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ENERGY - Coggle Diagram

- - - - BY AVAILABILITY IN NATURE ANDCAPACITY 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 hort period of time.
      - BY ORIGIN
        
        PRIMARY: Obtained directly from nature. Examples: crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy and renewable energies.
        SECONDARY: Resulting from transformation of primary sources.
        EXAMPLES: Electricity, some petroleum derivates.
      - BY USE IN EACH COUNTRY
        
        CONVENTIONAL: Most commonly used in industrial countries. Example: energy that comes from fossil fuels.
        NON-CONVENTIONAL: Alternatve enrgy sources.
        In early stages of their technological development.
        Solar and wind power belong to this group.
      - BY ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT
        
        CLEAN OR NON-POLLUTING: Low enviroment impact. Examples: crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy and renewable energies.
        Pollutants: Sources that have negative effects on the enviroment, for example, they might generate by-products that severely pollute that enviroment.
- - - - ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
        
        HOW AN ELECTRIC POWER PLANT WORKS
        
        Electric power plants use an external source of energy to produce elctricity. To do this, they rely on a turbine-alternator system.
        
        The turbine converts mechanical energy into the rotating movement of a shaft.
        
        An alternator has a fixed part, called a stator, and a moving part, called a rotor, connected to the turbine shaft.
        
        As the rotor shaft moves, alterating electrical current is produced on each of the stator's coils.
- - - - Combined cycle power plant
        Electricity is generated as a result of two combined cycles, a cycle that uses air and gas, anda conventional thermal cyrcle. During the first cycle, a gas turbine is used that includes a compressor.
        Air is mixed with the gas and burnt, wich generates electricity in the turbine-alternator system.
        
        Hydroelectric Power Plants.
        This type of power plant usesthe potential energy provided by the height of the stored water in a dam, comverting it into kinetic energy.
        This energy moves the blades oof the turbine.
        Depending on the destination of the water, hydraulic power plants are divided into two types: gravity or pump.
- - - - SOLAR POWER PLANTS
        Use energy from the sun.
        
        PHOTO-TERMAL POWER PLANT
        IN this type of power plant ,the heat generated by solar radiation produces steam that is used to move the rotor in the generator. To do this, they use special mirrors, called heliostats, that reflect sunlight and concentrate it at one poin, where it reaches high temperature.
        
        PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT
        In thesew power plants , solar radiation is transformed directly inti electricity by panels of photovoltac cells.
      - GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
        
        These plants use the heat found at deep levels in the earth. This heat may reach the surface in the form of steam, gases or hot water.
        Geothermal energy may be used directly-for hot water and heating, industrial use and so on-and indirectly-the heat generates steam, wich produces electricity.
        
        BIOMASS THERMAL POWER PLANTS
        
        Forestry and agriculture waste.
        
        Specific crops, such as sunflowers and sugar beet.
        
        Waste from agri-food industries.
        
        Biomass is subjected to different physical and chemical processes in order to produce fuel such as charcoal, alcohol or biogas.
        This type of fuel is burnt at a biomass power plants. The steam that is generated moves the turbine.
        
        OCEAN POWER PLANTS
        
        These power plants use the energy from the seas and the oceans. The concept is to use three types of energy from the sea:
        
        The mkechanical energy from the tides.
        
        The mechanical energy from the waves
        
        The energy from the ocean's thermal gradient.
- - - - Enviromental impacts.
        Energy consuption is preceded by a long process, consisting of several stages, each if which has an enviroment cost.
        
        Extraction of natural resources
        The exploitation of fossil fuels and nuclear power means the depletion of resources, which makes it necessary to find new ones.
        
        Fuel transport
        Oil is transported by means of ol pipelines and oil tankers.
        
        Electricity generation
        large hydroelectric power plants require water reservoirs covering lerge ares, which profundly change the natural cycle of rivers, flood large land areas and destroy ecosystems, in addition to increasing the risk of accidents.
        Conventional thermal power plants can cause numerous problems and enviromental hazards.
        They produce air pollution.
        They emit sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide that cause acid rain, which is very harmful for the enviroment.
        They emit large amounts of CO2, wich increases the greenhouse effect.
        The water is used in the cooling system is returned to the enviroment while it's still warm, which affects both animal and plant life