Energy Definition:

Energy, in physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical,
chemical, nuclear, or other various forms. There are, moreover, heat and work—i.e., energy in the
process of transfer from one body to another. After it has been transferred, energy is always designated
according to its nature. Hence, heat transferred may become thermal energy, while work done may
manifest itself in the form of mechanical energy.

Energy can be neither created nor destroyed but only changed from one form to another. This principle
is known as the conservation of energy or the first law of thermodynamics.

In the International System of Units (SI), energy is measured in joules. One joule is equal to the work
done by a one-newton force acting over a one-metre distance.

Types of Energy:

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/emsc240/node/506

Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy
It should be clear how most of these sources fit the definition of renewable energy ("resources that rely
on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish"), and have
various benefits and drawbacks:

Solar energy comes directly from the sun, which comes every day in most locations and does not
diminish appreciably over time. Yes, the intensity does ebb and flow on short and long timescales, but
it is hopefully not going away anytime soon. If the sun burns out and stops shining, we have bigger
problems than solar panels not working! A few benefits of solar energy are that it is relatively
predictable and reliable, and that it is does not create any emissions/pollution when generating energy.
The main drawback is that it is intermittent, both in terms of the sun only being in the sky 50% of the
time, and that weather can impact it significantly. Solar is also very diffuse, meaning that it is not very
concentrated, and so usually a large area is required to provide a lot of useful energy.
The wind gets its energy from the sun - it is caused mostly by differential heating across the surface of
the earth - so cannot be "used up" either. More good news is that the wind will never disappear as long
as the sun shines and the earth is spherical, and like solar, wind does not generate emissions. However,
the wind is also variable - more in some locations than others - and is less predictable than solar energy
in most locations.
Hydropower gets its energy from the sun as well, and is even more consistent in most locations than the
wind. I want you to think for a moment how the energy in moving water started out as solar energy.
(This is a good thought experiment in energy conversion.) Answer: Remember that water flows
downhill, and so the motion energy in flowing water started out as gravitational potential energy. How
does water get this potential energy, i.e. how does it get uphill? Mostly from evaporation caused by the
sun! In terms of other benefits, like solar and wind, hydropower does not generate emissions, and is
very consistent and reliable in most locations. There are some drawbacks associated with large
hydropower installations (see here for some examples), and in some cases, very big environmental and
social drawbacks (e.g. in the Three Gorges Dam in China). All of these factors are important to keep in
mind. Hydroelectricity is the single biggest source of renewable electricity in the world.
One additional drawback of all of the above sources is that they are each location-specific. In other
words, some locations may have a lot of sun, wind, and/or hydro, while others may have very little.
(This will be address in more detail in a future lesson.) This problem can be at least partially solved by
transporting electricity, but that is not always easy, and often expensive.

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/emsc240/node/506

INSER IMAGES FROM ABOVE LINK

Non-Renewable Energy
Non-renewable energy sources diminish over time, and are not able to replenish themselves. In other
words, they are finite, and once they are used, they are effectively gone because they take so long to
reform.

You have already read about the four non-renewable energy sources: coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear.
Let's start with coal, oil, and natural gas, which (as you read earlier) are referred to as fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels were created from the remains of dead plants and animals. The source material is
renewable (its biomass!), but since they take millions of years to form, they are not replenished over a
"short" period of time, so are non-renewable. Fossil fuels are forming somewhere under your feet right
now, but don't hold your breath waiting for them to finish.

The nuclear energy we use comes from an isotope of Uranium called U-235. Unlike fossil fuels, U-235
has cosmic origins: it was formed by one or more supernovae around 6 billion years ago, about 1.5
billion years before the Earth was formed (a supernova is a collapsing star, "supernovae" is the plural
form of supernova) (source: World Nuclear Association). Again, this is not renewable on a human
timescale.

All fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and other emissions when they are used to generate energy.
Recall that they are made mostly of hydrogen and carbon, and the carbon mostly ends up as CO2.
Nuclear is considered carbon-free, because it is not burned, and it is not made of carbon. Remember
that energy is extracted through fission, or splitting of atoms. This generates heat, but no emissions. (It
is important to note that it does result in very dangerous and long-lasting radioactive waste, but that
will be addressed in a future lesson.)

To summarize:

Non-renewables

Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels. Even though they all get their energy from the sun, none of
them are renewable. They all emit CO2 and other emissions when burned.
Nuclear is also non-renewable, but not a fossil fuel. It is carbon-free, but result in radioactive waste.
Most importantly, for all intents and purposes, whatever coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear exists today
is all that we will ever have.
Renewables

Solar, wind, and hydro are renewable and carbon-free, and effectively inexhaustible.
Bioenergy is renewable and carbon-neutral. It emits CO2, but no more CO2 than was originally pulled
from the atmosphere. Even though it is considered renewable, it is possible to use bioenergy
unsustainably by harvesting it more quickly than it can be replenished.
Renewable resources
When talking about classification of resources, we will first see the renewable resources. Renewable
resources are those resources that can be replenished or renewed naturally over time. Air, water, wind,
solar energy etc. are all renewable resources. Renewable resources can be easily renewed by nature.

1. Solar energy
Sun is a big source of energy. The energy that we get from the Sun is called solar energy. All the natural
phenomenon like the flowing of wind, water cycle, photosynthesis etc. are possible only due to solar
energy. Now a day, solar energy is being used to cook food with the help of solar cookers, heat water,
light streets, pump water for irrigating fields etc.

Read the Reason for Finishing of Resources here.

2. Hydro-Energy
Water is important natural resources. All living organisms need water to live. Humans need water for
many purposes such as drinking, cleaning, and cooking and for growing crops. Water flowing into the
river or water stored in a dam is sources of hydro energy. The Simple method to use hydro energy is to
convert it into electrical energy.

3. Wind energy
Winds are constantly being created in nature. The windmill is a source of electrical energy. These
windmills are generally established only at places where most of the days in a year experience strong
winds. The energy from this wind is used for grinding grain, pumping water and to produce electricity.
In India, many windmills have been set up in different places such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat.

4. Biogas
Biogas is a type of fuel which is a mixture of gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen etc.
which is obtained by decomposition of animal and plant wastes like animal dung, with the help of
micro-organisms in the presence of water. It is used as fuel in gas stove especially in rural areas.

5. Wood
Wood is an ancient and traditional source of energy. It is mainly a mixture of many carbohydrate
compounds. Wood is used to cook food. It leads to deforestation and pollutes air also. In India, still in
many villages, they use wood chullas to cook food every day. While having ill effects on the
environment, it is also harmful to human health

6. Hydrogen
It is a good source of energy because it does not create pollution and produce maximum energy on
burning. Hydrogen has the potential to be the answer to all our energy and fuel troubles. Technology is
currently being developed to fully utilize hydrogen efficiency.

7. Alcohol
Alcohol has many commercial and medical purposes. It can use for producing energy. It can be
obtained while making sugar from sugarcane. Thus it is a very cheap source of energy. A mixture of
petrol and alcohol is being used as a fuel in automobiles. This mixture is called ‘Gasohol’.
8. Air
All living things need air to breathe. Therefore, air is an important natural resource.

9. Water
All living things water in order to survive. And the water cycle means we will essentially never run out
of the water. But we must be careful not to pollute water and make it unusable. Drinking and clean
water are already scarce in the world.

10. Soil
It is an important resource as this is the layer where plants grow. We all need food in order to survive.
We get most of our food from crops grown in the soil.

Renewable energy is important because of the benefits it provides. The key benefits are:

Environmental Benefits
Renewable energy technologies are clean sources of energy that have a much lower environmental
impact than conventional energy technologies.

Energy for our children's children's children

Renewable energy will not run out. Ever. Other sources of energy are finite and will someday be
depleted.

Jobs and the Economy

Most renewable energy investments are spent on materials and workmanship to build and maintain the
facilities, rather than on costly energy imports. Renewable energy investments are usually spent within
the United States, frequently in the same state, and often in the same town. This means your energy
dollars stay home to create jobs and fuel local economies, rather than going overseas.

Meanwhile, renewable energy technologies developed and built in the United States are being sold
overseas, providing a boost to the U.S. trade deficit.

Energy Security
After the oil supply disruptions of the early 1970s, our nation has increased its dependence on foreign
oil supplies instead of decreasing it. This increased dependence impacts more than just our national
energy policy.

Content for this section provided in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the
Department of Energy.
Renewable Energy
There are many forms of renewable energy. Most of these renewable energies depend in one way or
another on sunlight. Wind and hydroelectric power are the direct result of differential heating of the
Earth's surface which leads to air moving about (wind) and precipitation forming as the air is lifted.
Solar energy is the direct conversion of sunlight using panels or collectors. Biomass energy is stored
sunlight contained in plants. Other renewable energies that do not depend on sunlight are geothermal
energy, which is a result of radioactive decay in the crust combined with the original heat of accreting
the Earth, and tidal energy, which is a conversion of gravitational energy.

Solar. This form of energy relies on the nuclear fusion power from the core of the Sun. This energy can
be collected and converted in a few different ways. The range is from solar water heating with solar
collectors or attic cooling with solar attic fans for domestic use to the complex technologies of direct
conversion of sunlight to electrical energy using mirrors and boilers or photovoltaic cells.
Unfortunately these are currently insufficient to fully power our modern society.

Wind Power. The movement of the atmosphere is driven by differences of temperature at the Earth's
surface due to varying temperatures of the Earth's surface when lit by sunlight. Wind energy can be
used to pump water or generate electricity, but requires extensive areal coverage to produce significant
amounts of energy.

Hydroelectric energy. This form uses the gravitational potential of elevated water that was lifted from
the oceans by sunlight. It is not strictly speaking renewable since all reservoirs eventually fill up and
require very expensive excavation to become useful again. At this time, most of the available locations
for hydroelectric dams are already used in the developed world.

Biomass is the term for energy from plants. Energy in this form is very commonly used throughout the
world. Unfortunately the most popular is the burning of trees for cooking and warmth. This process
releases copious amounts of carbon dioxide gases into the atmosphere and is a major contributor to
unhealthy air in many areas. Some of the more modern forms of biomass energy are methane
generation and production of alcohol for automobile fuel and fueling electric power plants.

Hydrogen and fuel cells. These are also not strictly renewable energy resources but are very abundant
in availability and are very low in pollution when utilized. Hydrogen can be burned as a fuel, typically
in a vehicle, with only water as the combustion product. This clean burning fuel can mean a significant
reduction of pollution in cities. Or the hydrogen can be used in fuel cells, which are similar to batteries,
to power an electric motor. In either case significant production of hydrogen requires abundant power.
Due to the need for energy to produce the initial hydrogen gas, the result is the relocation of pollution
from the cities to the power plants. There are several promising methods to produce hydrogen, such as
solar power, that may alter this picture drastically.

Geothermal power. Energy left over from the original accretion of the planet and augmented by heat
from radioactive decay seeps out slowly everywhere, every day. In certain areas the geothermal
gradient (increase in temperature with depth) is high enough to exploit to generate electricity. This
possibility is limited to a few locations on Earth and many technical problems exist that limit its utility.
Another form of geothermal energy is Earth energy, a result of the heat storage in the Earth's surface.
Soil everywhere tends to stay at a relatively constant temperature, the yearly average, and can be used
with heat pumps to heat a building in winter and cool a building in summer. This form of energy can
lessen the need for other power to maintain comfortable temperatures in buildings, but cannot be used
to produce electricity.

Other forms of energy. Energy from tides, the oceans and hot hydrogen fusion are other forms that can
be used to generate electricity. Each of these is discussed in some detail with the final result being that
each suffers from one or another significant drawback and cannot be relied upon at this time to solve
the upcoming energy crunch.