About Energy

Energy is often defined as the capacity to do work. Several different forms of energy, such as kinetic, potential, thermal, electromagnetic, chemical, and nuclear energy have been defined to explain all known natural phenomena.

Kinetic energy is the energy of vertical or horizontal motion. Vibration creates vibrational energy, rotation creates rotational energy and translation (moving from one location to another) creates translational energy.

An objects kinetic energy is the energy that it has due to its motion. We all see examples of kinetic energy when we view space launches, which although they require chemical energy to take off, they gain kinetic energy as they reach their maximum velocity. Roller coasters are also rich in kinetic energy, the cars reach maximum kinetic energy when they are at the bottom of the roller coaster and as they rise, and the kinetic energy is converted to gravitational energy. Kinetic energy is the additional energy that is built up due to the acceleration of the roller coaster.

Energy that is stored in a system that can be released for other forms of energy (such as kinetic energy) is known as potential energy. The more formal definition of potential energy is the energy of position, or the energy an object has to have due to its position in space.

Potential energy sources are numerous since they are associated with individual kinds of force for instance, elastic potential energy, nuclear potential energy, chemical potential energy, or thermal energy which generally has two components, potential energy and kinetic energy.

Thermal Energy is the system of energy that increases with temperature. Thermal energy may be converted to chemical energy through the use of blast furnaces, to electromagnetic radiation energy through the use of hot objects, mechanical energy by the use of steam turbines and through thermal energy through the use of heat exchangers. Thermal energy may also be converted to electrical energy through the use of thermo-couplings.

Objects with temperatures above absolute 0 (-273 degrees Celsius) emit electromagnetic energy. This energy is released in waves which are absorbed by another surface.

Work done by changing electric charges, electrons and protons (the process of aggregation), chemical energy is the result of a system increasing energy and the results are converted to other types of energy. Chemical energy is converted to mechanical energy in the body through the muscles, through fire it is converted to thermal energy, through fuel cells it is converted to electrical energy and through chemical reactions, it remains chemical energy. Automobiles convert chemical energy into mechanical energy and through digestion; our bodies turn chemical energy into fuel for us to carry on our day to day activities. The ability to convert chemical energy first to mechanical energy then to electrical energy is how we are able to have power plants.

Nuclear energy is defined as any energy that is derived from the nucleus of a source of energy. Nuclear energy is released by three chemical change processes:

In 2007, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported 439 nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries around the world. The US produces the most nuclear energy; nearly 80% of all electricity consumed is from nuclear reactors. Research continues to overcome some of the safety issues that surround nuclear energy. Perhaps the best source of rewable energy (and the most utilized) is solar energy which gains its energy from the sun. Solar power is used synonymously with solar energy or more specifically to refer to the conversion of sunlight into electricity.

In high supply, renewable, clean and widely distributed, wind energy can be used to replace fossil fuel derived electricity. Manure, garden waste, crop residues may all be sources of biomass energy. Green power can refer specifically to electricity generated from "green" sources including anaerobic digestion, geothermal power, wind power, small-scale hydropower, solar power, biomass power, tidal power and wave power as well as power derived from waste incineration.

Wave power, a rewable energy source, is defined as the ability to capture energy from the oceans surface waves for electricity generation, desalination and water pumping, Wave power is not developed enough for their to be any commercially available wave farms in development, though on December 18, 2007, Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced its support for plans to build America's first commercial wave power plant off the coast of Northern California.