Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Energy I: General Issues

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Energy, Information, Feedback, Adaptation, and Self-organization

Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering ((ISCA,volume 90))

  • 1320 Accesses

Abstract

Energy is the basis of everything. It is the dominant fundamental element of life and society. Its movement or transformation is always followed by a certain event, phenomenon, or dynamic process. Energy is used by humans to acquire useful minerals from earth, and construct technological creatures (buildings, transportation systems, factories, machines, etc). The energy used by end users in our society comes from exhaustible sources (coal, fuel oil, natural gas), non-exhaustible (renewable) sources (hydroelectric, wind, solar) or from alternative sources (bio-alcohol, biodiesel, liquid nitrogen, hydrogen). In this chapter, we provide a historical tour to the energy and thermodynamics studies and developments, accompanied by an exposition of the fundamental aspects of energy. These aspects include the energy concept itself, the energy types, the energy sources, and the impact of energy generation and use on the environment.

The history of man is dominated by,

and reflects, the amount of available energy.

Frederick Soddy

The scientist discovers a new type of material or energy

and the engineer discovers a new use of it.

Gordon Lindsay Glegg

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In many cases the expression “the energy stored” is avoided because energy may be erroneously depicted as a substance contained within a substance.

References

  1. C. Cleveland (ed.), Encyclopedia of Energy (Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  2. H.M. Jones, The Age of Energy (Viking, New York, 1970)

    Google Scholar 

  3. V. Smil, General Energetics (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1991)

    Google Scholar 

  4. R. Feynman, R. Leighton, M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 3, 2nd edn. (Addison-Wesley, 2005). (Also: Wikipedia, The Feynman Lectures on Physics)

    Google Scholar 

  5. J.R. von Mayer, Remarks on the forces of inorganic nature. Annalen der Chemie and Pharmacie 43, 233 (1842)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Buzzle.Com-Intelligent Life on the Web: Type of Energy. http://buzzle.com/articles/types-of-energy.html

  7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy

  8. The Energy Story, http://energyquest.ca.gov/chapter08.html

  9. D. Watson, What is the Definition of Energy? http://www.ftexploring.com/energy/definition.html

  10. C. LaRocco, B. Rothstein, The Big Bang: It Sure was Big. http://www.umich.edu/~gs265bigbang.htm

  11. All About Science, Big Bang Theory An Overview. http://www.big-bang-theory.com/

  12. X.T. Trinh, The Birth of the Universe: The Big Bang and After (Harry N. Abrams Inc, New York, 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Wapedia, Physical Cosmology. http://wapedia.mobi/en/Physical_cosmology

  14. W.J. Kaufmann III, Galaxies and Quasars (W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, 1979)

    Google Scholar 

  15. M. Eastman, Cosmos and Creator.http://www.khouse.org/articles/1999/233/

  16. The Energy Story, http://energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter10.html

  17. http://www.eohm.com/alternative_energy_definitions.html

  18. http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/solar_hot_water.htm

  19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_collector

  20. http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/fair/parabola20.htm

  21. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/renewable-sources-of-electricity.html

  22. V.M. Faires, Theory and Practice of Heat Engines (MacMillan, New York, 1955)

    Google Scholar 

  23. V.M. Faires, C.M. Simmang, Thermodynamics, 6th edn. (Macmillan, New York, 1978)

    Google Scholar 

  24. D. Watson, Energy Changes Make Things Happen? http://www.ftexploring.com/energy/energy-1.htm

  25. Wikipedia, Timeline of Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Random Processes (Article ID: 58777)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Wapedia, Wiki History of Thermodynamics. http://wapedia.mobi.en/History_of_thermodynamics

  27. http://www.eoht.info/page/Energy

  28. http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/ConceptOfEnergy/ConceptOfEnergy.html

  29. I. Mueller, History of Thermodynamics: The Doctrine of Energy and Entropy (Springer, New York, 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  30. http://physics.uoregon.edu/~soper/Light/photons.html

  31. M. Alonso, E.J. Finn, Fundamental University Physics, vol. III (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1968)

    Google Scholar 

  32. http://www.masstech.org/cleanenergy/wavetidal/overview.htm

  33. G.N. Lewis, M. Randall, Thermodynamics (revised by K Pitzer and LBrewer) (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Internal Energy, http://www.answers.com/topic/internal-energy

  35. N. Sato, Chemical Energy and Exergy: An Introduction to Chemical Thermodynamics for Engineers (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  36. S. Skogestad, Chemical and Energy Process Engineering (CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, 2008)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Committee for the Workshop on Energy and Transportation, Energy and Transportation: Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  38. P. Perrot, A to Z of Thermodynamics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  39. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/108679/chemical-energy

  40. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Sensible_heat

  41. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Latent_heat

  42. http://www.ifpaenergyconference.com/Chemical-Energy.html

  43. http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter13.html

  44. http://www.library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy_body.html

  45. J. Daintith, Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  46. W.F. Magie, A Source Book in Physics (Contains excerpts on Latent Heat, by J. Robinson, University of Edinburgh (1803) from J. Black, Lectures on the Elements of Chemistry (1803), (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1935)

    Google Scholar 

  47. http://www.masstech.org/cleanenergy/wavetidal/overview.htm

  48. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=hydrogen_home_basics

  49. http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Whatis/energyforms.htm

  50. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html

  51. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf03.html

  52. http://environment.about.com/od/renewableenergy/tp/renew_energy.htm

  53. Minerals Management Service—US Department of the Interior, Ocean Energy. http://www.doi.gov/, http://www.mms.gov/mmskids/PDFs/OceanEnergyMMS.pdf

  54. About.com, Hybrid Cars & Alt Fuels. http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/resources/a/energy.htm

  55. http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/otec-nelha/otec.html

  56. Fossil Fuel and its Impact on the Environment, http://www.essortment.com/all/fossilfuelimpa_rhxu.htm

  57. Other Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuels,http://www.masstech.org/cleanenergy/important/envother.htm

  58. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/environmental-impacts-of.html

  59. J.H. Gibbons, P.D. Blair, H.L. Gwin, Strategies for energy use. Sci. Am 261(3), 136–143 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. R.D. Weber, Energy Information Guide: Fossil Fuels, Energy Information Pr

    Google Scholar 

  61. C. Twist, Facts on Fossil Fuels (Gralier Educational Associates, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  62. P. Goodman, Fossil Fuels: Looking at Energy (Hodder Wayland, Paris, France, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  63. M.A. Rossen, Utilization of Non-Fossil Fuel Energy Options to Mitigate Climate Change and Environmental Impact (Plenary Lecture). http://www.wseas.us/conferences/2009/cambridge/ee/Plenary1.htm

  64. W.H. Kemp, The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living (Gazelle Drake Publishing, Cardiff, UK, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  65. G. Sharpe, J. Hendee, W. Sharpe, Introduction to Forest and Renewable Resources (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  66. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/632130/volcano

  67. http://www.realtruth.org/articles/090907-006-weather.html

  68. http://www.spacegrant.hawai.edu. (volcanoes)

  69. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanology

  70. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/Index?qid=20080619033354AAeGOq2,Also:20080314213713AAeGOq2

  71. Meteorology, http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/w/weather.htm

  72. The Physics of Tornadoes and Hurricanes, http://www.physics.ubc.ca/outreach/phys420/p420_04/sean/

  73. http://www2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr.home.rxml

  74. K.M.J. Osborne, The Physics of Hurricanes: Understanding Tropical Cyclones. http://physics.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_physics_of_hurricanes

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Spyros G. Tzafestas

Authors
  1. Spyros G. Tzafestas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Spyros G. Tzafestas .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Tzafestas, S.G. (2018). Energy I: General Issues. In: Energy, Information, Feedback, Adaptation, and Self-organization. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering, vol 90. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66999-1_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66999-1_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66998-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66999-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation