Sources of Energy
The definition of an energy source is not rigorous. Anything that can provide energy to anything else can qualify. Wood in a stove is full of potential thermal energy; in a car, mechanical energy is acquired from the combustion of gasoline, and the combustion of coal is converted from thermal to mechanical, and then to electrical energy. Examples of energy sources include:
- Fossil fuels
- Nuclear fuels (e.g., uranium and plutonium)
- Radiation from the sun
- Mechanical energy from wind, rivers, tides, etc.
- Bio-fuels derived from biomass, in turn having consumed soil nutrients during growth.
- Heat from within the earth (geothermal radiation)
The term net energy gain can be used in slightly different ways:
Read more about this topic: Net Energy Gain
Famous quotes containing the words sources of, sources and/or energy:
“The American grips himself, at the very sources of his consciousness, in a grip of care: and then, to so much of the rest of life, is indifferent. Whereas, the European hasn’t got so much care in him, so he cares much more for life and living.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The sources of poetry are in the spirit seeking completeness.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“While the State becomes inflated and hypertrophied in order to obtain a firm enough grip upon individuals, but without succeeding, the latter, without mutual relationships, tumble over one another like so many liquid molecules, encountering no central energy to retain, fix and organize them.”
—Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)