Energy and its types. Traditional methods of obtaining heat and electricity. Energy

24.08.2019

Types, methods of obtaining, transforming and using energy. Energy and its types. Purpose and use

Energy and its types. Purpose and use

Energy plays a decisive role in the development of human civilization. Energy consumption and information accumulation have approximately the same character of change over time. There is a close relationship between energy consumption and output.

According to the concepts of physical science, energy is the ability of a body or a system of bodies to do work. There are various classifications of types and forms of energy. Let's name those types of it that people most often encounter in their daily life: mechanical, Electrical, electromagnetic and internal. Internal energy includes thermal, chemical and intranuclear (atomic) energy. The internal form of energy is due to the potential energy of interaction of the particles that make up the body, or the kinetic energy of their random motion.

If energy is the result of a change in the state of motion of material points or bodies, then it is called kinetic; it includes the mechanical energy of the movement of bodies, thermal energy due to the movement of molecules.

If energy is the result of a change in the relative position of the parts of a given system or its position in relation to other bodies, then it is called potential; it includes the energy of masses that are attracted by the law of universal gravitation, the energy of the position of homogeneous particles, for example, the energy of an elastic deformed body, chemical energy.

The main source of energy is the sun. Under the influence of its rays, plant chlorophyll decomposes carbon dioxide absorbed from the air into oxygen and carbon; the latter accumulates in plants. Coal, underground gas, peat, shale and firewood represent the reserves of the radiant energy of the sun, extracted by chlorophyll in the form of the chemical energy of coal and hydrocarbons. Water energy is also derived from solar energy, which evaporates water and lifts steam into the higher layers of the atmosphere. The wind used in wind turbines results from the different heating of the earth by the sun in different places. Huge reserves of energy are contained in the nuclei of atoms of chemical elements.

In the International System of Units SI, joule is taken as a unit of measurement of energy. If the calculations are related to heat, biological, electrical and many other types of energy, then a calorie (cal) or kilocalorie (kcal) is used as a unit of energy.

1 cal = 4.18 J.

To measure electrical energy, a unit such as Watt (Wh, kWh, MWh) is used.

1 Watt h = 3.6 MJ or 1 J = 1 W. with.

To measure mechanical energy, a unit such as kg is used. m.

1 kg. m = 9.8 J.

Energy that is contained in natural sources (energy resources) and can be converted into electrical, mechanical, chemical, is called primary.

Traditional types of primary energy, or energy resources, include: fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas, etc.), river hydropower and nuclear fuel (uranium, thorium, etc.).

The energy received by a person after the conversion of primary energy in special installations of stations is called secondary (electrical energy, energy of steam, hot water, etc.).

Currently, work is underway on the use of non-traditional, renewable energy sources: solar, wind, tides, sea waves, the heat of the earth. These sources, in addition to being renewable, are classified as "clean" types of energy, since their use does not lead to environmental pollution.

In fig. 10.1.1 shows the classification of primary energy. Highlighted the traditional types of energy, at all times widely used by man, and non-traditional, relatively little used until recently due to the lack of economical methods of their industrial transformation, but especially relevant today due to their high environmental friendliness.

Rice. 10.1.1. Primary energy classification scheme

On the classification chart, non-renewable and renewable energies are indicated by white and gray rectangles, respectively.

The consumption of energy of the required type and its supply to consumers occurs in the process of energy production, in which five stages can be distinguished: 1. Obtaining and Concentration of energy resources: extraction and enrichment of fuel, concentration of water pressure using hydraulic structures, etc.

2. Transfer of energy resources to energy conversion plants; it is carried out by transportation by land and water or by pumping through pipelines of water, oil, gas, etc.

3. Conversion of primary energy into secondary, which has the most convenient form for distribution and consumption under given conditions (usually into electrical and thermal energy).

4. Transmission and distribution of converted energy.

5. Energy consumption, carried out both in the form in which it is delivered to the consumer, and in the transformed one.

If the total energy of the applied primary energy resources is taken as 100%, then the useful energy will be only 35-40%, the rest is lost, and most of it is in the form of heat.

The advantage of electrical energy

Since distant historical times, the development of civilization and technical progress are directly related to the quantity and quality of energy resources used. Slightly more than half of all energy consumed is used in the form of heat for technical needs, heating, cooking, the rest in the form of mechanical energy, primarily in transport installations, and electrical energy. Moreover, the share of electricity is growing every year (Fig. 10.2.1).

Rice. 10.2.1. Electricity consumption dynamics

Electric energy is the most convenient form of energy and can rightfully be considered the basis of modern civilization. The overwhelming majority of technical means of mechanization and automation of production processes (equipment, instruments, computers), replacement of human labor by machine labor in everyday life have an electrical basis.

Why is the demand for electrical energy growing so rapidly, what is its advantage?

Its widespread use is due to the following factors: the possibility of generating large quantities of electricity near deposits and water sources;

the ability to transport over long distances with relatively small losses;
the possibility of transforming electricity into other types of energy: mechanical, chemical, thermal, light;
lack of environmental pollution;
the possibility of using fundamentally new progressive technological processes with a high degree of automation on the basis of electricity.

Issues under consideration:

1. Definition of energy.

2. Types of energy

3. Purpose and use of energy.

In the world around us, matter exists in the form of matter, field and physical vacuum. In the form of matter and field, matter has mass, momentum, energy. A necessary condition for any action, interaction and existence in general is the consumption of energy, the exchange of energy. In human society, the level of culture, both material and spiritual, is closely related to the amount of energy consumed. The level of power supply determines the economy of any country. So what is energy?

1. Energy and its types

Energy- the universal basis of natural phenomena, the basis of culture and all human activities. At the same time, energy is understood as quantitative assessment of various forms of motion of matter, which can transform one into another.

According to the concepts of physical science, energy - it is the ability of the body or body system to do work.

There are about 20 scientifically proven types of energy in nature. There are also different classifications of types and forms of energy. A person in his daily life most often encounters the following types of energy: mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic, thermal, chemical, atomic (intranuclear), gravitational and other types. In practice, only 4 types of energy are directly applied: thermal ( 70-75%), mechanical (20-22%), electric(3-5%), electromagnetic- light (15%).

More than two thirds of all consumed energy is used in the form of heat for technical needs, heating, cooking, the rest - in the form of mechanical, primarily in transport installations, and electrical energy. Moreover, the share of the use of electrical energy is constantly growing.

If energy- the result of a change in the state of movement of material points or bodies, then it is called kinetic; it includes the mechanical energy of the movement of bodies, thermal energy due to the movement of molecules.

If energy is the result of a change in the relative position of the parts of a given system or its position in relation to other bodies, then it is called potential; it includes the energy of masses that are attracted by the law of universal gravitation, the energy of the position of homogeneous particles, for example, the energy of an elastic deformed body, chemical energy.

Energy in natural science, depending on nature, is divided into the following types.

Mechanical energy- manifests itself in the interaction, movement of individual bodies or particles. It includes the energy of movement or rotation of the body, the energy of deformation during bending, stretching, twisting, compression of elastic bodies (springs). This energy is most widely used in various machines - transport and technological.

Thermal energy- energy of disordered (chaotic) movement and interaction of molecules of substances. Thermal energy, obtained most often from the combustion of various types of fuel, is widely used for heating, carrying out numerous technological processes (heating, melting, drying, evaporation, distillation, etc.).

Electric Energy- the energy of electrons moving along the electric circuit (electric current). Electrical energy is used to obtain mechanical energy using electric motors and to carry out mechanical processes for processing materials: crushing, grinding, mixing; for carrying out electrochemical reactions; obtaining thermal energy in electric heating devices and furnaces; for direct processing of materials (electrical discharge machining).

This type of energy is the most perfect due to the following factors:

Possibilities of obtaining it in large quantities near deposits of fossil fuels or water sources;
Convenience of transportation over long distances with relatively small losses;
The ability to transform into other types of energy;
Lack of environmental pollution;
Possibilities of creating fundamentally new technological processes with a high degree of automation and robotization of production.

Chemical energy- This is the energy "stored" in the atoms of substances, which is released or absorbed during chemical reactions between substances. Chemical energy is either released in the form of thermal energy during exothermic reactions (for example, fuel combustion), or converted into electrical energy in galvanic cells and batteries. These energy sources are characterized by high efficiency (up to 98%), but low capacity.

Magnetic energy- the energy of permanent magnets, which have a large supply of energy, but "give up" it very reluctantly. When an electric current passes through a circuit, a magnetic field is created around the conductor. Electric and magnetic energies are closely interconnected with each other, each of them can be considered as the "reverse" side of the other. Since electrical and magnetic energy are closely related, in practice, the concept of electromagnetic energy is used.

Electromagnetic energy Is the energy of electromagnetic waves, i.e. moving electric and magnetic fields. It includes visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays and radio waves.

The listed radiation ranges differ in wavelength (and frequency):

Radio waves - more than 10 -2 cm;
Infrared radiation - 2 * 10 -4 - 7, 4 * 10 -5;
Visible light - 7, 4 * 10 -5 -4 * 10 -5; (420-760 nm);
Ultraviolet radiation - 4 * 10 -5 -10 -6;
X-ray radiation - 10 -5 -10 -12;
Gamma radiation is more than 10 -12 cm.

Thus, electromagnetic energy is radiation energy. Radiation carries energy in the form of electromagnetic wave energy. When radiation is absorbed, its energy is converted into other forms, most often heat.

Nuclear power- energy localized in the nuclei of atoms of radioactive substances. It is released during the fission of heavy nuclei (nuclear reaction) or the fusion of light nuclei (thermonuclear reaction).

There is also an old name for this type of energy - atomic energy, but this name inaccurately reflects the essence of the phenomena that lead to the release of colossal amounts of energy, most often in the form of thermal and mechanical.

Gravitational energy- the energy due to the interaction (gravitation) of massive bodies, it is especially noticeable in outer space. In terrestrial conditions, this is, for example, the energy "stored" by a body raised to a certain height above the surface of the Earth - the energy of gravity.

Often they release into special types of energy biological and mental energy. However, according to modern views of natural science, mental and biological processes are a special group of physicochemical processes, but they are carried out on the basis of the types of energy described above.

Thus, depending on the level of manifestation, energy of the macrocosm- gravitational, energy of interaction of bodies - mechanical, energy of molecular interactions - thermal,

To energy formed at the level microworld, include - the energy of atomic interactions - chemical; radiation energy - electromagnetic; the energy contained in the nuclei of atoms is nuclear.

Modern science does not exclude the existence of other types of energy, which have not yet been recorded, but do not violate a single natural-scientific picture of the world and the concept of energy and the law of conservation of energy.

In the International System of Units SI as energy units adopted Joule(J). 1 J is equivalent
1 newton x meter (Nm). If the calculations are related to heat, with the calculation of the energy of biological objects and many other types of energy, then an off-system unit is used as a unit of energy - calorie(cal) or kilocalorie (kcal), 1 cal = 4.18 J. To measure electrical energy, use a unit such as Watt hour(Wh, kWh, MWh), 1 Wh = 3.6 MJ. To measure mechanical energy, use the value of 1 kg m = 9.8 J.

Energy directly extracted in nature (energy of fuel, water, wind, thermal energy of the Earth, nuclear), and which can be converted into electrical, thermal, mechanical, chemical is called primary... In accordance with the classification of energy resources on the basis of exhaustion, primary energy can also be classified. In fig. 1 shows a scheme for the classification of primary energy.

Energy of the tides

Geothermal energy

Energy of sea waves

Biological fuel

Wind energy

Solar energy

Unconventional types of energy

Gaseous fuels

Liquid fuels

Solid fuels

Atomic Energy

Hydropower of rivers

Fossil fuels

Traditional forms of energy

Primary energy

Rice. 1. Classification of primary energy

The energy received by a person, after the conversion of primary energy in special installations - stations, is called secondary(electrical energy, steam energy, hot water, etc.).

Slightly more than half of all consumed energy is used in the form of heat for technical needs, heating, cooking, the rest - in the form of mechanical, primarily in transport installations, and electrical energy.

Electric energy can rightfully be considered the basis of modern civilization. This is due to its advantages and ease of use. The overwhelming majority of technical means of mechanization and automation of production processes (equipment, instruments, computers), replacement of human labor by machine labor in everyday life have an electrical basis.

Electric Energy- the most versatile form of energy. She found wide application in everyday life and in all sectors of the national economy. There are over four hundred names of electrical household appliances: refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, fans, televisions, tape recorders, lighting devices, etc. It is impossible to imagine an industry without electric power. In agriculture, the use of electricity is constantly expanding: feeding and watering animals, caring for them, heating and ventilation, incubators, air heaters, dryers, etc. Electrification- the basis of technical progress in any branch of the national economy. It allows replacing inconvenient energy resources with a universal type of energy - electrical energy that can be transmitted over any distance, converted into other types of energy, for example, mechanical or thermal, and divided between consumers.

Benefits of electricity:

1. Electrical energy is universal, it can be used for a variety of purposes. In particular, it is very easy to turn it into heat, light. This is done, for example, in electrical light sources (incandescent bulbs), in technological furnaces used in metallurgy, in various heating and heating devices. The transformation of electrical energy into mechanical energy is used in the drives of electric motors.

2. When electrical energy is consumed, it can be infinitely split. So, the power of electric machines, depending on their purpose, is different: from the fraction of a watt in micromotors used in many branches of technology and in household products, to huge values exceeding a million kilowatts in generators of power plants.

3. In the process of production and transmission of electrical energy, it is possible to concentrate its power, increase the voltage and transmit any amount of electrical energy from the power plant, where it is generated, to all its consumers, both over short and long distances.

The development of natural science throughout the life of mankind has irrefutably proved that energy is never created out of nothing and is not destroyed without a trace, it only passes from one type to another, i.e.

the sum of all types of energy remains constant. This is the essence of one of the most fundamental laws of the universe - law of energy conservation.

In any discussion of issues related to the use of energy, it is necessary to distinguish the energy of ordered movement, known in the art as free energy(mechanical, chemical, electrical, electromagnetic, nuclear) and chaotic energy, i.e. heat. Any of the forms of free energy can be almost completely used. At the same time, the chaotic energy of heat, when converted into mechanical energy, is lost in the form of heat. We are unable to completely order the random movement of molecules, turning its energy into free energy. Moreover, at present, there is practically no way to directly convert chemical and nuclear energy into electrical and mechanical energy, as the most used ones. It is necessary to convert the internal energy of substances into thermal energy, and then into mechanical or electrical energy with large inevitable heat losses. Thus, all types of energy, after performing useful work, are converted into heat with a lower temperature, which is practically unsuitable for further use.

The law of conservation of energy has been confirmed in various fields - from Newtonian mechanics to nuclear physics. Moreover, the law of conservation of energy is not only a figment of the imagination or generalization of experiments. That is why we can fully agree with the statement of one of the greatest theoretical physicists Poincaré: “Since we are unable to give a general definition of energy, the principle of its conservation means that there is something that remains constant. Therefore, no matter what new ideas about the world future experiments will lead us to, we know in advance: there will be something in them that remains constant, which can be called ENERGY. "

The educational discipline "Fundamentals of Energy Saving" is designed to equip the future specialist with knowledge of general laws and approaches to calculating the processes that occur during the receipt, transformation and transmission of energy.

3. Problems of human energy use

Of all types of energy resources, the energy of the Sun is of particular importance. All types of energy resources are the result of natural transformations of solar energy. Coal, oil, natural gas, peat, oil shale and firewood are the reserves of the sun's radiant energy extracted and transformed by plants. In the process of the photosynthesis reaction from inorganic elements of the environment - water H 2 O and carbon dioxide CO 2 - under the influence of sunlight, organic matter is formed in plants, the main element of which is carbon WITH... At a certain geological epoch, over millions of years, from dead plants under the influence of pressure and temperature conditions, which, in turn, are the result of a specific amount of energy from the Sun falling on the Earth, organic energy resources were formed, the basis of which is carbon previously accumulated in plants ... Water energy is also derived from solar energy, which evaporates water and lifts steam into the higher layers of the atmosphere. The wind occurs due to the different temperatures of heating by the Sun of different parts of our planet. In addition, the direct radiation of the Sun, falling on the surface of the Earth, has a huge energy potential.

Thus, the formation of fossil fuels is the result, on the one hand, of natural transformations of solar energy, and on the other, the result of thermal, mechanical and biological effects for many centuries on the remains of flora and fauna deposited in all geological formations. All of these fuels are carbon-based, and energy is released from them mainly through the formation of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Throughout its existence, humanity has used the energy accumulated by nature over billions of years. At the same time, the ways of its use have been constantly improved in order to obtain maximum efficiency.

So, at the very beginning of its evolutionary development, only the energy of the muscles of his body ... Later, man learned to receive and use fire energy ... The next round of evolutionary development of human society brought the opportunity to use energy of water and wind - the first water and windmills, water wheels, sailing ships, using the force of the wind for their movement, appeared. In the 18th century, a steam engine was invented, in which thermal energy , obtained as a result of burning coal or wood, was converted into energy of mechanical movement. In the 19th century, a voltaic arc, electric lighting was discovered, an electric motor was invented, and then an electric generator, which was the beginning of the century. electricity ... The XX century was a real revolution in the development of mankind's methods of obtaining and using energy: thermal, hydraulic, and nuclear power plants of enormous power are being built, transmission lines of high, ultra-high and ultra-high voltage electric energy are being built, new methods of production, conversion and transmission of electricity are being developed ( controlled thermonuclear reaction, magnetohydrodynamic generator, superconducting turbine generators, etc.), powerful power systems are created... At the same time, powerful oil and gas supply systems appeared.
Thus, the world around us has a truly inexhaustible source of various types of energy. Some of them are not yet fully used and at the present time - the energy of the Sun, the energy of interaction between the Earth and the Moon, the energy of thermonuclear fusion, the energy of the heat of the Earth .

Now energy plays a decisive role in the development of human civilization. There is a close relationship between energy consumption and output. Energy is of great importance in the life of mankind. The level of its development reflects the level of development of the productive forces of society, the possibilities of scientific and technological progress and the standard of living of the population. Unfortunately, most of the energy consumed by humans is converted into useless heat due to the low efficiency of using available energy resources.

The approximate distribution of consumed energy for the year in the world is given in table. 1.1. The amount of energy is given in the amount of coal in megatons(Mt), which, when burned, would give the same energy.
About 400 Mt are consumed annually for human nutrition, of which about 40 Mt is converted into useful labor. For domestic needs about 800 Mt are spent, for social production - 1000 Mt.

Table1.1
Annual energy consumption in the world

Form of energy	Quantity, MT	A source
Food for humans and fodder for draft animals	650	sunlight (present)
Firewood	150	sunlight (in past)
Hydroelectric power plants	100	Water movement
Coal, oil, gas, peat	6 600	sunlight (in past)

Thus, out of the annual consumption of 7500 Mt, 2200 Mt are usefully used, the rest is wasted in the form of heat. But even with an efficiency of 2200/7500 Mt, mankind cannot boast, since the solar radiation falling on the Earth, which amounts to 10,000,000 Mt per year, is not taken into account.

Rice. 2 Distribution of energy from sunlight.

The uneven use of energy by the population is shown in Fig. 3.

Rice. 3. Uneven use of energy by the population.

Energy has played a decisive role in the development of civilization. Energy consumption and information storage has approximately the same nature of change over time, there is a close relationship between energy consumption and the volume of products. It has been established that a modern man needs about the same amount of energy to satisfy his physiological needs as a primitive man. At the same time, the growth in energy consumption is strikingly high. But it is thanks to him that a person can devote a significant part of his life to leisure, education, creative activity, and has achieved the present high life expectancy.
We consider energy to be something we need, capable of working for us.

The supply of energy to society is necessary for: heating rooms, ensuring movement, releasing the goods we need, maintaining the performance of various machines, mechanisms, devices, cooking, lighting, maintaining life, etc.

These examples of energy applications can be divided into three broad groups:
a)power supply . It is more expensive than other types of energy: wheat per Joule is much more expensive than coal. Food provides heat to maintain body temperature, energy for its movement, for the implementation of mental and physical labor;
b) energy in the form of heat for heating homes and cooking. It makes it possible to live in different climatic conditions and diversify the human diet;
v) energy to ensure the functioning of social production. This is energy for the production of goods and services, the physical movement of people and goods in space, to maintain the operability of all communication systems. The cost of this energy per capita is significantly higher than the cost of energy for food.

Unfortunately, the dynamics of the development of civilization is such that every year mankind needs more and more energy for its existence and development. Despite the presence of a large number of energy resources and the use of various types of energy by mankind, the rate of consumption of energy resources significantly exceeds the possibilities of their renewal by nature. This primarily concerns non-renewable natural resources. Human needs are growing, people are becoming more and more, and this causes huge volumes of energy production and the growth rate of its consumption. Today, traditional energy sources (various fuels, water resources) and technologies for their use are no longer able to provide the required level of power supply to society, because these are non-renewable sources. And although the proven reserves of natural fuels are very large, the problem of depletion of natural pantries at the current and projected rates of their development, they are moving into a real and near-term perspective. Already today, a number of fields, due to depletion, are unsuitable for industrial development, and for oil and gas, for example, one has to go to hard-to-reach, remote areas, to ocean shelves, etc. Serious forecasters prove that if the current volumes and growth rates of energy consumption remain at 3 ... 5% (and they will undoubtedly be even higher), the reserves of organic fuels will completely dry up in 70 - 150 years.

Another factor limiting the significant increase in energy production from fuel combustion is all increasing environmental pollution by energy production waste... This waste is significant in weight and contains a large amount of various harmful components. Thus, during the production of 106 kWh of electricity at a modern power plant operating on solid fuels, 14,000 kg of slag, 80,000 kg of ash, 1,000,000 kg of carbon dioxide, 14,000 kg of sulfur dioxide, 4,000 kg of nitrogen oxides are discharged into the environment. 100,000 kg of water vapor, as well as compounds of fluorine, arsenic, vanadium and other elements. But the amount of electricity generated per year is calculated in hundreds and thousands of billions of kilowatt-hours! This is where acid rains, poisoning of farmland and water bodies, and the like phenomena come from. Moreover, nature is no longer able to process these pollutants and restore itself by natural physicochemical and microbiological methods.

In nuclear power, environmental problems of a different kind arise. They are associated with the need to exclude the ingress of nuclear fuel into the environment and reliable disposal of nuclear waste, which at the current level of development of technology and technology is associated with great difficulties.

No less harmful is thermal pollution of the environment environment that can lead to global warming of the Earth's climate, melting of glaciers and a rise in the level of the world's oceans. In the light of the above, the widespread practical use of the so-called non-traditional and renewable energy sources, which, among other things, are also environmentally friendly, not polluting the environment, is becoming more and more urgent. Such sources include solar energy, wind energy, energy of sea waves and tides, biomass energy, geothermal energy, etc. The nature of each of these energy sources is not the same, and the ways of their application and use are different. At the same time, they have common features, in particular, a low density of the generated energy flow, which necessitates its accumulation and reservation.

4. Energy security and energy saving

Scientists predict that hydrocarbon fuels and nuclear fuel will remain the main source of energy for the foreseeable future. But humanity is already approaching such a limit for increasing the total capacity of traditional power plants, overcoming which will inevitably entail ecological disaster... Therefore, modern "non-traditional" energy is the reserve that gives hope and the opportunity to overcome many seemingly insoluble problems and meet the growing human needs in the future. With the improvement of technologies and the scale of practical use, some of the "non-traditional" power plants will become a traditional "large" energy, the other part will find its niche in the "small" energy for power supply of local facilities. One way or another, unconventional energy sources have a great future, and we must do our best to make this future more likely to become the present. The issues of life and death on our planet depend on this, and it is this that determines the urgent need for rational energy consumption, reducing its unit costs in all spheres of human activity. This direction has received the name - energy saving.

One of the results of energy saving is a direct severalfold reduction in costs for accelerating the pace of constant searches for energy sources and their development. The desire to solve these and other problems has been observed practically from the very beginning of large-scale power engineering. It is being implemented both in the search for other primary energy sources (electrochemical and thermonuclear converters) and in the development of new methods for converting the energy of primary sources into electrical energy, for example, in thermoelectric or thermionic devices, in MHD generators.

Energy saving- organizational, scientific, practical, informational activities of state bodies, legal entities and individuals. This activity is aimed at reducing the consumption (losses) of fuel and energy resources in the process of their extraction, processing, transportation, storage, production, use and disposal. Energy saving is a set of measures to ensure efficient and rational use of energy resources.

Currently, the following areas of energy conservation are recognized as the most effective:

1. Creation of a regulatory and legal framework for energy conservation.

2. Creation of the necessary economic mechanisms.

3. Creation of financial mechanisms for energy saving.

4. Pursuing a pricing policy that reflects the costs of energy resources, manufactured products, services and determines the standard of living of the population.

5. Creation of an energy saving management system.

6. Creation of an information system for promoting the problems of energy conservation, training, retraining of personnel, managers working in this area.

The basis of energy saving - rational use of energy resources and reducing their losses. Energy saving policy is widely applied in all advanced countries.

Based on the definition of the concept energy saving as a set of measures aimed at efficient use of energy, there is a requirement to limit the possibilities of using material resources of the external environment, if we are talking about the so-called non-renewable primary energy sources in the form of organic mineral fuels. It is quite understandable that many countries are striving in modern conditions to maximize the use, but on new principles, of renewable energy sources - wind, sun, biomass, etc. Using them will allow today solve a lot of environmental problems, which creates the prerequisites for reservation for descendants of part of the reserves of fossil fuels(if at the same time they will not yet be exported abroad), including for non-energy needs: the production of chemical products, medicines, all kinds of drugs.

Under energy security the state of the state is understood when all the consumers who need them do not experience a shortage of all types of energy. More broadly -

this is the state of the fuel and energy complex that ensures sufficient and reliable energy supply to the country, which is necessary for sustainable economic development and comfortable living conditions for the population in normal conditions and minimizing damage in emergency situations.
- It is the state of society to maintain the required level of national security

The main principles of energy security are:

Availability of energy resources or reserves energy raw materials
Reserves of electrical and thermal power(at least 15% compared to peak load)
Reliability of power equipment
Power system control country to state
If the state's energy sector is based on the import of energy resources - purchases should not be made in one country... The share of each source of energy supply should not exceed 50%
Energy saving policy of the state- legal, organizational and financial and economic regulation of activities in the field of energy conservation. An example of realizing the importance of solving the problem of energy saving is the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Energy Saving", adopted in 1998. This law regulates relations arising in the course of the activities of legal entities and individuals in the field of energy conservation in order to increase the efficiency of the use of fuel and energy resources, and establishes the legal basis for these relations. ... For the implementation of energy conservation at the state level, energy saving programs.
Republican - for 5 years, starting from 2001.
Regional - for 1 year
Sectoral scientific and technical - there are long-term (for 5 years) and short-term (for 1 year)
Belarus faces a task energy saving and reducing the energy intensity of the gross domestic product.
To solve this problem it is necessary:
- creation of a training system for specialists in the field of energy saving, energy saving technologies and energy management;
- to ensure the restructuring of the thinking of society as a whole, to radically change its attitude to the problem of energy and resource conservation.

Lecture 2

Energy resources of the world

Issues under consideration:

1. Basic definitions

2. Types of energy resources and their classification.

3. The structure and state of the world energy economy

2.1. Energy resources and their classification

According to the law The Republic of Belarus "On energy saving", which was adopted on June 29, 1998, the source of energy is energy resources:

Energetic resources- these are material objects in which energy is concentrated, suitable for practical use by humans. An energy resource is any energy source, natural or artificially activated. Energetic resources- energy carriers that are currently used or may be useful in the future.

fuel and energy resources(FER) - a set of all natural and converted types of fuel and energy used in the republic. Energy resources are classified according to the following scheme (Fig. 1).

Primary natural energy resources- naturally formed as a result of the geological development of the Earth or manifested through cosmic connections (radiation from the Sun), are divided into non-renewable (coal, oil, natural gas, shale, peat) and renewable (river energy, solar radiation, tidal energy, biofuels).

Renewable include resources renewable by nature (land, plants, animals, etc.), to non-renewable- resources previously accumulated in nature, but practically not formed under new geological conditions (oil, coal and other subsoil reserves) .

Secondary energy resources(VER)- energy obtained in the course of any technological process as a result of underutilization of primary energy in the form of a by-product of the main production and not used in this energy process. This type of resource includes: household and industrial waste, hot waste heat carriers, waste combustible organic substances, agricultural waste.

R&S 1. The structure of energy resources.

One of the classifications of natural resources is a classification on the basis of exhaustion, in accordance with which energy resources are divided into exhaustibleandinexhaustible (fig. 3)... In turn, the exhaustible can be divided into renewableandnon-renewable.

TO inexhaustible include space, climatic, water resources.

Fig. 2. Exhaustible and inexhaustible energy resources.

All inexhaustible sources of energy are considered renewable.

In fact, there are no inexhaustible energy resources in the universe. Sooner or later they will run out. So, for example, in 4.5 billion years, our star, the Sun, will enter its next stage of evolution and turn into a white dwarf. This transition is called a supernova explosion. At the same time, a huge flow of energy will be emitted into outer space, which will reach our planet, destroy (burn) the Earth's atmosphere, evaporate the oceans and the Earth will turn into a lifeless cosmic body.

However, in comparison with human life and the time of existence of human civilization, such sources are considered inexhaustible. Thus, renewable energy sources are called sources whose energy flows constantly exist or periodically arise in the environment and are not a consequence of purposeful human activity.

Renewable energy resources include energy:

The World Ocean in the form of the energy of the ebb and flow, the energy of the waves;

- wind;

Sea currents;

Salted;

Seaweed;

Produced from biomass;

Gutters;

Solid household waste;

Geothermal springs.

The disadvantage of renewable energy sources is low degree of its concentration. But this is largely offset by their wide distribution, relatively high ecological purity and their practical inexhaustibility. It is most rational to use such sources directly near the consumer without transferring energy over a distance. Energy, working on these sources, uses the energy flows that already exist in the surrounding space, redistributes, but does not violate their overall balance.

About 90% of the currently used energy resources are non-renewable(coal, oil, gas, etc.). This is due to their high energy potential, the relative availability of their extraction. The rates of extraction and consumption of these resources determine the energy policy. The most commonly used energy resources today are called traditional, new types of energy resources, the use of which has begun relatively recently - alternative ( energy resources of rivers, reservoirs and industrial drains, wind energy, solar energy, reduced natural gas, biomass (including wood waste), waste water and municipal solid waste) .

In modern nature management, energy resources are classified into three groups

– participating in a constant turnover and flow of energy(solar, cosmic energy, etc.),

- deposited energy resources(oil, gas, peat, shale, etc.) and

- artificially activated energy sources(atomic and thermonuclear energy).

From an economic point of view, there are gross, technical and economic energetic resources.

Gross resource represents the total energy contained in a given video energy resource.

Technical resource – this is the energy that can be obtained from this type of energy resource with the existing development of science and technology. It ranges from a fraction of a percent to ten percent of the gross, but it is constantly increasing as the power equipment is improved and new technologies are mastered.

Economic resource – energy, the receipt of which from this type of resource is economically profitable with the existing ratio of prices for equipment, materials and labor. It makes up a certain share of the technical one and also increases with the development of the energy sector.

It is customary to characterize energy resources by the number of years during which this resource will be enough for energy production at the modern quality level. From the report of the World Energy Council Commission (1994), given the current level of consumption, coal reserves will last for 250 years, gas - for 60 years, oil - for 40 years. At the same time, according to the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, the world demand for energy will grow from 9.2 billion tons in terms of oil (late 1990s) to 14.2-24.8 billion tons in 2050.

Energy efficiency indicator- scientifically based absolute or specific amount of consumption of fuel and energy resources (taking into account their regulatory losses) for any purpose, established by regulatory documents.

Efficiency the use of energy resources is determined by the degree of transformation of their energy potential into the final used products or final consumed types of energy and is characterized by energy utilization factor:

where η d – recovery factor potential supply of energy (the ratio of the extracted to the total amount of the resource),

η NS – conversion factor(the ratio of the received useful energy to all supplied energy resources), η and – energy utilization factor(the ratio of the used energy to the energy supplied to the consumer).

For some types of fossil energy resources η d is:

for oil  30,… 40%, for gas  80%, for coal  40%. When burning fuel η NS equals 9498%.

The concept of energy efficiency is associated with the concept of efficient and rational use of energy resources.

Energy balance- This is a system of indicators reflecting the quantitative correspondence between the income and consumption of energy resources, distribution by type and consumers (see Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. The structure of the energy balance.

Rational use of resources - it is a system of activities designed to provide economic resource use and reproduction taking into account the promising interests of the developing national economy and the preservation of people's health.

Efficient use of resources - the use of all types of energy in economically justified, progressive ways with the existing level of development of technology and technology (implies the secondary use of resources, reduction of consumption, energy saving, not exceeding the ecological threshold of ecosystem sustainability).

Users of fuel and energy resources- business entities, regardless of their form of ownership, registered on the territory of the Republic of Belarus as legal entities or entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity, as well as other persons who, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, have the right to conclude business contracts, and citizens using fuel and energy resources.

Fuel and energy resource producers- business entities, regardless of their form of ownership, registered on the territory of the Republic of Belarus as legal entities, for which any type of fuel and energy resources used in the republic is a commodity.

Under the energy or energy system, one should understand the totality of large natural (natural) and artificial (man-made) systems designed to obtain, transform, distribute and use energy resources of all types in the national economy.

Energy is considered as a large system that includes parts of other large systems as subsystems.
The second interpretation of the power system, adopted among power engineers, is as follows: energy system Is a set of interconnected power plants, substations, power lines, electrical and heating networks, centers of consumption of electrical energy and heat.
The following large systems function as part of the energy system, which meets the needs of the entire economy in electrical and thermal energy:

electric power system (electric power industry), which includes a heat supply system (heat power engineering) as a subsystem;

oil and gas supply system;

coal industry system;

nuclear energy;

unconventional energy.

Power generation provide power plants; transformation- transformers, transport;

distribution of electrical energy- power lines; consumption- various receivers.

2.2 Types of fuel, characteristics and reserves

According to DI Mendeleev's definition, "fuel is a combustible substance deliberately burned to obtain heat." Mineral fuel is the main source of energy in the modern economy and the most important industrial raw material. The processing of mineral fuel is the basis for the formation of industrial enterprises, including petrochemical, gas-chemical, peat briquettes, etc.

Fuels are classified into the following four groups:

Solid;

Gaseous;

Nuclear.

The earliest type of solid fuel was (and in many places it still is) wood and other plants: straw, reeds, corn stalks, etc.

The first industrial revolution, which in the 19th century completely transformed the agrarian countries of Europe, and then America, occurred as a result of the transition from wood fuel to fossil coal. Then came the era of electricity.

The discovery of electricity had a huge impact on the life of mankind and led to the birth and growth of the largest cities in the world.

The use of oil (liquid fuel) and natural gas in combination with the development of the electric power industry, and then the development of nuclear energy, allowed the industrialized countries to carry out grandiose transformations, the result of which was the formation of the modern appearance of the Earth.

Thus, to solid fuel include:

Wood, other plant products;

Coal (with its varieties: stone, brown);

Peat;

- oil shale.

Fossil solid fuels (excluding shale) are the decomposition products of organic matter in plants. The youngest of them peat, which is a dense mass formed from the decayed remains of marsh plants. Next by "age" are brown coals- an earthy or black homogeneous mass, which, when stored for a long time in air, is partially oxidized (eroded) and crumbles into powder. Then go coal, having, as a rule, increased strength and lower porosity. The organic mass of the oldest of them is anthracite has undergone the greatest changes and is 93% carbon. Anthracite is very hard.

Oil shale are a mineral from the group of hard caustobiolites, which, during dry distillation, gives a significant amount of resin, which is close in composition to oil.

Liquid fuels obtained by refining oil. Crude oil is heated to 300 ... 370 ° C, after which the resulting vapors are dispersed into fractions that condense at different temperatures:

Liquefied gas (yield about 1%);

Gasoline (about 15%, tк = 30 ... 180 ° С);

Kerosene (about 17%, tк = 120 ... 135 ° С);

Diesel (about 18%, tк = 180 ... 350 ° С).

The liquid residue with an initial boiling point of 330 - 350 ° C is called fuel oil.

Gaseous fuels are natural gas, produced both directly and incidentally with oil production, called associated. The main component of natural gas is methane СН4 and a small amount of nitrogen N2, higher hydrocarbons СnНm, carbon dioxide СО2. Associated gas contains less methane than natural gas, but more higher hydrocarbons, and therefore releases more heat during combustion.

In industry and, especially in everyday life, is widespread liquefied gas obtained from primary oil refining. At metallurgical plants, as by-products they receive coke oven and blast furnace gases... They are used here in factories for heating furnaces and technological devices. In areas where coal mines are located, a kind of "fuel" can be methane, which stands out from the layers during their ventilation. Gases obtained by gasification (generator) or by dry distillation (heating without air access) of solid fuels have practically been replaced by natural gas in most countries, but now there is a renewed interest in their production and use.

Recently, more and more application is found biogas- a product of anaerobic fermentation (fermentation) of organic waste (manure, plant residues, garbage, sewage, etc.).

Nuclear fuel is an Uranus. The efficiency of its use is shown by the work of the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker "Lenin" with a displacement of 19 thousand tons, a length of 134 m, a width of 23.6 m, a height of 16.1 m, a draft of 10.5 m, at a speed of 18 knots (about 30 km / h). It was created for escorting caravans of ships along the Northern Sea Route, the thickness of the ice along which reached 2 meters or more. He consumed 260-310 grams of uranium per day. A diesel icebreaker would need 560 tons of diesel fuel to carry out the same amount of work as the Lenin icebreaker.

Analysis of the assessment of the supply of fuel and energy resources shows that the most scarce type of fuel is oil. According to various sources, it will be enough for 250 years. Then, in 35-64 years, the reserves of combustible gas and uranium will be depleted. The situation is best with coal, the reserves of which are large enough in the world, and the supply of coal will be 218-330 years.

2.2 Conditional fuel, calorific value, energy potential.

Economic calculations, comparison of indicators of fuel-using devices with each other and planning must be carried out on a single basis. Therefore, the concept of the so-called conventional fuel was introduced.

Fuel oil is a fossil fuel accounting unit used to compare the efficiency of different fuels and total accounting. The use of equivalent fuel is especially convenient for comparing the efficiency of various heat and power plants.

As a unit of equivalent fuel, 1 kg of fuel with a calorific value of 7000 kcal / kg (29.3 MJ / kg) is used, which corresponds to good low-ash dry coal. For comparison, let us point out that brown coals have a calorific value of less than 24 MJ / kg, and anthracites and bituminous coals - 23-27 MJ / kg. The ratio between conventional fuel and natural fuel is expressed by the formula

W = (Qnr / 7000) Int = E Ext,

where W is the mass of the equivalent amount of equivalent fuel, kg;

VN - mass of natural fuel, kg (solid and liquid fuel) or m3 -gaseous;

Qнр - the lowest calorific value of the given natural fuel, kcal / kg or kcal / m3.

Ratio E = Qнр / 7000

called calorie coefficient, and it is accepted for:

Oil - 1.43;

Natural gas - 1.15;

Peat - 0.34-0.41 (depending on humidity);

Peat briquettes - 0.45 -0.6 (depending on humidity);

Diesel fuel - 1.45;

Fuel oil - 1.37.

Calorific value of various fuels, kcal / kg, is approximately:

oil - 10,000 (kcal / kg);

natural gas - 8,000 (kcal / m3);

hard coal - 7000 (kcal / kg);

firewood with a moisture content of 10% - 3900 (kcal / kg);

40% - 2400 (kcal / kg);

peat with moisture content 10% - 4100 (kcal / kg);

40% - 2500 (kcal / kg);

The parameter that determines the possibility of using an energy source is Energy potential... It is expressed in units of energy J or kWh. The energy potential of the Earth's energy resources, measured in exajoules, (eJ = 10 18 J), is estimated by the following values:

nuclear fission energy 1.9710 6
geothermal energy 2.94 10 6
energy of the Sun at the level of the Earth, for 1 year 2.41 10 6
chemical energy of chemical fuel 5.21 10 5
thermonuclear energy 3.60 10 5
energy of tides, for 1 year 2.52 10 5
wind energy, for 1 year 6.1210 3
bioenergy of forests, for 1 year 1.4610 3
energy of rivers, for 1 year 1.19 10 2

2.3 Energy resources of the world

The structure of the world energy economy today has developed in such a way that 80% of the electricity consumed is obtained by burning fuel at power plants, where the chemical energy of the fuel is first converted into heat, heat into work, and work into electricity. A significant percentage is also provided by hydropower (about 15%), the rest is covered by other sources, mainly nuclear power plants. Human needs are growing, people are becoming more and more, and this causes huge volumes of energy production and the growth rate of its consumption. Today, traditional energy sources (various fuels, water resources) and technologies for their use are no longer able to provide the required level of power supply to society, because these are non-renewable sources and their number is rapidly decreasing. And although the proven reserves of natural fuels are very large, the problem of depletion of natural reserves at the current and projected rates of their development is turning into a real and near-term prospect. Already today, a number of fields, due to depletion, are unsuitable for industrial development, and for oil and gas, for example, one has to go to hard-to-reach, remote areas, to ocean shelves, etc. Serious forecasters prove that if the current volumes and growth rates of energy consumption remain at 3 ... 5% (and they will undoubtedly be even higher), the reserves of organic fuels will completely dry up in 70 - 150 years.

The limited reserves of non-renewable resources used to generate electricity, even taking into account the savings, are reflected in Table 2.1. The development of modern technologies requires an increase in the level of electricity use. In addition, it is necessary to take into account that the rate of population growth makes it possible to predict that in 40 years from now 12 billion people will live on Earth, which is why the problems of energy conservation are so tough.

Table 2.1. Energy resources of the world

The electric power industry is the most important branch of the economy of any country, since its products (electrical energy) are a universal type of energy. It can be easily transmitted over considerable distances, divided into a large number of consumers. It is impossible to carry out many technological processes without electrical energy, just as it is impossible to imagine our daily life without heating, lighting, cooling, transport, TV, refrigerator, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, iron, using modern means of communication (telephone, telegraph, fax, computer), which also consume electricity.

In most developed foreign countries, the electrical component of the entire fuel and energy complex reaches 35–40%, and by the beginning of the 21st century it exceeded 50%. Electric energy is being introduced into practically all new spheres of industry, agriculture and everyday life.

The US produces about 2.5 trillion. kWh of electricity, in the CIS - about 1.75 trillion. kWh. The total capacity of the power plant in the USA is 660 million kWh, in the CIS - about 350 million kWh, with 30% of them in the US in the hot standby. In the CIS, there is no hot reserve, and the cold one is 6--8%, while the standard is 13%. The degree of electrical armament in the Republic of Belarus is 22%, which is significantly lower than the indicators of not only developed countries, but the world average (27%).

Although developed countries have stopped increasing their energy consumption per capita over the past 25 years, the growth in consumption remains high due to the increase in energy consumption per capita in developing countries. At the current rate, the growth of the electric power industry will continue for a long time, including ours.

That is, to find out how you can save energy, you need to clearly define what constitutes the concept of "energy"?

Energy (Greek - action, activity) is a general quantitative measure of various forms of motion of matter.

This definition implies:

Energy is something that manifests itself only when the state (position) of various objects of the world around us changes;

Energy is something that can pass from one form to another (Fig. 1.1);

Energy is characterized by the ability to produce work useful for a person;

Energy is something that can be objectively defined, quantified.

Energy in form A			Energy in B form

Rice. 1.1. Scheme for converting energy from one type to another

Energy in natural science, depending on nature, is divided into the following types.

Mechanical energy - manifests itself during the interaction, movement of individual bodies or particles.

It includes the energy of movement or rotation of the body, the energy of deformation during bending, stretching, twisting,

Compression of elastic bodies (springs). This energy is most widely used in various machines - transport and technological.

Thermal energy is the energy of disordered (chaotic) movement and interaction of molecules of substances.

Thermal energy, obtained most often from the combustion of various types of fuel, is widely used for heating, carrying out numerous technological processes (heating, melting, drying, evaporation, distillation, etc.).

For comparison of various types of fuel and total accounting of its reserves, the unit of accounting was adopted - conventional fuel, the heat of combustion of which was taken as 29.3 MJ / kg (7000 kcal / kg) (Table 1.1). "

Electrical energy is the energy of electrons (electric current) moving along an electrical circuit.

Electrical energy is used to obtain mechanical energy using electric motors and to carry out mechanical processes for processing materials: crushing, grinding, mixing; for carrying out electrochemical reactions; obtaining thermal energy in electric heating devices and furnaces; for direct processing of materials (electrical discharge machining).

Chemical energy is energy "stored" in the atoms of substances, which is released or absorbed by chemical reactions between substances.

Chemical energy is either released in the form of thermal energy during exothermic reactions (for example, fuel combustion), or converted into electrical energy in galvanic cells and batteries. These energy sources are characterized by high efficiency (up to 98%), but low capacity.

Magnetic energy - the energy of permanent magnets, which have a large supply of energy, but "give up" it very reluctantly. However, electric current creates extensive, strong magnetic fields around itself, therefore, most often they speak of electromagnetic energy.

Electric and magnetic energies are closely interconnected with each other, each of them can be considered as the "reverse" side of the other.

Electromagnetic energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves, that is, moving electric and magnetic fields. It includes visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays and radio waves.

Nuclear energy is energy localized in the nuclei of atoms of so-called radioactive substances. It is released during the fission of heavy nuclei (nuclear reaction) or the fusion of light nuclei (thermonuclear reaction).

There is also an old name for this type of energy - atomic energy, but this name inaccurately reflects the essence of the phenomena leading to the release of colossal amounts of energy, most often in the form of thermal and mechanical.

Gravitational energy is energy caused by the interaction (gravitation) of massive bodies, it is especially noticeable in outer space. In terrestrial conditions, this is, for example, the energy "stored" by a body raised to a certain height above the surface of the Earth - the energy of gravity.

Thus, depending on the level of manifestation, one can select the energy of the macrocosm - gravitational, the energy of interaction of bodies - mechanical, the energy of molecular interactions - thermal, the energy of atomic interactions - chemical, radiation energy - electromagnetic, the energy contained in the nuclei of atoms - nuclear.

Modern science does not exclude the existence of other types of energy, which have not yet been fixed, but do not violate a single natural-scientific picture of the world and the concept of energy.

By and large, the concept of energy, the idea of it is artificial and created specifically in order to be the result of our reflections on the world around us. Unlike matter, about which we can say that it exists, energy is the fruit of human thought, his "invention", built so that it would be possible to describe various changes in the surrounding world and at the same time talk about constancy, the preservation of which something that has been called energy, even if our understanding of energy changes from year to year.

The unit of measure for energy is 1 J (Joule). At the same time, to measure the amount of heat, use the "old" unit - 1 cal (calorie) = 4.18 J, to measure mechanical energy use the value of 1 kgm = 9.8 J, electrical energy - 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ, with 1 J = = 1 W-S.

It should be noted that in natural science literature, thermal, chemical and nuclear energies are sometimes combined with the concept of internal energy, i.e., contained within a substance.

In connection with the development of production technologies and a significant deterioration of the environmental situation in many regions of the world, mankind is faced with the problem of finding new sources of energy. On the one hand, the amount of produced energy should be sufficient for the development of production, science and public utilities, on the other hand, energy production should not adversely affect the environment.

This formulation of the question led to the search for so-called alternative energy sources - sources that meet the above requirements. Through the efforts of world science, many such sources have been discovered, at the moment most of them are already used more or less widely. We bring to your attention a brief overview of them:

Solar energy

Solar power plants are actively used in more than 80 countries; they convert solar energy into electricity. There are different ways of such conversion and, accordingly, different types of solar power plants. The most common stations are using photovoltaic converters (photovoltaic cells) combined into solar panels. Most of the world's largest photovoltaic installations are located in the United States.

Wind energy

Wind power plants (wind farms) are widely used in the USA, China, India, as well as in some Western European countries (for example, in Denmark, where 25% of all electricity is produced in this way). Wind power is a very promising source of alternative energy; at present, many countries are significantly expanding the use of power plants of this type.

Biofuels

The main advantages of this energy source over other types of fuel are its environmental friendliness and renewability. Not all types of biofuels belong to alternative energy sources: traditional firewood is also biofuel, but it is not an alternative source of energy. Alternative biofuels are solid (peat, woodworking and agricultural waste), liquid (biodiesel and biomass oil, as well as methanol, ethanol, butanol) and gaseous (hydrogen, methane, biogas).

Energy of tides and waves

Unlike traditional hydropower, which uses water flow, alternative hydropower is not yet widespread. The main disadvantages of tidal power plants are the high cost of their construction and daily changes in capacity, for which it is advisable to use power plants of this type only as part of power systems that also use other energy sources. The main advantages are high environmental friendliness and low cost of energy production.

Thermal energy of the Earth

To develop this energy source, geothermal power plants are used, using the energy of high-temperature groundwater, as well as volcanoes. At the moment, hydrothermal energy is more common, using the energy of hot underground springs. Petrothermal energy based on the use of the "dry" heat of the earth's interior is currently underdeveloped; the main problem is considered to be the low profitability of this method of obtaining energy.

Atmospheric electricity

(Lightning flashes on the Earth's surface occur almost simultaneously in various places on the planet.)

Thunderstorm energy, based on the capture and accumulation of lightning energy, is still in its infancy. The main problems of thunderstorm energy are the mobility of thunderstorm fronts, as well as the speed of atmospheric electrical discharges (lightning), which makes it difficult to accumulate their energy.

Before talking about the main energy saving measures, i.e. to find out how you can save energy, you need to clearly define what constitutes the concept of "energy"?

Energy (Greek - action, activity) is a general quantitative measure of various forms of motion of matter.

This definition implies:

Energy is something that manifests itself only when the state (position) of various objects of the world around us changes;

Energy is something that can move from one form to another;

Energy is characterized by the ability to produce work useful for a person;

Energy is something that can be objectively defined, quantified.

Energy in natural science, depending on nature, is divided into the following types.

Mechanical energy - manifests itself during the interaction, movement of individual bodies or particles.

It includes the energy of movement or rotation of the body, the energy of deformation during bending, stretching, twisting, compression of elastic bodies (springs). This energy is most widely used in various machines - transport and technological.

Thermal energy is the energy of disordered (chaotic) movement and interaction of molecules of substances.

For comparison of various types of fuel and total accounting of its reserves, assessment of the efficiency of energy resources use, comparison of indicators of heat-using devices, the unit of measurement was adopted - conventional fuel, the heat of combustion of which is taken as 29.33 MJ / kg (7000 kcal / kg). For comparative analysis, the unit of measurement is usually ton of fuel equivalent.

1 t of fuel equivalent = 29.33 10 9 J = 7 10 6 kcal = 8.12 10 3 kWh

This figure corresponds to a good low ash coal, sometimes referred to as a coal equivalent. For analysis abroad, reference fuel with a calorific value of 41.9 MJ / kg is used. This indicator is called the oil equivalent.

Electrical energy is the energy of electrons (electric current) moving along an electrical circuit.

Chemical energy is energy "stored" in the atoms of substances, which is released or absorbed by chemical reactions between substances.

Electric and magnetic energies are closely interconnected with each other, each of them can be considered as the "reverse" side of the other.

Electromagnetic energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves, i.e. moving electric and magnetic fields. It includes visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays and radio waves.

Thus, depending on the level of manifestation, it is possible to allocate the energy of the macrocosm - gravitational, the energy of interaction of bodies - mechanical, the energy of molecular interactions - thermal, the energy of atomic interactions - chemical, radiation energy - electromagnetic, the energy contained in the nuclei of atoms - nuclear.

Modern science does not exclude the existence of other types of energy, which have not yet been fixed, but do not violate a single natural-scientific picture of the world and the concept of energy.

By and large, the concept of energy, the idea of it is artificial and created specifically in order to be the result of our reflections on the world around us. Unlike matter, about which we can say that it exists, energy is the fruit of human thought, his "invention", built in such a way that it would be possible to describe various changes in the surrounding world and at the same time talk about constancy, the preservation of which something that has been called energy, even if our understanding of energy changes from year to year.

Energy unit is 1 J (Joule). At the same time, to measure the amount of heat, use the "old" unit - 1 cal (calorie) = 4.18 J, to measure mechanical energy use the value of 1 kg m = 9.8 J, electrical energy - 1 kW h = 3 , 6 MJ, with 1 J = 1 W

It should be noted that in natural science literature, thermal, chemical and nuclear energies are sometimes combined with the concept of internal energy, i.e. enclosed inside the substance.