Portal:Energy
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Introduction
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 capacity to do 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).
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, the internal energy contained within a thermodynamic system, and rest energy associated with an object's rest mass. These are not mutually exclusive.
All living organisms constantly take in and release energy. The Earth's climate and ecosystems processes are driven primarily by radiant energy from the Sun. (Full article...)
Selected article
The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The Northeast Exelon Pavilion and Northwest Exelon Pavilion (jointly the North Exelon Pavilions) are located on the northern edge of the park along Randolph Street, and flank the Harris Theater. The Southeast Exelon Pavilion and Southwest Exelon Pavilion (jointly the South Exelon Pavilions) are located on the southern edge of the park along Monroe Street, and flank the Lurie Garden. Together the pavilions generate 19,840 kilowatt-hours (71,400 MJ) of electricity annually, worth about $2,350 per year.
The four pavilions, which cost $7 million, were designed in January 2001; construction began in January 2004. The South Pavilions were completed and opened in July 2004, while the North Pavilions were completed in November 2004, with a grand opening on April 30, 2005. In addition to producing energy, three of the four pavilions provide access to the parking garages below the park, while the fourth serves as the park's welcome center and office. Exelon, a company that generates the electricity transmitted by its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison, donated $5.5 million for the pavilions. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin praised the South Pavilions as "minor modernist jewels", but criticized the North Pavilions as "nearly all black and impenetrable". The North Pavilions have received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver rating from the United States Green Building Council, as well as an award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). (Full article...)
Selected image
Photo credit: Johnson Space Center/NASA
Tropical cyclones feed on the heat released when moist air rises and the water vapor condenses.
Did you know?
- If atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations can be stabilized at 450 ppm, it is thought that there will be a 50% chance of avoiding dangerous climate change?
- The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is currently the second largest power plant in the world, supplying over 90% of Paraguay's electricity, and 25% of Brazil's?
- Libya's Sirte Basin—which in some places lies more than 47 metres below sea level—contains roughly 80% of the country's known crude oil reserves?
- Approximately 95% of the electricity consumed by a normal incandescent light bulb (example pictured) is emitted as heat, rather than as visible light?
- Saudi Aramco is the largest oil corporation in the world and the world's largest in terms of proven crude oil reserves and production?
- Newcastle, Australia, is the world's largest coal export port?
- Surplus income from oil production in Norway is invested by the Government Pension Fund, one of the World's largest funds with a value of around US$ 800 billion?
- Energy superpowers Russia and Venezuela have, respectively, the world's largest reserves of natural gas and petroleum?
Selected biography
Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ran it until he retired in the late 1890s. He continued to retain his stock and his title as president until 1911, when the company was broken up for carrying out illegal monopoly practices. The new companies formed included the predecessors of Conoco, Amoco, Chevron, Esso, Mobil and Sohio. Rockefeller, who had rarely sold shares, owned stock in all of them. As gasoline had grown in importance his wealth had soared and he became the world's richest man and the first billionaire.
Rockefeller's fortune was used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major impact on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and was instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. At his death, at the age of 98, Rockefeller's remaining fortune was estimated at $1.4 billion. As a percentage of the United States economy, no other American fortune has ever come close.
In the news
- 22 September 2026 –
- Moldova's parliament approves a 60-day state of emergency in the energy and water sectors as low levels in the Dniester and Prut rivers threaten water supplies and global conflicts raise energy costs. (AP)
- Tunisia's meteorological service reports that summer 2026 is the country's hottest since records began in 1950, with average temperatures 2.9 °C (5.2 °F) above the previous record and repeated heat waves contributing to water shortages and power cuts. (AFP)
- 18 September 2026 – Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- The Bank of Japan raises its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%, the highest level since 1995, citing inflation pressures from rising energy costs and a weak yen, and signals further increases. (AFP via France 24)
- 18 September 2026 – 2024–2026 Cuba blackouts
- Millions of people are left without electricity in Cuba as a result of a collapse of the country's energy power grid. (AP)
- 16 September 2026 – International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, United States and the Russo-Ukrainian war
- The United States House of Representatives passes a bipartisan sanctions bill that imposes sanctions on Russia's energy revenues, financial institutions, officials, and shadow fleet, while authorizing tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas. The bill will head to president Donald Trump's desk for his signature for it to become law. (Kyiv Independent) (Reuters)
General images
Construction close to high-pressure gas-transmission pipelines is discouraged, often with standing warning signs. (from Natural gas)
The map shows the commercial nuclear power plants in the world. Research reactors are not considered nuclear power plants.Operating reactors, building new reactorsOperating reactors, planning new buildNo reactors, building new reactorsNo reactors, new in planningOperating reactors, stableOperating reactors, decided on phase-outCivil nuclear power prohibitedNo reactors(from Nuclear power)
A gas bill from Baltimore, Maryland, 1834, for manufactured coal gas, before the introduction of ground-extracted methane gas. (from Natural gas)
Cracks at the historic Town Hall of Staufen im Breisgau presumed due to damage from geothermal drilling (from Geothermal power)
Most waste packaging, small-scale experimental fuel recycling chemistry and radiopharmaceutical refinement is conducted within remote-handled hot cells. (from Nuclear power)
The Ffestiniog Power Station can generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the demand arising. (from Hydroelectricity)
Since 1985, the proportion of electricity generated from low-carbon sources has increased only slightly. Advances in deploying renewables have been mostly offset by declining shares of nuclear power. (from Sustainable energy)
Electrified transport and renewable energy are key areas of investment for the renewable energy transition. (from Sustainable energy)
Yearly solar generation by continent (from Solar power)
Oil refinery in Iran (from Oil refinery)
Typical composition of uranium dioxide fuel before and after approximately three years in the once-through nuclear fuel cycle of a LWR (from Nuclear power)
Thomas Young - the first to use the term "energy" to refer to kinetic energy in its modern sense, in 1802. (from History of energy)
A parabolic collector concentrates sunlight onto a tube in its focal point. (from Solar power)
Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant (from Natural gas)
Countries' proven natural gas reserves (2014), based on data from The World Factbook (from Natural gas)
Greenhouse gas emissions per energy source. Solar power is one of the sources with the least greenhouse gas emissions. (from Solar power)
A photovoltaic power station in California, United States
Buildings in the Solar Settlement at Schlierberg, Germany, produce more energy than they consume. They incorporate rooftop solar panels and are built for maximum energy efficiency. (from Sustainable energy)
Example of energy policy decisions: The goal of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe, is to reduce Europe's dependency on Russian gas. (from Energy policy)
The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), used in several space missions such as the Curiosity Mars rover (from Nuclear power)
The US has been counting on private industry to lead in fusion power, while more recently China's government has made fusion a national priority. In 2025, $2.1 billion was poured into a single Chinese state-owned fusion company, an amount two and a half times the U.S. Energy Department's annual fusion budget. (from Nuclear power)
Cooling towers at a geothermal power plant in Larderello, Italy.
Refinery, Bayport Industrial Complex, Harris County, Texas (from Oil refinery)
Global geothermal electric capacity. Upper red line is installed capacity; lower green line is realized production. (from Geothermal power)
Electrification rates of different countries compared to OECD Europe (from Sustainable energy)
Yearly geothermal generation by continent (from Geothermal power)
Kenyan dairy farmer lighting a biogas lamp. Biogas produced from biomass is a renewable energy source that can be burned for cooking or light. (from Sustainable energy)
Geothermal generation by country, 2021 (from Geothermal power)
Map of solar resources from World bank (from Solar power)
The launching ceremony of USS Nautilus January 1954. In 1958 it would become the first vessel to reach the North Pole. (from Nuclear power)
The Calder Hall nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, the world's first commercial nuclear power station (from Nuclear power)
A woman in rural Rajasthan, India, collects firewood. The use of wood and other polluting fuels for cooking causes millions of deaths each year from indoor and outdoor air pollution. (from Sustainable energy)
Activity of spent UOx fuel in comparison to the activity of natural uranium ore over time (from Nuclear power)
Trends in the top five geothermal electricity-generating countries, 1980–2012 (US EIA) (from Geothermal power)
Yearly hydro generation by continent (from Hydroelectricity)
The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West (now the Idaho National Laboratory), December 20, 1951. (from Nuclear power)
The warming influence (called radiative forcing) of long-lived greenhouse gases has increased substantially in the last 40 years, with carbon dioxide and methane being the dominant drivers of global warming. (from Natural gas)
Sample of gasoline (from Oil refinery)
A micro-hydro facility in Vietnam (from Hydroelectricity)
Electricity from low-carbon sources by source, World (from Nuclear power)
Deaths caused as a result of fossil fuel use (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of sustainable energy (rectangles barely visible in chart). (from Sustainable energy)
Actual annual deployments of solar PV vs predictions by the IEA for the period 2002–2016. Predictions have largely and consistently underestimated actual growth. (from Solar power)
Storage tanks and towers at Shell Puget Sound Refinery (Shell Oil Company), Anacortes, Washington (from Oil refinery)
The location of shale gas compared to other types of gas deposits (from Natural gas)
Olkiluoto 3 under construction in 2009. It was the first EPR, a modernized PWR design, to start construction. (from Nuclear power)
Peoples Gas Manlove Field natural gas storage area in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Illinois. In the foreground (left) is one of the numerous wells for the underground storage area, with an LNG plant, and above-ground storage tanks are in the background (right). (from Natural gas)
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Quotations
- "Breaking the dependence on oil is, in my view, a matter of political will. A consistent policy will turn obstacles into opportunities. To hide behind excuses of ignorance or economic considerations is not leading us to a sustainable future." – Mona Sahlin, 2006
- "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology." – George W. Bush, 2006
- "Energy independence [for India] has to be our nation's first and highest priority. We must be determined to achieve this within the next 25 years i.e. by the year 2030." – Abdul Kalam, 2005
- "Energy security is assuming a strategic significance once reserved for territorial security, and the global environmental challenges from energy production and use are amongst our most pressing." – John Howard, 2006
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