Energy Alternatives

by Tom Giebultowicz

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Subjects
Engineering, Environmental Engineering (Sustainability and Conservation)
Licence
CC BY 4.0, as LibreTexts states it
Who can read
Tweens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

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  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. 1: Energy Alternatives { what's the meaning?}
  7. 1.1: Brief semantic considerations
  8. 1.2: Things to be chosen" What things, what choice?
  9. 1.3: Back to the definitions- which one? 2a or 2b?
  10. 2: General Remarks
  11. 2.1: Energy and power
  12. 2.1.1: Energy Conservation
  13. 2.1.2: Energy and Work
  14. 2.1.3: Energy Units
  15. 2.1.4: Power
  16. 2.1.5: Energy expressed in terms of power
  17. 2.2: Forms of Energy- Physicist’s View .
  18. 2.2.1: Potential Energy
  19. 2.2.2: Kinetic Energy
  20. 2.2.3: Energy of an Oscillator
  21. 2.2.4: Free Fall, Satellite Motion and the Mechanism of Tides
  22. 2.2.4.1: Free Fall
  23. 2.2.4.2: Circular Motion
  24. 2.2.4.3: Projectile Motion- Very Long Range
  25. 2.2.4.4: Satellite Motion
  26. 2.2.4.5: Tidal Forces
  27. 2.2.4.6: Extreme Tidal Effects
  28. 2.3: Thermal Energy and Heat
  29. 2.3.1: Forms of Energy and Power- an Engineer’s Approach
  30. 3: Fossil Fuels and Thermal Engines
  31. 3.1: Fossil Fuel Resources
  32. 3.2: How much energy there is in fossil fuels?
  33. 3.2.1: How much CO2 is released by burning various fuels
  34. 3.3: Heat Engines
  35. 3.4: The Efficiency of Thermal Engines
  36. 3.4.1: The First Law of Thermodynamics.
  37. 3.4.2: Entropy
  38. 3.4.3: The Second Law of Thermodynamics
  39. 3.4.4: Sad Consequences of the Second Law
  40. 3.4.5: The Efficiency of an Ideal Thermal Engine
  41. 3.4.6: Even sadder news
  42. 4: Nuclear Power
  43. 4.1: A Note from the Author
  44. 4.2: Nuclear Physics- Brief Review of Fundamental Facts
  45. 4.3: Radioactive Decay
  46. 4.3.1: Energy Units in Nuclear Physics
  47. 4.3.2: The Decay Constants and Half-Lives
  48. 4.4: Nuclear Cross Sections
  49. 4.5: Nuclear Fission
  50. 4.5.1: Fission and Fusion Energy
  51. 4.5.2: How to calculate the mass defect?
  52. 4.5.3: Energy Released by the Fission of a Single Nucleus
  53. 4.5.4: Nuclear Fusion
  54. 4.6: Controlling the Fission Chain Reaction- Nuclear Reactors
  55. 4.6.1: Essential Cross Sections
  56. 4.6.2: No magic tricks are necessary!
  57. 4.6.3: Controlling the Chain Reaction and Cooling the Assembly
  58. 4.6.4: Power Reactors
  59. 4.6.5: Generation IV Reactors and Thorium Fuel
  60. 4.7: NuScale’s Small Modular Reactors – an Oregon-born Project
  61. 4.8: The Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power
  62. 5: Hydropower
  63. 5.1: Introduction
  64. 5.2: The Origin of Hydropower
  65. 5.3: Methods of Harnessing Hydropower
  66. 5.3.1: The Kaplan and Francis Turbines
  67. 5.3.2: The Pelton Turbine
  68. 5.4: About One Famous Hydropower Plant Using Pelton Turbines
  69. 5.5: Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plants (PSHP)
  70. 5.6: New Ideas for Hydraulic Energy Storage
  71. 6: Windpower
  72. 6.1: Applications- Winds Over the Seas
  73. 6.2: Winds Blowing over the Lands
  74. 6.3: Applications- Land and Off-shore Use
  75. 6.4: The Physics of a Wind Turbine
  76. 6.4.1: Problems with Wind Power
  77. 7: Direct Solar Power
  78. 7.1: Introduction
  79. 7.2: Harnessing Solar Power
  80. 7.3: The Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Technology
  81. 7.3.1: Solar Towers Molten Salt Heat Storing Technology
  82. 7.3.2: Parabolic Troughs and Fresnel Mirrors
  83. 7.3.3: The Linear Fresnel Mirror CSP Technology
  84. 7.3.4: CSP – Pros and Contras
  85. 7.4: Photovoltaic Conversion of Solar Power
  86. 7.4.1: Theoretical Background the Nature of Light and the Photoelectric Effect
  87. 7.4.2: Semiconductors and Doped Semiconductors
  88. 7.4.3: The p-n Junction
  89. 7.4.4: Internal Photoelectric Effect in Semiconductors
  90. 7.4.5: PV Cells
  91. 7.4.6: Solar Cell Efficiency
  92. 7.4.7: Inverters
  93. 7.4.8: Pros and Cons of PV Solar Power Harnessing
  94. 8: Harnessing Power from Oceans and Seas
  95. 8.1: Introduction
  96. 8.2: Wavepower
  97. 8.2.1: Methods of Harnessing Wavepower
  98. 8.2.2: Attenuators
  99. 8.2.3: Point Absorbers
  100. 8.2.4: Other Wave Power Capturing Devices
  101. 8.3: Tidal Power
  102. 8.3.1: A Bit More of Physics
  103. 8.3.2: Tides in Coastal Regions, Tidal Currents
  104. 8.3.3: Methods of Harnessing Tidal Power
  105. 8.3.4: Tidal Power – Conclusions
  106. 8.4: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
  107. 8.5: Other Possible Ways of Extracting Power from Oceans
  108. 8.5.1: Ocean Currents
  109. 8.5.2: Osmotic (Salinity Gradient) Power Generation
  110. 9: Geothermal Power
  111. 9.1: The Non-Uniform Distribution of Geothermal Heat Flux
  112. 9.2: Geothermal Electricity Generation
  113. 9.2.1: The Flash Steam Method
  114. 9.2.2: The Binary Cycle Method
  115. 9.3: The Enhanced Geothermal Systems
  116. 9.4: Geothermal Heating
  117. 9.4.1: Shallow Geothermal Heating
  118. 10: Biofuels
  119. 10.1: The History of Biofuels
  120. 10.2: New Solid Biofuels
  121. 10.3: Liquid Biofuels
  122. 10.3.1: Bioethanol
  123. 10.3.2: Biodiesel Fuel
  124. 10.4: Other Ways of Harnessing Plant Energy- “Bioelectricity
  125. 11: Energy Storage
  126. 11.1: Introduction
  127. 11.2: Overcoming the Challenges of Wind Power
  128. 11.3: Problems with Solar Power- the \Duck Curve"
  129. 11.4: Energy Storage Technologies
  130. 11.4.1: Battery Storage
  131. 11.4.1.1: The Voltaic Cell
  132. 11.4.1.2: Lead-Acid Batteries
  133. 11.4.1.3: Lithium-Ion Batteries
  134. 11.4.1.4: The “Families” of Li-ion Batteries Manufactured
  135. 11.4.1.5: Batteries for Industry- and Grid-scale Storage
  136. 11.4.2: Electricity → potential energy → back to electricity (gravitational energy storage and compressed air energy storage).
  137. 11.4.3: Electricity → Kinetic Energy → Electricity Storage Scheme
  138. 11.4.4: Electricity → Thermal Energy → Electricity Storage Scheme
  139. 11.4.4.1: Molten Silicon
  140. 11.4.4.2: Heated Volcanic Rocks
  141. 11.4.4.3: Pumped Heat Energy Storage and Liquid Air Energy Storage
  142. 11.4.4.4: Small and Medium Scale Thermal Energy Storage
  143. 11.4.5: Electricity → Chemical Energy
  144. 11.4.5.1: The evolution of the hydrogen economy policy in the 21st century
  145. 11.4.5.2: Methods of Green Hydrogen Production
  146. 11.4.5.3: The recovery of energy stored in the form of hydrogen
  147. 11.4.5.4: Hydrogen storage and transportation issues
  148. 11.4.5.5: Hydrogen as a “green” fuel suitable for sea- sonal storage
  149. Back Matter
  150. Index
  151. Glossary
  152. Detailed Licensing
  153. Detailed Licensing