Friday, February 25, 2011

Thermodynamics

It would be nice if it were only as simple as “let’s recycle our energy.” However, it is more complicated than that. While they say that energy can not be destroyed, it can not actually be created either. Rather, it can be altered from one form to another, and therefore, yes recycled, but only in a few ways. In regards to thermodynamics, it is possible to recapture energy after is has been used, considering  that “energy can be exchanged between physical systems as heat or work.” Mechanical energy is another way to recycle energy by converting the energy from a mechanical system to electrical. Lastly, you can recapture energy from the expansion of gas and use it else, essentially, re-directing or altering the form of energy from one purpose or usage to another. Still, all of these ways of “recycling” energy are not extremely efficient, and it does take work. The energy crisis is of concern, but there also many ways to conserve energy, as well as other options to produce it. It is important to utilize any natural forms of energy such as wind and solar in order to avoid a lack of efficiency in energy usage. That is in my opinion anyway.

1 comment:

  1. These aren't examples of recycling energy. They are ways of making the energy transformations more efficient. Once the loss occurs - it cannot be recaptured or recycled.

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