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experiments:energy:start [2020/07/11 08:09] rolf [Our Experiments on Energy] |
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====== Energy ====== | ====== Energy ====== | ||
- | TEXT | + | //Energy is the ability to perform mechanical work, to emit heat or to radiate |
+ | light.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Energy is central in our lives: Without heat energy, there is no warm home, no hot shower, | ||
+ | no hot food. Our mobility also needs energy: when we walk or ride a bicycle, we convert | ||
+ | chemical energy absorbed by our food into kinetic energy. When we move & | ||
+ | chemical energy in the form of petrol or diesel is converted into kinetic energy. And | ||
+ | industrial production is only possible because machines are supplied with e.g. electrical | ||
+ | energy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The availability of energy is central to our society and our economy. But the use of fossil | ||
+ | energy releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide $CO_2$, which was bound millions of years | ||
+ | ago when coal, oil and natural gas were formed. $CO_2$ is the most important greenhouse gas | ||
+ | and contributes to global warming along with other greenhouse gases. For example, the | ||
+ | average temperature measured worldwide has risen by about 1 °C in the last hundred years. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In order to limit the globally observed temperature increase to 1.5 - 2.0 °C, emissions of | ||
+ | greenhouse gases, especially $CO_2$, must be drastically reduced. One possibility is to replace | ||
+ | fossil fuels with renewable energy. However, the availability of renewable energy forms such | ||
+ | as hydropower, wind energy, solar energy and bioenergy varies considerably. Although wind | ||
+ | and sun are available almost everywhere, they are subject to the weather and its | ||
+ | fluctuations, | ||
+ | surplus, e.g. as demonstrated here in a pumped storage power plant, in a lithium-ion battery | ||
+ | or as hydrogen. Energy is a central topic in the Environment and Energy BSc. course at Rhine- | ||
+ | Waal University of Applied Sciences. For example, how does electricity generation from | ||
+ | renewable energy or in a coal-fired power plant work? What possibilities are there for | ||
+ | storing energy and using it effectively? | ||
===== Our Experiments on Energy ===== | ===== Our Experiments on Energy ===== | ||
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