Chapter 2 Flashcards
potential energy
stored energy. includes: nuclear, gravitational, chemical, and elastic energy (springs).
potential within the objects, molecules or atoms they inhabit.
kinetic energy
energy of motion
is present at particle, molecular, atomic, and subatomic levels. includes: electromagnetic, electrical, thermal, motion, and sound/wave energy
“use it or lose it” energy (will dissipate if not harnessed)
primary energy
types of energy that are available in nature.
cannot be produced and must exist within or be constantly delivered to the energy system,
sources: biomass (potential, chemical); fossil fuel (potential chemical); nuclear (potential, nuclear); hydropower (kinetic, motion); tidal (kinetic, motion); wind (kinetic, motion); geothermal (kinetic, thermal); animal (kinetic, motion)
prime movers
machines that are used to transfer primary kinetic and potential energy sources into directed and concentrated forms to produce mechanical work
(e.g. steam engines, turbines, combustion engines)
secondary energy
aka energy carriers… energy that is used but not available in primary form in the environment - includes electricity, refined fuels, hydrogen, and other synthetic fuels
first law of thermodynamics
Aka Law of Conservation of Energy
in closed systems, energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
all energy that enters a closed system must remain in that system as energy, heat, or work produced. energy input must create either desired work or be wasted (and they must sum to total energy input)
energy can be transformed from one type to another, but only the addition of primary energy sources will change the amount of energy in a system
second law of thermodynamics
Entropy increases.
in a closed system, most of the transformations of energy – the heat byproduct is lost or rendered useless (through entropy - constant diffusion from hotter to colder areas - heat becomes more diffuse, disorganized, and difficult to harness into productive use)
sankey diagram
a flow diagram showing the proportional contribution to the throughput across various stages in a system
usually for energy denominated in some unit of energy over a year
forecasts
extrapolations of current behavior. description of the system and its interrelationships (the model) and a number of variables that are used as inputs to that model.
calling something a forecast usually asserts that both the model and the input assumptions are right and that is thus approximates reality.
scenarios
different than a forecast. a modeling exercise that asks a “what if” question. modeler establishes an expectation of the relationship between different variable and the output and constructs a range of “scenarios” for the inputs.
in scenario analysis, the analyst answers the question “if A were true, what impact would that have on B”? (in forecasting, analyst presents an expectation of what A would be and as a result what B would be).
Business as usual
a scenario where each of the components of the world energy demand and supply continues along its current trajectory, the overall makeup of the energy system doesn’t change much – it just gets larger in the same proportions
Energy
the ability to do work. neither created nor destroyed once in the system, merely transformed and directed to productive uses or allowed to go unused.
total volume (or stock) of energy available to do work, at any time or within a band of time
Energy = stock, kWh, amount
Energy = Power * time
Power
the rate of what energy is physically transformed (flow). a rate of flow in the system, corresponding to a rate of energy transformed or delivered.
denominated as for example Joules/second
Power = flow. kW, rate
Energy = Power * time
useful energy
The portion of final energy which is actually available after final conversion to the consumer for the respective use.
In final conversion, electricity becomes for instance light, mechanical energy or heat
total final consumption
the end of the energy system chain – small fraction of primary energy supply
more than 70% of the energy content in the primary energy supply is lost by the time it reaches the final customer
final energy service
chilled beer, toasted toast, transported family members.
as much as 90% of the energy that consumer uses can be lost in creating FES
total system efficiency
ratio of final energy services to primary energy input
usually only a few percentage points
4 dimension of transformation/fungibility framework
WHAT? any physical transformation of one type of energy to another type of energy can be considered a transformation of “what” it is (e.g. stepping up/down voltage)
WHERE? spatial transformations (e.g. transmission of electricity)
WHEN? when infrastructure is deployed to assist in temporal transfer of energy (e.g. batteries for electricity, tanks for petroleum)
HOW CERTAIN? infrastructures designed to increase surety that energy will be available (e.g. buffer stocks)
resource
all of the energy “out there” in nature, no matter where it is or what type is considered collective energy Resource (e.g. drop of fossil fuel, every kinetic particle of waves and wind, sun)
reserve
a reliable resource that can be profitably harnessed with existing technology
capital
- physical (infrastructure, computer banks, concrete pilings)
- financial (ownership/equity or borrowings/debt)
- intellectual (trade skills, intellectual property)
- political (govt regulations)
- human (skilled and unskilled labor)
- natural (land for growing crops, water)
stock
energy usually = stock.
something you can see, feel, count or measure at any given time.
flow
rate of transforming energy = flow.
feedback loop
a complete cycle of feedbacks (the communication mechanism b/w stocks and flows), stocks, and flows that continually update e/o.
Can be sustaining/goal seeking or runaway/reinforcing. Only affect future behavior and not current behavior (lags and delays happen).
goal-seeking loop
Or sustaining loop. when system detects that stocks are too low, it causes an increase of inflows (or decreases outflows) causing the stocks to rise. Vice versa.
Example: thermostat set on desired temperature range, people balancing using highways and public transit
reinforcing loop
cause a system that is out of balance to go further in that direction.
Example: avalanche, compounding interest, population growth
system purpose
the system’s outcome
System purposes need not be human purposes and are not necessarily those intended by any single actor within the system
perfect competition
the most efficient form for a market which has the best change for achieving an efficient outcome for buyers and sellers and no restrictions on the entry of additional market participants
no seller or buyer entry barriers, many sellers and buyers
arbitrage
finding places where different parts of the market are failing to inform e/o’s behavior
simple price arbitrage = buying something at a low price and reselling at a higher price to someone that the original seller was not able to access
- form arbitrage
- spatial arbitrage
- temporal arbitrage
- risk arbitrage
