The kinetic energy of an object depends on its mass and velocity.natural gas
Natural gas is a mixture of combustible gases formed underground by the decomposition of organic materials in plant and animal. It is usually found in areas where oil is present, although there are several large underground reservoirs of natural gas where there is little or no oil. Natural gas is widely used for heating and cooking, as well as for a variety of industrial applications.nuclear energy
Nuclear energy is energy released from the atomic nucleus. It follows the conversion of its mass to energy consistent with Albert Einstein's formula E=mc˛ in which E = Energy, m = Mass, and c = The speed of light (a physical constant). However, the mass-energy equivalence does not explain how the reaction occurs, but rather nuclear forces do. Nuclear energy is released by one of three nuclear reactions: Fusion, the fusing together of atomic nuclei. Fission, the breaking of the binding forces of an atom's nucleus. Decay, is a term used for the slower natural fission process of a nucleus breaking down into a more stable form. Nuclear energy was first discovered accidentally by French physicist Henri Becquerel in 1896, when he found that photographic plates stored near uranium compounds behaved as though they had been exposed to light in a manner similar to X-Rays, which had been just recently discovered at the time.soloar power
Solar power is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the light of the Sun. Solar energy has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries and has come into widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space. Solar energy is currently used in a number of applications: Heat (hot water, building heat, cooking) Electricity generation (photovoltaics, heat engines) Desalination of seawater. Its application is spreading as the environmental costs and limited supply of other power sources such as fossil fuels are realized.tidal power
Harnessing the tides in a bay or estuary has been achieved in France (since 1966), Canada and Russia, and could be achieved in certain other areas where there is a large tidal range. The trapped water can be used to turn turbines as it is released through the tidal barrage in either direction. Worldwide tidal power technology appears to have little potential, largely due to environmental constraints. Another possible fault is that the tidal power system would generate electricity most efficiently if it were to generate electricity in bursts, every six hours (once every tide). Obviously, this limits the applications for which tidal energy can be used.Tidal stream power
A relatively new technology development, tidal stream generators draw energy from underwater currents in much the same way that wind generators are powered by the wind. The much higher density of water means that there is the potential for a single generator to provide significant levels of power. Tidal stream technology is at the very early stages of development though and will require significantly more research before it becomes a significant contributor to electrical generation needs. Several prototypes of tidal stream power have however shown some promise. For example, in the UK in 2003, a 300 kW Seaflow marine current propeller type turbine was tested off the north coast of Devon, and a 150 kW oscillating hydroplane device, the Stingray, was tested off the Scottish coast. Another British device, the Hydro Venturi, is to be tested in San Francisco Bay. The Canadian company Blue Energy has plans for installing very large arrays tidal current devices mounted in what they call a 'tidal fence' in various locations around the world, based on a vertical axis turbine design.wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms, usually electricity using wind turbines. In 2005, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 58,982 megawatts; although it currently produces less than 1% of world-wide electricity use, it accounts for 23% of electricity use in Denmark, 6% in Germany and approximately 8% in Spain. Globally, wind power generation more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2005. Most modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In windmills (a much older technology) wind energy is used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, like crushing grain or pumping water. Wind power is used in large scale wind farms for national electrical grids as well as in small individual turbines for providing electricity to rural residences or grid-isolated locations. Wind energy is ample, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and mitigates the greenhouse effect if used to replace fossil-fuel-derived electricity.Search
