The purpose of this book is to demonstrate how our forward-looking and progressive nation can be free of dependence on limited energy sources, such as foreign oil. This book will define energy and describe its current uses and sources. We will ultimately recognize how we can economically and efficiently use the sun's energy to supply all of our current and future needs. The book begins by defining energy and then giving examples, such as hoisting a weight, pushing a piston, or boiling a pail of water. Some of the common forms of energy are known as kinetic, thermal, chemical, electrical, radiant, sound, stored, potential, and nuclear. These forms are described and exemplified. Concern is sometimes expressed that world energy is being "used up." This is a meaningless concern. Here we will evaluate and quantify the world's principal energy usage (food, heat, transportation, and industrial processes), and consider the energy sources which provide this usage. A sensible and economically viable plan is then proposed and described for meeting all our energy needs. As we consider and examine various energy sources which mankind has available, we easily come to the most dramatic and most important source for a sensible energy policy: direct solar radiation. We would satisfy all U.S. energy requirements if we were able to capture and make use of one hundredth of 1% of all the solar energy intercepted by the earth. This is not a very difficulty thing to do. All we need is creative vision, governmental support, and the determination to become energy independent soon, and our sensible goals will be achieved completely and economically.

There Is No Energy Problem

By Coleman Raphael

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Coleman Raphael
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-4968-2

Contents

Introduction and Summary....................................................................xiChapter 1—Energy and Its Various Forms................................................1Chapter 2—The World's Energy Use......................................................21Chapter 3—Energy Sources: Types and Available Quantities..............................31Chapter 4—Interim and Alternative Energy Sources......................................85Chapter 5—Secondary Elements of a Sensible US Energy Policy...........................101Chapter 6—The Primary Solution: Direct Solar Energy...................................111Chapter 7—A Rational Energy Plan for the Twenty-First Century.........................121Chapter 8—A Brief Reminder of Economic Considerations.................................125Appendix 1—Some Brief Definitions for the Non-Scientist...............................127Appendix 2—Some Basic Elements of Energy Capture in Living Matter.....................129Appendix 3—Units, Measurements, and Conversions.......................................131Appendix 4—The Process for Producing Ethanol..........................................137References..................................................................................139

Chapter One

Energy and Its Various Forms

A. What Is Energy?

One of the dictionary definitions for "energy" is "the capacity for doing work." In classical physics, "work" is defined in elementary terms as "force times distance." In common usage, the word has more general definitions, but in most of these definitions, it still involves the transmission of forces over distances. Hoisting a weight, loading a truck, pushing a wheelbarrow, and digging a ditch are all manifestations of the classical "work." Subtler examples, but work nevertheless, include pushing a piston, rotating a turbine, walking up a flight of steps, and paddling a canoe.

Energy is therefore defined by me as a quantity that has the capacity to be converted into work. Energy may reside in a coiled spring, a pot of hot water, a charged wire, a raised weight, or an unburned fuel, but if it can be used or processed in such a way as to do work, we have an energy source that can be treated quantitatively in terms of the amount of energy it possesses. Energy is essentially the basis for all of life's activities. We use energy to eat, to sleep, to move, and to think. Work and energy are measured using the same units. Whenever work is performed, the energy source is diminished by the same number of units.

B. The Many Forms of Energy

We generally think of energy in two different types of categories: the first is energy in transport, as it moves from one physical place to another; the second is stored energy, in which the energy is contained in a form suitable for release and used at will. In the latter case, the energy-containing material is known as an energy source. These sources are described in some depth in chapter 3. Here, however, we consider nine forms of energy that are currently being used. These nine "forms," as distinguished from "sources," are listed here and then described individually:

1. Kinetic energy

2. Thermal energy

3. Chemical energy

4. Electrical energy

5. Radiant energy

6. Sound

7. Stored mechanical energy

8. Gravitational potential energy

9. Nuclear energy

In the descriptions of these forms of energy, references are periodically made to elements, compounds, atoms, and molecules. These are briefly defined in Appendix 1.

1. Kinetic Energy

This is the energy contained within an object or mass moving from one location to another, such as a bowling ball in motion, an automobile in motion, a hammer in motion about to strike a nail, a piston moving within a cylinder, or a spinning wheel. Bullets kill people because of their kinetic energy. Much of the kinetic energy in the head of a moving golf club is transferred to the ball, which enables it to sail so gracefully into that distant sand trap.

If energy is contained within a material (such as in thermal or chemical form), the act of transporting such material represents a transmission of energy. Examples may include a load of wood being carried into the house, oil being shipped through a pipeline, or a thermal updraft moving along the side of a mountain. On the other hand, kinetic energy is transferred from one mass to another through the direct collision of the masses. These masses may be relatively large, such as football players or billiard balls, or they may be very small, such as atoms and electrons. When these masses collide, causing one to slow down its motion while another speeds up, the energy is transferred. Sometimes the energy is transferred from one large mass to many small ones, such as when a weight is dropped into water and lands on the bottom, or a moving block slides to a stop on the floor. In both cases, the kinetic energy of the large mass has been reduced to zero.

However, as a result of direct collisions with the molecules of the water and the floor, their individual molecules have correspondingly increased in their own kinetic energy. These molecules are too small to see, but their energy can be felt in the form of heat, by measuring the temperature of the water or the floor. This energy is now in the form called thermal energy.

2. Thermal Energy

Some of the nine forms of energy listed previously have the characteristics of motion (such as kinetic energy). Some forms of energy can also be stored and then mobilized only when needed. Such stored energy is sometimes known as potential energy because the potential for use is there when required. One common way of storing energy is in the form of heat, also known as thermal energy. However, we can think of thermal energy as a form of kinetic energy. At the lowest temperatures imaginable (minus 273 degrees Centigrade or minus 460 degrees Fahrenheit), the molecules of all substances are motionless, as are their atoms and electrons. As the temperature begins to increase, the electrons, atoms, and molecules become agitated and begin to rotate, vibrate, and collide. This frenzied motion continues to increase with temperature, although it is at such a microscopic scale that we cannot readily observe the changes in motion. But our thermometers and our skin sensors do feel the phenomenon, and we register the change as heat. As the temperature of a substance increases, so does the kinetic energy of its constituent particles. Significant examples of thermal energy include heating blankets, warm air, and a pool heated by the sun.

3. Chemical Energy

Another means of storing energy is in chemical form. Chemical energy is related primarily to the tiny forces and electromagnetic fields that exist between the molecules, atoms, and electrons that make up matter. Electrons are bound to the atom by a certain amount of binding energy, which is much greater for inner electrons than for outer ones.

Similarly, we have interatomic forces and intermolecular forces, all of which can be extremely complex. For example, the electric forces between closely spaced molecules can be attractive or repulsive. If the forces of attraction did not exist, the molecules would separate, and all substances would fall apart. If there were...