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| Biomass |
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Biomass consists of organic matter from land and aquatic plants and animals. The most traditional form of biomass energy is wood used for heating or cooking. Today biomass is used to make biofuels even from "noble" products like grain, sugar cane and oil seeds. Biogas and organic wastes are also considered to be part of biomass.
Firewood is estimated to generate 1 Gtoe/year, or 10% of the global energy balance. Modern applications are increasing steadily. In France, wood energy amounts to 8 million toe/year, and biofuels are used for 1% of France's fuel consumption.
Like all renewable energies, Biomass is inexhaustible. |
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| Coal |
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Coal formed by the coalification of terrestrial plants, particularly the trees of the Carboniferous System. Its quality varies according to the content of ash, impurities, and volatile matter.
Coal accounts for 26% of worldwide primary energy consumption. Production stands at 2.35 Gtoe/year. With 500 Gtoe proven reserves, at the current level of consumption, reserves should last for 200 years. |
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| Crude Oil |
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Crude oil is a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. Based on the specific characteristics and the processes it undergoes in the refinery, it yields a number of different products, of which the most significant are motor fuels, fuel oils and lubricants. In addition it yields raw materials for the chemical industry.
Crude oil is the world's main source of energy: Nearly 40% of primary energy consumption worldwide.
The yearly production reached 3.6 billion tons worldwide in 2002. Worldwide proven reserves stand at 160 billion tons, equal to forty years consumption at the current rate. |
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| LPG |
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Liquefied Petroleum Gas |
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| Natural Gas |
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Natural Gas is a mixture of light hydrocarbons composed mainly of methane, along with ethane, propane, butane and impurities like CO2.
Natural Gas accounts for 23% of world's primary energy consumption, which totalled 2,400 billion cubic meters, or 2,2 Gtoe, in 2002.
Reserves are estimated at 178,000 billion cubic meters, or sixty years of consumption at the current rate. |
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| Nuclear Energy |
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Nuclear power is derived from the fission, or splitting, of unstable atomic nuclei (usally uranium, less frequently plutonium or thorium).
After strong growth in the 1970s and 1980s, installation of new Nuclear power plants has slowed down.
Each year Nuclear power production is responsible for 17% of worldwide power production (equalling 0.7 Gtoe) and 7% of worldwide energy production.
The current knows reserves of four million tons of uranium would last for about 50 years at current consumption, if not more effienct technologies like fast-breeders are developed successfully. |
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| Solar Energy |
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Solar radiation can currently be used in two different systems: active solar heating, in which solar collectors convert sunlight directly into heat, and photovoltaics, in which solar panels convert solar radiation to electricity.
The installed capacity is about 400 MW worldwide only, but rising 20% per year.
Like all renewable energies, Solar Energy is inexhaustible |
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| Sustainability |
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"A sustainable society is one that can persist over generations, one that is far-seeing enough, flexible enough, and wise enough not to undermine either its physical or its social systems of support. In order to be socially sustainable, the combination of population, capital, and technology in the society would have to be configured so that the material living standard is adequate and secure for everyone. In order to be physically sustainable the society's material and energy throughputs would have to meet three conditions: Its rates of use of renewable resources do not exceed their rates of regeneration; its rates of use of nonrenewable resources do not exceed the rate at which sustainable renewable substitutes are developed; and its rate of pollution emission do not exceed the assimilative capacity of the environment."
(Meadows, Meadows, and Randers) |
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| Sustainable Development |
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"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This is the most common definition. It was reached by the "Brundtland Commission" under the leadership of Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1987.
"Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need to perform not against a single, financial bottom line but against the triple bottom line."
This is a definition by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) |
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| Water Energy |
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The hydraulic energy of falling water can be harnessed as a viable modern energy source, when coupled with power generation and transmission facilities.
Hydropower plants currently generate 18% of worldwide electricity supply. China is one of the four main users together with Canada, Brazil and the USA.
Like all renewable energies, Water Energy is inexhaustible. |
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| Wind Energy |
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In earlier times, windmills used to produce mechanical energy, primarily for grinding grain. Today, wind turbines transform wind energy into mechanical energy for conversion to electrical energy. Today's wind turbines can generate over 1 MW of power each.
In 2002, worldwide installed capacity was 30,000 MW, of which 22,000 MW are in Europe.
Like all renewable energies, Wind Energy is inexhaustible |
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