Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the

gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity consumption, and 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, [1] which continues the rapid rate of increase experienced between 2003 and 2009. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use. There are now three hydroelectricity plants larger than 10 GW: the Three Gorges [1] Dam in China, Itaipu Dam in Brazil, and Guri Damin Venezuela. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source of renewable electricity. The average cost of [1] electricity from a hydro plant larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Hydro is also a flexible source of electricity since plants can be ramped up and down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. However, damming interrupts the flow of rivers and can harm local ecosystems, and building large dams and reservoirs [1] often involves displacing people and wildlife. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) than fossil fuel powered energy plants.

Wood fuel is wood used as fuel. The burning of wood is currently the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. Wood fuel may be available as firewood, charcoal, chips, sheets, pellets, and sawdust. The particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality and application. Sawmill waste and construction industry by-products also include various forms of lumber tailings. Some [1] consider wood fuel bad for the environment, however this is not the case if proper techniques are used. One might increase carbon emissions using gas powered saws and splitters in the production of firewood, but when wood heat replaces carbon-producing fuels such as propane, heating oil or electricity from a coal-burning plant, then wood burning has a positive impact on the carbon footprint. Wood may be used indoors in a furnace, stove, or fireplace. Wood also may be burned outdoors in a campfire, or bonfire. Wood is the most easily available form of fuel, requiring notools in the case of picking up dead wood, or little tools, although as in any industry, specialized tools, such as skidders and hydraulic wood splitters, have evolved to mechanize production. The discovery of how to make fire for the purpose of burning wood is regarded as one of humanity's most important advances.

Coal (from the Old English term col, which has meant "mineral of fossilized carbon" since the 13th century) is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of [2] other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Throughout history, coal has been a useful resource. It is primarily burned for the production of electricity and/or heat, and is also used for industrial purposes such as refining metals. A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period of time.

[1]

Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as one of the largest worldwide anthropogenicsources of carbon dioxide releases. Gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage are [3] slightly more than those from petroleum and about double the amount from natural gas. Coal is extracted from the ground by mining, either underground by shaft mining through the seams or in open pits.

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal feces, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of bio fuel. Biogas is produced by the anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials such [1] as biomass, manure, sewage,municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops. Biogas comprises primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes. The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel. Biogas can be used as a fuel in any country for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in anaerobic digesters where it is typically used in a gas engine to convert the energy in [2] the gas into electricity and heat. Biogas can be compressed, much like natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles. [3] In the UK, for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17% of vehicle fuel. Biogas is a renewable fuel, so it qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world. Biogas can also be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards when it becomes bio methane.

An oil well is a general term for any boring through the Earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oilhydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, with other [1] hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen sulfide. . Natural gas is widely used as an important energy source in many applications including heating buildings, generating electricity, providing heat and power to industry, as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of products such as plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals. Natural gas is found in deep underground natural rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs, in coal beds, and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is also another resource found near and with natural gas. Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms: biogenic and thermogenic. Biogenic gas is created by methanogenic organisms inmarshes, bogs, landfills, and shallow sediments. Deeper in the earth, at greater [2][3] temperature and pressure, thermogenic gas is created from buried organic material. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo processing to clean the gas and remove impurities including water in order to meet the specifications of marketable natural gas. The by-products of processing include ethane, propane, butanes, pentanes, and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulphide (which may be converted into pure sulfur),carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sometimes helium and nitrogen. Natural gas is often informally referred to simply as gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as oil or coal.

Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power - mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy andsolar power. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design (e.g. dynamic tidal power, tidal lagoons) and turbine technology (e.g. new axial turbines, cross flow turbines), indicate that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and that economic and environmental costs may be brought down to competitive levels. Historically, tide mills have been used, both in Europe and on the Atlantic coast of North America. The incoming water was contained in large storage ponds, and as the tide went out, it turned waterwheels that used the mechanical power it [1] [2][3] produced to mill grain. The earliest occurrences date from the Middle Ages, or even from Roman times. It was only in the 19th century that the process of using falling water and spinning turbines to create electricity was introduced in the [4] U.S. and Europe. The world's first large-scale tidal power plant (the Rance Tidal Power Station) became operational in 1966.

"Atomic Power" redirects here. For the film, see Atomic Power (film). This article is about the power source. For nation states that are nuclear powers, see List of states with nuclear weapons.

The Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a boiling water reactor. The reactors are located inside the rectangular containment buildings towards the front of the cooling towers.

Three nuclear powered American warships, (top to bottom) nuclear cruisersUSS Bainbridge and USS Long Beach withUSS Enterprise the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier in 1964. Crew members are spelling out Einstein's mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc2 on the flight deck.

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide [1] about 6% of the world's energy and 1314% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together [2] accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity. In 2007, the IAEA reported there were 439 nuclear power [3] [4] reactors in operation in the world, operating in 31 countries. Also, more than 150 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion have been built. There is an ongoing debate about the use of nuclear energy. Proponents, such as the World Nuclear Association and IAEA, contend that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon [8] emissions. Opponents, such as Greenpeace International and NIRS, believe that nuclear power poses many threats to [9][10][11] people and the environment. Nuclear power plant accidents include the Chernobyl disaster (1986), Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), and [12] the Three Mile Island accident (1979). There have also been some nuclear-powered submarine [13][14][12] mishaps. However, the safety record of nuclear power is good when compared with many other energy [15] [16] technologies. Research into safety improvements is continuing andnuclear fusion may be used in the future.
[5][6][7]

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity andsolar architecture, which can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent [1] problems the world now faces. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermalcollectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must [1] be wisely spent and need to be widely shared".

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using: wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network. Offshore wind farms can harness more frequent and powerful winds than are available to landbased installations and have less visual impact on the landscape but construction costs are considerably higher. Small onshore wind facilities are used to provide electricity to isolated locations and utility companies increasingly buy back [1] surplus electricity produced by small domestic wind turbines. Wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse [2] gas emissions during operation and uses little land. Any effects on the environment are generally less problematic than those from other power sources. As of 2011, 83 countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial

basis. As of 2010 wind energy production was over 2.5% of worldwide power, growing at more than 25% per annum. The monetary cost per unit of energy produced is similar to the cost for new coal and natural gas [4] installations. Although wind power is a popular form of energy generation, the construction of wind farms is not [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] universally welcomed due toaesthetics. Although very consistent from year to year, wind power has significant variation over shorter timescales. The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when used to supply up to 20% of total electricity demand, but as the proportion increases, a need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur. Power management techniques such as having excess capacity storage, dispatchable backing supplies (usually natural gas), storage such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas or [12][13][14] reducing demand when wind production is low, can greatly mitigate these problems.

[3]

A geothermal heat pump, ground source heat pump (GSHP), or ground heat pump cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground.

[1]

is a central heating and/or

It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems, and may be combined with solar heatingto form a geosolar system with even greater efficiency. Ground source heat pumps are also known as "geothermal heat pumps" although, strictly, the heat does not come from the centre of the Earth, but from the Sun. They are also known by other names, includinggeoexchange, earth-coupled, earth energy systems. The engineering and scientific communities prefer the terms "geoexchange" or "ground source heat pumps" to avoid confusion with traditional geothermal power, which uses a high temperature heat source to [2] generate electricity. Ground source heat pumps harvest heat absorbed at the Earth's surface from solar energy. The temperature in the ground below 6 metres (20 ft) is roughly equal to the mean annual air temperature at that latitude at the surface. Depending on latitude, the temperature beneath the upper 6 metres (20 ft) of Earth's surface maintains a nearly [3] constant temperature between 10 and 16 C (50 and 60 F), if the temperature is undisturbed by the presence of a heat pump. Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, these systems use a heat pump to force the transfer of heat from the ground. Heat pumps can transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, against the natural direction of flow, or they can enhance the natural flow of heat from a warm area to a cool one. The core of the heat pump is a loop of refrigerant pumped through a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle that moves heat. Air-source heat pumps are typically more efficient at heating than pure electric heaters, even when extracting heat from cold winter air, although efficiencies begin dropping significantly as outside air temperatures drop below 5 C (41 F). A ground source heat pump exchanges heat with the ground. This is much more energy-efficient because underground temperatures are more stable than air temperatures through the year. Seasonal variations drop off with depth and disappear below seven meters due [4] to thermal inertia. Like a cave, the shallow ground temperature is warmer than the air above during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. A ground source heat pump extracts ground heat in the winter (for heating) and transfers heat back into the ground in the summer (for cooling). Some systems are designed to operate in one mode only, heating or cooling, depending on climate.