One of the most important aerodynamic effects on energy consumption required to keep a body moving through a fluid is the aerodynamic drag force. The drag must be overcome by the thrust of a propulsion mechanism, which in turn is consuming energy. Everything else being equal, the higher the drag, the more energy is consumed. Therefore, for energy efficiency, bodies moving through a fluid should be low drag bodies. To understand how to obtain low drag, we have to first understand the nature of drag, and what really causes it. (more…)
The next time you hear an airplane flying overhead, look up, and pause for a moment. What you see is a machine that is heavier than ...
Plate tectonics is conceptually simple. It treats Earth’s outer shell as made up of approximately 15 rigid plates, about 100 km thi ...
The most fundamental process from an energy systems standpoint is heat transfer to (or from) a working fluid. This unit operation t ...
Mixing is a process where two or more liquids or gas phase components are brought together and combined to form a uniform compositi ...
Hydraulic turbines have two main classifications: impulse and reaction. The impulse turbine generally uses the velocity of the wate ...
The next time you hear an airplane flying overhead, look up, and pause for a moment. What you see is a machine that is heavier than air, but which is somehow being sustained in the air. This is due to the airflow over the airplane. This airflow exerts a lift force which counteracts the weight of the airplane and sustains it in the air—a good thing. The airflow also exerts a aerodynamic drag force on the airplane which retards its motion—a bad thing. The drag must be counteracted by the thrust of the engine in order to keep the airplane going. The production of thrust by the engine consumes energy. Hence, the energy efficiency of the airplane is intimately related to aerodynamic drag. This is just one of many examples where the disciplines of aerodynamics and energy interact. (more…)
One of the most important aerodynamic effects on energy consumption required to keep a body moving through a fluid is the aerodynam ...
If water is put on the floor on a cleaning operation, it tends to dry rapidly after a short time. In this position, we say that ...
In contrast to electromagnetic suspension systems, electrodynamic suspension systems can provide stable suspension without a feedba ...
The comfort heating system in a building brings itself to the concept of complete heating operating unit. In order to work prop ...
Oceanic heat flow data show a clear variation with the age of the lithosphere. Values greater than 100 mW m –2 occur near the r ...
In the post-World War II period, until the beginning of the 1970s, oil price fluctuations were very small. From 1949 to 1970, average annual fluctuations of oil prices in U.S. dollars, as measured by the absolute value of year-to-year price changes, were of the order of 1%. Therefore, the real price (i.e., inflation adjusted) slightly declined throughout this period. This so-called Golden Age peak oil impacts period was characterized by a remarkable price stability and very strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the main industrialized economies. The stability of oil prices was an important element behind the low inflation and strong economic growth. (more…)
The volatility in oil prices since the early 1970s is a remarkable feature of energy economics. Annual fluctuations in the oil ...
The focus of this section is on the quantitative assessment of the impact of oil price fluctuations on inflation. For that purp ...
The evolution of oil prices is typically subject to a very high degree of uncertainty, given the extremely volatile nature of c ...
Most major oil and gas firms engage in both upstream (i.e., hydrocarbon exploration and production) and downstream (i.e., hydro ...
There are many possible reasons for suspecting market failure in a product like gasoline. Throughout the world, the exploration ...
Because a nuclear explosion in a nuclear power plant is impossible due to the low fuel enrichment, the worst conceivable accident is a severe loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), leading to a core meltdown. Although the nuclear fission and fusion process would be immediately stopped by a control rod insertion, the radioactive fission products would continue to generate decay heat in the fuel. Thus, a LOCA producing core uncovering could cause the fuel to melt. In the most extreme case, a molten mass would fall to the bottom of the reactor, melting through the reactor pressure vessel and the underlying concrete, and eventually coming to rest about 6.1 m (20 ft) underground. (more…)
Nuclear fission and fusion Research and Development continues to account for nearly half of the total spending by IEA countries, al ...
ITMA Foundation, a group of researchers formed by Javier Belzunce, José Manuel Artimez, Ana Moran and Ruben Coto, has developed the ...
In the United States, Department of Energy has determined that nuclear power accounts for about 21% of the total electricity ge ...
Nuclear power plants have many different designs and shapes. Early technology restrictions in nuclear power plants make huge ...
Sir Arthur Eddington’s general address on subatomic energy at the 1930 World Power Conference in Berlin stirred the imagination of ...
The age of industrialization came into full force through the modern exploration and use of fossil fuels. As one of its most striking phenomena, the rapid expansion of cities throughout the late 19th and the 20th centuries was a direct outcome of the fossil fuel energy economy as well. (more…)
The aim is to work with cities in advancing renewable energy technologies and systems and to help promote the renewable energy indu ...
The Solar City approach originally emerged from a new generation of International Energy Agency (IEA) energy research and developme ...
In the absence of useful and established patterns of practice, a search is under way for new means of reconciling local government’ ...
As a reaction to these historical perspectives, the building industry has witnessed a certain rise in design responses to regio ...
Climate change caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect is one of the most significant global environmental issues. Increased emiss ...
Ten industry giants – with business operations spanning the utilities, manufacturing, chemicals and financial-services sector – joined forces with four environmental groups to pressure for setting mandatory limits on CO2 emissions. The group calls for a market based emission trading program. Under a ‘cap and trade’ system, the Government gives or sells permits to business, allowing them certain levels of green house gases emissions. (more…)
Climate change caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect is one of the most significant global environmental issues. Increased emiss ...
The aim of emission trading is to achieve emissions reductions at the lowest economic cost. Emission trading occurs when a factory ...
Bioenergy produced from biomass is sometimes called a carbon-neutral energy source, because the same quantity of carbon released wh ...
Although the focus of many policy studies of climate change is on establishing the causal links between anthropogenic systems, emis ...
Options for dealing with the threats of climate change include both adaptation to inevitable changes and mitigation, or lessening, ...
The issues of hydrogen storage run through the hydrogen production, hydrogen transport, supply and demand for end use of hydrogen as an energy sources. (more…)
With ethanol’s future uncertain, many commentators see the transportation debate evolving into a war between two other technologies ...
Hydrogen has many applications when it comes to fuel. It can be used both in internal combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cells. ...
Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found that using a high pressure can create a very unique material for storing hydr ...
Most production systems try to become first full-scale production begins as small toys and devices of concept. The Horizon hydr ...
Researchers at the Institute of Chemical Technology have developed a new catalyst that allows to obtain, from bioethanol, hydrogen ...
If water is put on the floor on a cleaning operation, it tends to dry rapidly after a short time. In this position, we say that the water evaporates. Basically what happened is this means that changes in water levels from liquid to gas or steam. Evaporation occurs when molecules escape the surface of a liquid when they have enough kinetic energy to go off from the body of liquid. (more…)
10 benefits of Solar Energy: No 1 Solar energy is renewable. We never have to worry about running out of sunlight or usi ...
Extensive insulation repairs are usually done by contractors having the specific skills and equipment appropriate to the type o ...
Natural gas is found mainly in underground reservoirs and in coal beds. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that consist primarily of ...
It is a reasonable and sensible action to tighten our belts and cut spending as living cost are climbing nowadays. We have to m ...
Public acceptance (PA) clusters are defined by a number of rather intangible commonalties dealing with social values and public ...
Moisture movement into exterior walls”. Any where air can move, so too can water in the form of moisture molecules. Traveling via air paths and moved by the force created by negative to positive air pressure, moisture often finds it’s way inside the tiniest of tiny crevices in a wall and condenses on colder objects. Repeated exposure to moisture on structural members of a wall can, over time cause deterioration and structural damage. Non-structural members and other materials inside a wall exposed to moisture repeatedly can create ideal conditions for mold to thrive. Mold, as many people know, is toxic to humans when aspirated. (more…)
You know where to insulate, but there’s still one more thing you need to know about—vapor barriers. Well-insulated attics, craw ...
In many existing buildings, the only economical way to improve the thermal resistance of the roof is by having insulation insta ...
Don't sweat it out when you don't have to. Got your A/C running and still feel warm? Here are some tips that will help keep you ...
In today's times staying in a budget is very important. So doing maintenance to certain things yourself can be a good way to st ...
Our homes collect large amounts of solar energy, our homes when built are often placed on our sections to get the best solar en ...
Coalbed methane is produced within a process of oil and petroleum system. A petroleum system usually consists of oil in a sedimentary basin with a hydrocarbon source rock and all related oil and gas sources. Conventional petroleum system comprises of a hydrocarbon-generating source rock slate, with the help of heating and constant burial, resulted gas an oil. Coalbed methane is not same with coal which is originating from coal reservoir. The coal is a hydrocarbon source rock that developed during burial heating into a substance similar in structure to activated carbon. This is an organic substance that is chemically covered or heat-treated to increase micro-pores with a matching increase in the surface to increase gas sorption capacity. Coal produce methane gas and it has the capacity keep gas in place. (more…)
Coal is an important energy source and energy consumption in United States as well as worldwide. It will remain so for many yea ...
Natural gas and oil are common source energy used to give electricity. How efficient is coal if we compare to these other source of ...
The most widespread and practical process for capture solar radiation as organic fuels is the growth of virgin biomass. Extreme ...
Power consumption from electricity is an essential element of the U.S. economy since the beginning of the century. Coal power plant ...
Agricultural and forestry residues provide the largest proportion of biomass used for the production of biomas bioenergy. Some esti ...