Energy and its transformation

INDICE

1 Energy sources.-1.1 Electricity

2 Electric powers plants.-2.1 Conventional power plants.-2.2 Non-conventional power plants.

3 Environmental impact.

1 Energy sources

Household uses : operating household appliances, heating systems etc

Industrial uses: the operation of factories and businesses, construction, etc

Energy sources are natural resources from which different forms of energy are obtained

We can classify energy sources in several ways:

By availability in nature : renewable or non-renewable

By origin: primary or secondary

By environmental impact: clean or polluting

By use: conventional or non-conventional

1.1 Electricity

The possibility of transporting it long distances at a low cost

Its capacity to be easily transformed into other forms of energy

Electricity is the most widely used form of energy in industrialised societies for two reasons

Electric power plants

The turbine converts mechanical energy into the rotating movement of a shaft.

The alternator is connected to the turbine shaft. As the shaft moves,it produces alternating electrical current.

Electrical power plants use an external source of energy to producte electricity.To do this, they rely on a turbine-alternator system.

2.Conventional power plants

Intermal power plants, water is heated in a boiler by the heat generated from the combustion of a fossil fuel.(natural gas...)

Combined cycle power plants obtain electricity as the result of two combined cycles:a cycle that uses air and gas, and a convetional thermal cycle.

2.1.Conventional power plants

Nuclear power plants use a nuclear fission reactor that productes heat to generate the pressurised stem needed to nove the turbine rotor

Hydroelectris power plants use the potential energy provieded by the height of the water stored in a dam, converting it into kinetic energy.

2.2. Non-conventional power plants

Wind farms use the kinectic energy of the wind to move the blades of a rotor at the top of a tower; this is referred to as a wind turbine

Biomass consists of all organic compounds that are produced through natural processes.

Solar power plants use the Sun's energy. There are two types: Photo thermal power plants and Photovoltaic power plants.

Geothermal power plants use the heat found at deep layers in the Earth.

The envioronmental problems caused by convetional power plants have led to the creation and development of non-conventional or alternative energy power plants

3 environmental impact

The exploitation of fossil fuels and nuclear energy leads to the depletion of resources. Furthermore, fuel extraction processes are sometimes harmful to the environment

Petroleum is transported by means of oil pipelines and oil tankers both can have accidents which means the risk of a spill.

Conventional thermal power plants produce air pollution which increases greenhouse effec.

Nuclear power plants are accomponied by the risk of a nuclear accident and nuclear waste.