What is energy
All organisms need energy to live. Energy is connected to all human activities: whenever we think or move, we use the energy that is stored in our body and all the objects that we use or that surround us need energy to work or needed energy when they were built. Energy illuminates us and warms our houses, allows us to move, feeds the tools we use to produce food, and so on.
All that produces energy is “an energy source”. The Sun is the main source of energy for the Earth.
The Earth receives from the Sun an uninterrupted flow of energy that, as well as supplying all vital processes (both vegetal and animal), melts the ice and supplies the water cycle between the sea and the atmosphere; it produces the wind, favours the growth of those plants that during millions of years have transformed, together with animal remains, into fossil fuels, coal and natural gas.
In general, all the energy available on our planet derives, directly or indirectly, from the Sun: water energy, wind energy, chemical energy of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and biomass (i.e. wood); even waves energy.
Tides energy derives from the gravitational fields of the Sun, Moon and Earth.
Geothermal and nuclear energy do not derive from the subsequent transformations of solar energy, but are related to the Earth formation.
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From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...
Electricity and electrons
In all electric plants, excluding photovoltaic solar plants, mechanic energy is transformed into electric energy through the same basic procedure...
Peat and peat-bogs
The age of coal starts towards the mid 1600s, stimulated by the need for finding an alternative energy source to…
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Geographical distribution of energy
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need. Unfortunately we cannot exploit all this…
Orimulsion
In order to improve supply security, and therefore the diversification of sources to produce electric energy...
Cracking operations
At the end of the fractional distillation, long hydrocarbon molecules can be transformed into lighter molecules by means of more…
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Hydrogen from biomass
Hydrogen is an energy carrier that allows to generate energy in an environmentally sustainable way...
ITER fusion reactor
The reactor that will be able to produce electronuclear energy without risk of explosion or radioactive waste...
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2 March 2011
Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...
Electricity and electrons
In all electric plants, excluding photovoltaic solar plants, mechanic energy is transformed into electric energy through the same basic procedure...
-
Peat and peat-bogs
The age of coal starts towards the mid 1600s, stimulated by the need for finding an alternative energy source to…
Geographical distribution of energy
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need. Unfortunately we cannot exploit all this…
-
Orimulsion
In order to improve supply security, and therefore the diversification of sources to produce electric energy...
Cracking operations
At the end of the fractional distillation, long hydrocarbon molecules can be transformed into lighter molecules by means of more…
-
Where does energy come from?
Every day the Earth receives enough solar energy to satisfy the global energy need...
-
Electricity and electrons
In all electric plants, excluding photovoltaic solar plants, mechanic energy is transformed into electric energy through the same basic procedure...
-
Peat and peat-bogs
The age of coal starts towards the mid 1600s, stimulated by the need for finding an alternative energy source to…