What is energy and what forms of energy are there? Energy is used in so many different fields; here, we are concentrating on energy as defined in physics and the part of potential energy that is known as ‘electrical energy’.
Energy is what makes things happen. It can never occur or disappear, it is simply converted into other forms. In physics, energy is the same as the ability to perform work, and the unit of measurement of energy is the same as for work done, i.e. joules.
Until the 18th century, energy was used as a term in physics without any narrow definition, much in the same way as power. With the development of rational mechanics, the word acquired a precise meaning: Energy is the ability of a mechanical system to perform work. This definition was later expanded so that it applies not only to mechanical systems, but also to any physical system.
In mechanics, two forms of energy in mechanics are considered to exist:
Kinetic or mechanical energy, which is the energy that a body has as a result of its velocity.
Potential energy, which is the energy that a body has because external forces are acting upon it and attempting to set it in motion. Electrical energy is a type of potential energy, like gravitational and nuclear energy. Electrical energy is measured in kilowatt hours, which has the symbol kWh.
Electrical energy is caused by forces acting on electrical charges (normally electrons) and setting them in motion. The forces arise either through induction due to magnets that are kept in motion, as the case of a dynamo, and convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, or through chemical processes (electrical elements), where chemical energy is converted to electrical energy.
A characteristic of electrical energy is that it must be consumed at the moment it is produced. Electrical energy can only be stored by converting it into other forms of energy, such as chemical energy in a battery. Electric energy is also not available in nature as an energy resource.
The energy sources are normally divided into two groups. Renewable and non-renewable.
A renewable energy source is an energy source that can never run out. Examples are wind, water and sun.
A non-renewable energy source is an energy source that we consume faster than it is produced, such as oil and coal. Non-renewable energy sources can therefore be exhausted.
The production of electrical energy takes place at a power plant and the energy is transmitted through electrical cables. The amount of electrical energy (E) is determined by the electrical power (P) and the elapsed time (t).
In 2017, end user consumption of energy in Norway amounted to 213 TWh, of which 134 TWh was electrical.
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