Energy (society)

Energy production and consumption are inextricably linked to the global economy . To carry out any economic activity, energy is needed: for the production of goods, their transportation, for powering computers and other equipment. Economic growth is always associated with an increase in labor productivity, and an increase in productivity, as a rule, with the use of new automated means of production, which require such a form of energy as electricity to work.

Many researchers see an inextricable link between production growth and energy consumption. ^[1] However, this relationship is not inextricable. Many governments see the improvement of energy efficiency, and hence the reduction of energy dependence, as an important area of ​​economic policy.

The concept of the energy crisis appeared in 1973 when OPEC , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, imposed an embargo on oil supplies to the United States, as a result of which queues at United States gas stations sometimes reached several kilometers, and the price of oil rose from $ 3 to $ 11 by January 1974 year. The answer to this was the Independence Project proposed by President Richard Nixon . According to Nixon, "by the end of this decade, in 1980 , the United States will not be dependent on any other country to receive energy for our work, to heat our homes and to move our vehicles." In 1977 , President Jimmy Carter called the struggle for energy independence "the moral equivalent of war," and placed it among the first items on the list of state priorities. The struggle for energy independence was stopped by President Ronald Reagan , when in 1980 he refused to finance the development of alternative energy sources . However, the phrase "energy independence" firmly entered the circulation of many languages.

Awareness of the approaching new energy crisis is based on the concept of a peak in oil and the knowledge that India and China are striving for the same standard of living as North America, Europe or Japan.

The consumption of energy resources (for example, a working light bulb) increases air and water pollution. Many power plants burn coal, oil, or natural gas to generate electricity, producing carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), sulfur dioxide and trioxide (SOx), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other pollutants in the process. Carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) is a greenhouse gas , partially responsible for accelerating the process of global warming , which is especially noticeable when comparing the temperature records of the 19th century with the temperature of several thousand years before, which can be found through analysis of Arctic ice.

As a result of burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, the metals in them (beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese, mercury, nickel, silver), which are also pollutants, are also emitted into the atmosphere. Due to the fact that renewable energy sources pollute the environment much less, they could become the basis for cleaner energy of the future. ^[2] Renewable resources such as biofuels , solar , tidal , wind turbines, hydroelectric, etc. could serve to generate energy. Nevertheless, some environmental organizations indicate that the use of even the cleanest energy sources has a negative impact on the environment. So, it is impossible to avoid pollution during the production and disposal of equipment necessary for generating electricity. But both proponents and opponents of alternative energy sources agree that the most effective way to protect the environment from constantly increasing energy production is energy conservation .

With the increasing demand for energy, society is increasingly realizing that the sources available today are not enough to meet the future needs of mankind. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for new energy sources, including the development of new oil and gas fields, including unconventional ones, or the use of poorly developed or unexplored methods of generating energy.

Currently, research in the field of thermonuclear fusion is considered the most promising, in theory it allows one to obtain a huge amount of relatively pure energy from nuclear reactions of deuterium (a heavy isotope of hydrogen). The reserves of heavy water for such a synthesis on the earth will last for many thousands of years). New energy storage methods are also offered. For example, for long-distance space flights small and powerful sources of energy are needed, and the annihilation of matter can become such a source. ^[3] However, in our time, a method for the production of antimatter in an arbitrarily significant amount and its storage has not yet been found. Another promising way to store energy is artificial photosynthesis, the process of converting carbon dioxide into useful fuel. However, at its core, this is just another way to use solar energy.

Since the cost of energy in our time is a significant economic factor, energy management is becoming one of the key areas for increasing productivity. The task of energy management is to use the available energy resources more efficiently with the least additional cost. Often it is possible to reduce energy consumption without attracting new technologies, due to only management methods. ^[4] Most often, energy management consists in finding more efficient ways to use energy, for example, by minimizing unused capacities and matching energy production with the necessary energy costs.

Since energy plays a critical role in the functioning of an industrial society, control over energy resources has an ever-increasing impact on politics. At the national level, governments are trying to control the distribution of resources in society through prices, as well as control the ownership of energy. They can also influence the use of energy by businesses to solve environmental problems.

One recent political debate over energy has been the war in Iraq. Some analysts believe that the hidden cause of Iraqi conflicts in both 1991 and 2003 is the desire for strategic control over energy sources. ^[5] However, opponents of this opinion indicate that, according to experts, the United States spent $ 336 billion on the war in Iraq, ^[6] however, oil imports to the United States in 2004 are estimated at about $ 25 billion ^[7]

Energy production to meet the needs of society is one of the most important needs of the modern economy, and a huge number of people work in this direction. Most of them are engaged in the field of increasing the amount of electricity and oil produced. At the same time, new methods are being developed to obtain useful energy from available resources. One of the areas of such research is the extraction of hydrogen fuel from water. Although as a result of the use of hydrogen no pollutants are released, significant energy costs are required for its production, and the existing technologies for hydrogen evolution are not very effective. In this area, one of the promising areas is the enzymatic decomposition of biomass. ^[8] .

There are also new ways to use existing resources. Thus, the conversion of fossil coal into gas or liquid is becoming more widespread due to the greater convenience of transporting gas and liquid, as well as the understanding that oil reserves may run out in the near future. See also alternative energy sources .

Any society needs to ensure the transportation of materials and products at a certain distance , which is usually counteracted by the force of friction and environmental resistance. Since the application of force over a distance requires a source of useful energy, such sources are very valuable to society.

Energy resources are a necessary component of any type of transport, however, transportation of the resources themselves is no less important. Most often, sources of energy resources are located at a considerable distance from the place of their use, so the question is always about their effective movement. Some energy resources, such as liquid or gaseous fuels, can be transported by tankers, gas carriers or pipelines. A network of power lines is needed to transfer electricity.

Since mankind discovered various sources of energy in nature, it has constantly invented new devices for its use, known as machines, to make life more convenient. So, although primitive people knew how to use fire for cooking, modern gas stoves and microwave ovens allow the use of energy for one specific purpose in many different ways. The same thing is observed in other areas of human activity.

• Alternative energy sources
• Energy saving
• Energetics
• List of Energy

• A complete description of the various methods of energy production. Sources of energy and ecology. (eng.)