The Energy Portal
Welcome to Wikipedia's Energy portal, your gateway to energy. This portal is aimed at giving you access to all energy related topics in all of its forms.		 Page contents: Selected article • Selected image • Selected biography • Did you know? • General images • Quotations • Related portals • Wikiprojects • Major topics • Categories • Help • Associated Wikimedia

Introduction

A plasma globe, using electrical energy to create plasma, light, heat, movement and a faint sound

In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia) 'activity') is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat and light. Energy is a conserved quantity—the law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed. The unit of measurement for energy in the International System of Units (SI) is the joule (J).

Common forms of energy include the kinetic energy of a moving object, the potential energy stored by an object (for instance due to its position in a field), the elastic energy stored in a solid object, chemical energy associated with chemical reactions, the radiant energy carried by electromagnetic radiation, and the internal energy contained within a thermodynamic system. All living organisms constantly take in and release energy.

Due to mass–energy equivalence, any object that has mass when stationary (called rest mass) also has an equivalent amount of energy whose form is called rest energy, and any additional energy (of any form) acquired by the object above that rest energy will increase the object's total mass just as it increases its total energy.

Human civilization requires energy to function, which it gets from energy resources such as fossil fuels, nuclear fuel, or renewable energy. The Earth's climate and ecosystems processes are driven by the energy the planet receives from the Sun (although a small amount is also contributed by geothermal energy). (Full article...)

Selected article

Nuclear testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear energy have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–77 debate about uranium mining in Australia.

Several groups specifically concerned with nuclear issues were established in the mid-1970s, including the Movement Against Uranium Mining and Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), cooperating with other environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation. But by the late 1980s, the price of uranium had fallen, and the costs of nuclear power had risen, and the anti-nuclear movement seemed to have won its case. CANE disbanded itself in 1988.

As of 2010, Australia has no nuclear power stations and the current Gillard Labor government is opposed to nuclear power for Australia. Australia has three operating uranium mines at Olympic Dam (Roxby) and Beverley - both in South Australia's north - and at Ranger in the Northern Territory. As of April 2009, construction has begun on South Australia's third uranium mine—the Honeymoon Uranium Mine.

Selected image

Photo credit: United States Department of Energy
The fireball created as energy is released in a nuclear explosion.

Did you know?

  • Despite declines in production in recent years, Victoria still produces almost 20% of Australia's crude oil?
  • 4.26 million tonnes of the sun are converted to energy every second by nuclear fusion?

Selected biography

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James Watt (19 January 1736 – 19 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor and engineer. His improvements to the steam engine, which had hardly changed for fifty years, produced a source of power that transformed the world of work, and was the key innovation that brought forth the Industrial Revolution.

In recognition of Watt's achievements, the SI unit of power, the watt, is named after him.

James Watt was born on 19th of January, 1736 in Greenock, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde. His father was a shipwright, shipowner and contractor, while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, came from a distinguished family and was well-educated. Both were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters. Watt attended school irregularly and instead was mostly schooled at home by his mother.

After studying instrument-making for a year in London, the University of Glasgow offered him the opportunity to set up a small workshop within the university. It was established in 1757. After four years, Watt began to experiment with steam, finally producing a working model steam engine in 1765. Strapped for resources to develop a full-scale engine, Watt was forced to take up employment as a surveyor for eight years. Finally, in 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises.

After further improvements, Watt and foundry owner Matthew Boulton established Boulton and Watt in 1794 to exclusively manufacture steam engines. By 1824 it had produced 1,164 steam engines having a total nominal horsepower of about 26,000.

In the news

27 December 2023 – Renewable energy in Colombia
Colombia approves regulations that encourage local communities and indigenous groups to produce energy using renewable sources and sell the energy to the national grid. (BBC News)
26 December 2023 – Nuclear program of Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran has reversed a slowdown of its enrichment of uranium, and is now enriching uranium at up to 60%, bringing the country closer to reaching the enrichment level required to make a nuclear weapon. (Reuters)

General images

The following are images from various energy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Quotations

  • "My administration is committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change. We recognize our responsibility and will meet it - at home, in our hemisphere, and in the world." – George W. Bush, 2001
  • "While the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, that step is far too small. And as we consider how to go further still, there remains a frightening lack of leadership." – Kofi Annan, 2006
  • "It is going to be very difficult to keep temperature increases down to between 2 and 3 degrees centigrade [3.6 - 5.4°F]. We should work very hard to do that." – Nicholas Stern, 2006
  • "Halting global warming requires urgent, unprecedented international cooperation, but the needed actions are feasible and have additional benefits for human health, agriculture and the environment." – James E. Hansen, 2004

WikiProjects

WikiProjects connected with energy:

  • WikiProject Energy
  • Oil megaprojects task force


Other WikiProjects that may be of interest:

  • WikiProject Environment
  • WikiProject Technology
  • WikiProject Biography

Major topics

Major categories

National energy supply, use & conservation

Energy by country

National electricity sector

Electric power by country

Politics, economics, environment

Climate change
Energy conservation
Energy economics
Energy crises
Energy development
Energy policy
Peak oil

Energy sources

Fuels
Biofuels
Fossil fuels
Fusion power
Nuclear technology
Renewable energy
Energy conversion
Electric power
Energy storage

Energy-related design

Electric vehicles
Hybrid vehicles
Low-energy building
Solar design

Scientific usage

Heat transfer
Thermodynamics
Units of energy

Category browser

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Energy
Energy by continent
Energy by country
Energy by region
Energy-related lists
Energy accidents and incidents
Attacks on energy sector
Energy conversion
Energy democracy
Energy development
Energy economics
Energy education
Electric power
Energetics
Energy (physics)
Energy-related events
Forms of energy
History of energy
Energy industry
Energy infrastructure
Energetic materials
Energy measurement
Energy models
Energy organizations
People associated with energy
Energy policy
Energy recovery
Energy sources
Energy storage
Sustainable energy
Energy technology
Energy in transport
Energy weapons
Works about energy
Energy stubs

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