Viewing Thread:
"Energy Matters"

Humans are using the worlds energy resources in a way no other animal has ever done. We use then to provide light and heating in our homes, to plough the land, to cook our food, to travel, to run our factories and in countless other ways. Whether we are rural workers in a developing country or urban workers in an industrial country, we all need energy, although the sources of the energy and the amounts vary greatly from one society to another.

There are different forms or types of energy. Fuels such as coal, oil (petroleum) and wood contain chemical energy. When these fuels are burnt the chemical energy changes to heat energy and light energy. Electicity is the most important form of energy in the industrial world, becuase it can be transported over long distances via cables and transmission lines. It is also a very convenient form of energy, since it can power a wide range of appliances and industrial machinery. it is produced by converting the chemical energy from coal, oil or natuarla gas in power stations.

Energy resources fall into two broad categories; renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable resources are those which replenish themselves naturally and will either be available always- for example hydroelectric power or will continue to be provided supplies are given sufficient time to replenish themselves.

Non renewable resources are those which there are limited supplies ofone once used up will be gone forever; these include coal, oil, natural gas and uranium.

Coal, oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels because they are the fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Burning fossil fuels releases chemicals which gradually increase the CO2 concentration in our atmosphere causing global warming.

Oil is the largest energy source in the world and over half of the worlds known oil reserves are in the middles east. Future use will depend on shift from growing to declining supply. Coal is the most plentiful fossil fuel, coal use is growing resulting in icreased acid rain and carbon dioxide problems. Natural gas is likely to replace oil in a number of uses. Uneven distibution and transportation difficulties make it useful to only a few nations.

However what if these reserves ran out sooner than we imagined? Well we have a few tricks up our sleeves to keep energy readily available. Firstly we could use nuclear power, once hailed as the answer to the worlds energy needs, rising costs and public mistrust have hampered its progress. One teaspoon of uranium can generate enough energy when fissioned as 220 tonnes of good quality coal, minus the greenhouse gases.

We could use solar energy, recent years have seen massive increase in investment in technologies to make use of the suns's energy, however solar cells are not exactly efficient and many would need to be erected to sustain energy needs, this would damage landscapes and ecosystems. The suns energy also drives wind and waves, so energy from wind farms is also derived from the sun.

Falling water generates about 25% of the worlds electricity. The most mature of the alternative energy sources, and one of the most underexploited. Energy can also be gained from water from wave power, tidal power, current power and ocean thermal energy conversion.

The contribution solar, wave, tidal and geothermal power can make to the worlds energy resources is currently limited. This is because renewable energy depends on new ways of capturing and concentrating it. Furthermore renewable energy is not always available when needed, rivers can dry up and the wind does not always blow. it is clear that in the future, demand for energy will be higher than at present, because of population growth and increased industrialization. Furthermore, the energy available must be at reasonable cost to avoid limiting economic growth.

In principle, known resources of nonrenewable energy should be sufficient for several hundred years to come. At the present rate of consumtion oil reserves should last for 40 years, gas reserves for 60 and coal for 250 years. Uranium however if used in fast breeder reactors would last for more than 1,000 years. It is also likely however that more fossil fuel reserves will be found as time goes on.

However in practice the outlook is uncertain. Increasing concern about pollution from coal fired power stations may make it unacceptable in the future. One alternative is to make greater use of nuclear power, moving to fast reactors and then developing nuclear fusion plants which would mimic the power producion process of the sun. however anxiety about safety and waste disposal is already limiting the use of nuclear power, so it is unlikely to provide the answer for the future.

There is considerable room for development in the use of renewable resources; but most of the world's energy production based on nonrenewable fuel supplies, the widespread introduction of efficient renewable energy will require a complete restructuring of the ways we produce energy.

Thanks for reading (what turned out to be a slightly longer than planned topic).

Thoron! That's it!

I also believe my microwaving metal should be used...

I should be hired by 'them'

===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> Jonman, the scientists are saying that the effects of the radiation
> simply don't affect those animals and people living in the danger
> area. What happened was that the initial massive burst of [insert name
> of an element I can't remember]

I believe it was Thoron.

Jonman, the scientists are saying that the effects of the radiation simply don't affect those animals and people living in the danger area. What happened was that the initial massive burst of [insert name of an element I can't remember] caused massive numbers of Thyroid cancer. However, after that isotope decayed there have been no real effects.

If long term radiation DID cause cancer then the mice, who live the the REACTOR CORE(!) of the plant would all die instantly- the radiation levels they are exposed to is so massive that they should die within hours! Mice react to radiation in a lab far, far faster than humans too!

Ignoring the cases if cancer hat occurred within about 4 years of the incident, the level of cancer is pretty much normal.

The fact is that nature is far better at adapting than we first thought.

Sonic

Or you could burn EARTH into it

Or Made by God

SHEEPY wrote:
> Astronauts and Cosmonauts

Everyone knows astronauts are too busy fighting evil space aliens to pay attention to "SHEEPY" burned into some sand.

Astronauts and Cosmonauts

SHEEPY wrote:
> You could burn your name on the Sahara Desert

Yeah but who would see it?

Nice.

You could roast ants from space.

Oh, they're cities... Oops.

You could burn your name on the Sahara Desert