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:warning: ENERGY :warning: - Coggle Diagram
:warning: ENERGY :warning:
:forbidden: Energy sources :forbidden:
Energy sources are natural resources from which we obtain different forms of enregy that can be transform for a specific use.
Household uses
The operating of electrical appliances, heating systems, hot water systems, heat for cooking and for means of transport, for example.
Industrial uses
The operating of factories and companies, construction, agriculture and so on.
We can classify energy in several ways
By origin:
Primary:
Obtained directly from nature
Examples: Crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy and renewable energies
Second:
Resulting from transformation of primary sources
Examples: Electricity and some petroleum derivates
By use in each country:
Conventional:
Most commonly used in industrialised countries
Examples: Energy that comes from fossil fuels
Non-conventional:
In early stages of their technological development
Solar and wind power belong to this group
Alternative energy sources
By availability in nature and capacity for regeneration:
Renewable:
Abundant and inexhaustible
Non-renewable:
May or may not be abundant
Depleted when we use them up
Cannot be renewed in a short period of time
By environmental impact:
Clean or non-polluting:
Low environmental impact
Don't generate by-products that pollute the environment
Pollutants:
Sources that have negative effects on the enviroment, for example, they might generate by-products that severely pollute the environment
:bulb:Electricity:bulb:
It can be easily transformed into other forms of energy, such as light and heat.
It can be transpoprted long distances inexpensively and with very little energy being lost
:bulb::zap:Electric power plants :zap::bulb:
Electric power plants are facilities where primary or secondary energy is transformed into electricity.
They uses the turbine-altelnator system:
The turbine converts mechanical energy into the rotatoring movement of a shaft.
The alternator has a moving part, called a rotor, and a fixed part, called stator, that are connected to the turbine shaft.
:warning:Transport and distribution of electrical energy
Electric power plants are usually located far away from the points that the energy is used. Electricity can't be stored, but can be transported to comsumption centres. This transport have four involves several processes:
Transporting it by high voltage cables attached to towers.
Decreasing the voltage at the electricity substations to 3-30 KV.
Increasing the voltage to 220000 V or 400000 V to prevent significant energy loss, due to the Joule effect.
Distribution to homes, offices, industries and public facilities.
:fire::evergreen_tree: Enviromental impact :evergreen_tree::fire:
Environmental impacts
There are four types of process that environmental impacts:
The extraction of natural resources
The explotation of fossil fuels and nuclears powers means the depletion of resources, which makes it necessary to find new ones
The fuel transport
The oil is transported by different means: The oil pipelines and the oil tankers. The oil pipelines can suffer accidents caused by nature or human errors, which the result is uncontrolled spills. The oil tankers can haves accidents in the sea, with the risk is the oil pills.
The electricity generation
The large hydroelectric power plants require water reservoirs covering large areas, which profoundly change in the natural cycle or rivers
The conventional thermal power plants can cause numerous problems and environmental hazards:
They emit large amounts of CO2, which increases the greenhouse effect
They emit sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide taht cause acid rain, which is very harmfulto the environment
They produce air pollution-suspended particles, CO2, heavy metal molecules...
The water used in the cooling system is returned to the environment while it's still warm
The nuclear thermal power plants are compained by the risk of nuclear accidents and the problem of nuclear waste.
The final energy use
The fuels we use in vehicles and heating systems emit gases and particles similar to those generated by the conventional thermal power plants
The waste treatment
To reduce the waste generated by thermal power plants, as well as their effects, several measures can be taken
Use coal with a low sulphur content, to reduce acid rain
Maintain and increase the size of large forested areas, since they absorb carbon dioxide
Install spcial filters on the pipes at the power plant to capture some of the gas pollutants
The waste from nuclear power plants is stored in drums with thick sides that do not let the nuclear radiation escape
Environmental impact assessment
It's mandatory to carry out an environmental impact assessment to find out what changes it would provoke in the environment. The main characteristics of each type of power plant and it impact are these:
The wind power plant
The environmental impact is the visual and sound impact and the non-polluting
The type of energy consumed is renewable
The advantages are the reduces dependence on other fuels, the clean and the possible domestic production
The disadvantages and risks are the low levels of performance, the discontinuous and random and the risk of accidents
The solar power plants
The environmental impact iaffects ecosystems as it covers large areas and non-polluting
The type of energy consumed is renewable
The advantages are that reduces dependence on other fuels, is clean and is possible production for own use
The disadvantages and risks are the low levels of performance, the high installation cots and the discontinuous and random
The hydroelectric power plant
Environmental impact is the change in the natural environment, the some lands are left underwater and the diverting of the natural course
The type of energy consumed is renewable
The advantages are the great cpacity and high performance
The disadvantages and risks are the risk of disaster if a dam breaks and the risk of the disappearance of flora and fauna
The biomass power plants
The environmental impact is beneficial if it used correctly
The type of energy consumed is renewable
The advantages are that reduces dependence on other fuels and reuses forestry and household waste
The disadvantages and risks are the excesive explotation of the natural sources and that increases the greenhouse effect
The fossil fuel thermal power plant
The enviromental impact is the atmospheric pollution from gas combustion and the warm water released from the cooling system.
The type of energy consumed is non-renewable
The advantages are that they have great capacity and high performance
The disadvantages and risks are the respiratory diseases, that increases the greenhouse effect and the negative impact on ecosystems
The nuclear power plant
The type of energy consumed is non-renewable
The advantages are the great capacity and high performance
The environmental impact is the danger of radiation and the non-reciclable waste pollutants
The disadvantages and risks are the risk of radioactive emissions, the danger of nuclear disasters and the radioactive waste
The ocean power plant
The environmental impact is that the environmental changes resulting from required construction work
The type of energy consumed is renewable
The advantages are that reduces dependence on other fuels and it's clean and quiet
The disadvantages and risks are the high installation costs and the low levels of performance
Some solutions
Below is a summary of different possible solutions to alleviate some of the environmental problems described;
Energy diversfication
The objective is to produce a large part of our electricity through alternative power plants
The use of renewable energy sources is fundamental
Energy savings
Is essential to reduce the consumption of all forms of energy
Examples: Using public transport or bicycles and changing consumption habits
Adoption of more environmentally friendly habits
Efficiency
Noticeably reduce the energy we consume
Examples: The low fuel, the electric cars and the better home insulation
Energy efficiency policies increase efficiency of everyday appliances and devices
:bulb: Conventional electric power plants :zap:
This type of power plant produces the electricity that we use.
:zap: Hydroelectric power plants :zap:
This type of power plant uses the potential energy provided by the height of the stored water in a dam, converting it into kinetic energy.
There are two types of hydraulic power plants:
The gravity-driven hydraulic power plants
Water used follows the course of a river and will not be reused.
The pump-driven hydraulic power plants:
Water descends into a reservoir located at a lower height, then pumped to a higher reservoir to reuse it
Nuclear power plants
This type of plant includes a nuclear fission reactor that produces the pressurised steam needed to move the turbine rotor.
:fuelpump: Fossil fuel thermal power plants :fuelpump:
At this type of power plant, water is healted in a boiler by the heat generated from the combustion of a fossil fuel, usually natural gas
The combined cycle power plant
The electricity is generated as a result of two combided cycles, a cycle that used air and gas, and a conventional thermal cycle. This process uses a compressor.
Non-conventional electric power plants
This are the advantages or disavantages:
Advantages of non-conventional electric power plants:
The advantages are that they contamine less that the conventional power plants, and they uses renewable sources.
Disadvantages of non-conventional electric power plants:
The disadvantages are that they genrate less energy that the conventional power plants.
Wind power plants and wind farms
These power plants use the kinetic energy of the wind to move the blades of a rotor that is in a tower (A wind turbine).
Solar power plants
These plants use the solar energy. There are the photo-thermal power plants and the photovoltaic power plants
Photo-thermal power plant
In this type of power plant the heat produces steam that is used to move the rotor in the generator
Photovoltaic power plant
These type of power plants use the solar radiation into electricity panels that use photovoltaic cells
Geothermal power plants
These type of plants use the heat found at deep levels in the earth. This uses the geothermal energy that extract it from the water
Biomass thermal power plants
The biomass consists of all organic compounds that are produced through natural processes. They come from by the three following sources:
The specific crops, like sunflowers and sugar beet
The waste from the agri-food industries
The forestry and agricultural waste
Ocean power plants
The ocean power plants use the energy of the seas and of the oceans. The concept is to use this three types of energy from the sea:
The mechanical energy from the waves
The energy from the ocean's thermal gradient
The mechanical energy from the tides
