Energy:

The capacity for a body or object to do work.

The ability of a body to do work.
Derived from Greek words en (in) and ergon (work)
Its mathematical expression is
Energy (J) = Force (N) x Distance (m)

Resource:
A resource is a source or supply from which a benefit is produced. Resources can broadly be
classified upon their availability—they are classified into renewable and non-renewable resources.

Significance:
Energy consumptions demonstrates the advancement of a society or country. If a country is an
industrial country and it consumes large amount of energy one can say that it is a developed or advanced
country. The social impact of energy consumption can also be related to literacy rate. If a country has low
literacy rate it energy consumption will also be less.

Law of conservation of energy (First Law of Thermodynamics):

Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be converted from one form to another.
Like solar energy is converted into electrical energy through the use of solar cells, the potential energy is
water flowing down the spillways of dam is first converted into kinetic energy, the water that hits the
turbines and rotate them this produces electrical energy. So can see from these examples that energy can
only be created from one form to another but its quantity cannot be altered. The quality of energy can be
altered.

Measurement of Energy:
The units of energy are Joule (J), N.m, calorie, kWh. Some units and their conversions are given in
table below.

Figure 1 Energy Units and Their Conversions

Power:
Power is different than energy while energy determines one’s ability to do certain amount of
work, power tells us how much energy one consumes to work/operate. In our home when we consume
electrical energy we pay its bill, whereas the power refers to energy consumption of electrical appliances
like 50W bulb or 1000W air conditioner. The more power the appliances consume the more bill we have
to pay. The unit of power is Watt (W).
Power is also defined as the amount of energy spent/consumed or produced in certain time it is
mathematically represented as

Power (W) = Energy (J)

Time (s)

Therefore 100W bult will consume double energy than 50W bulb over similar time duration.
kWh shows how much power is consumed is a specified time for example if a heater power rating is
1000W and it runs for 1 hours its rate of power consumption will be 1000Wh or 1kWh.
1 kWh = 3600 x 1000 = 3.6 x 106 Joules = 3.6 MJ

Types of Energy:
Since energy can be only converted from one form to another and cannot be created out of thin
air or destroyed lets us the types of energy in which it can convert itself.
1. Electrical energy
2. Chemical energy
3. Mechanical energy
4. Kinetic energy
5. Heat energy
6. Light (radiant) energy
7. Gravitational energy (Potential energy)
8. Nuclear energy
9. Electromagnetic energy

Sources of Energy:
There are numerous sources of energy available for mankind to harness it and convert it into any
form (mostly electrical energy). There are two types of energy resources these are.

1. Renewable energy resources

2. Non-renewable energy resources

Renewable energy resources:

The energy resources that are replenish-able in nature are known as renewable energy resources.
These energy resources are in abundance and are regenerated or made available to us constantly and are
not substantially depleted with continued use. They do not produced environmental pollution, emissions
or any health hazards. These energy resources are.
 1. Solar
2. Wind
3. Biomass
4. Tidal
5. Hydroelectric
6. Geothermal

Non-Renewable Energy Resources:

The energy resources that are not any quickly replenished as they are consumed. The resource
that produce environmental pollution & have health hazards. These energy resources are.

1. Fossil Fuels (Coal, Oil, Gas)

2. Nuclear

Conversion, efficiencies and capacity factors:

Not all the energy at input can be 100% converted to another form at output there are always
some losses. The ratio of useful output to required input is called efficiency of process or conversion.

% Efficiency = (Energy output/energy input) x 100

1. 90% efficiency in a water turbine or well-run electric motor.

2. 35-40% for coal fired power station.
3. 10-20% in IC engines.

Capacity Factor:
Actual output over a given time period divided by maximum possible output. Units are kWh,
MWh, GWh.

Primary Energy:
The energy released when a fuel or resource is burned.

Delivered Energy:
The energy delivered to consumer after loses in transmission & conversion losses.

Useful Energy:
The final energy input received by a consumer for consumption.

Worldwide Energy Production:

The data of 2004 shows the power we generate at global scale from different energy sources.