Master in Photovoltaic Solar Energy

Solar Energy Institute – Technical University of Madrid

Energy and Society

Unit I.1

Basic Concepts around Energy

and Energetic Machines
Prof. Ignacio Rey-Stolle
 Introduction

Cognitive Goal
 To consolidate basic knowledge around the concept of energy

Summary of the lecture

 Quick quiz
 Definitions for Energy
 Definition for Power
 Units
 Definition of Machine and Energetic Machine
 Energetic Machines and the laws of Thermodynamics
 Living Machines
 Dissipative Systems

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 Quick quiz

Energy or power?

 This sandwich has 600 Calories

 That exercise burns 500 Calories/hour

 Our household used only 100 kWh of electricity last month

 My computer uses 60 watts of electricity

 That power plant generated 3 TWh last year

 The car engine can develop 150 HP

E&S I.1 – Basic Concepts around Energy and Energetic Machines 3

 Quick quiz

How much power …?

 Develops a human being doing physical work?

 Consumes an air conditioner machine?

 Consumes a high-efficiency light bulb?

 Produces a nuclear plant?

 Is the maximum that your electricity contract at home allows you to

consume?

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 Definitions for Energy

What is energy?

 We routinely use the concept in our common language

 We have just enrolled in Masters about Photovoltaic Solar Energy

 Let’s try to define it

 …

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 Definitions for Energy

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 Definitions for Energy

 The term energy has different meanings and definitions

related to the idea of a capacity to act, transform or set in
motion.

 In physics, "energy" is defined as the ability to do work,

work meaning force acting through a distance

 Energy is an abstract physical quantity, related to the

dynamic state of a closed system that remains constant
over time.

 Energy is neither a real physical entity nor an "intangible

substance" but only a scalar number that is assigned to
the state of a physical system.

 In other words, energy is a mathematical abstraction of a

property of physical systems.

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 Definitions for Energy

Richard Feynman’s ideas

“ There is a fact, or if you wish, a law, governing natural phenomena that are
known to date. There is no known exception to this law; it is exact, so far we
know. The law is called conservation of energy; it states that there is a
certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in manifold
changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea, because it
is a mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity, which
does not change when something happens. It is not a description of a
mechanism, or anything concrete; it is just a strange fact that we can
calculate some number, and when we finish watching nature go through her
tricks and calculate the number again, it is the same”

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 Definitions for Energy

Consequences of the definition

 The absolute concept is elusive

 It is more understandable when part of it is transferred and manifests itself

in a specific form: kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy,
chemical energy, nuclear energy, electrical energy, mass, …

 Since it is a time invariant, its total value is irrelevant; only changes and
flows are important (potential → kinetic ; kinetic → thermal; …)

 Most energy-related physical laws quantify these changes and flows

between different forms of energy

 To understand any energetic process we must account for all the ways in
which energy may be changed or be transferred

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 Definitions for Energy

Example: The total energy of a moving car

 A moving car has a given mass; therefore it has some rest mass energy
associated to the law E=mc2

 A moving car is at a given temperature, so it has some thermal energy

 A moving car has some petrol in the tank, so it has some chemical energy

 A moving car has some speed, so it has some kinetic energy

 A moving car may be at a given height, so it may have some potential

energy

 …

 Can we calculate the total energy of a moving car?

Do we need to do so? Which of the latter are relevant?

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 Definitions for Energy

History of the concept …

 Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) uses the term in his “Nicomachean Ethics”
 Isaac Newton (1642-1727) believed in the conservation of linear momentum (mv)
 Gottfried W. Leibniz (1646-1716) believed in the conservation of the vis viva (mv2)
 Thomas Young (1773-1829) coins the term in its modern sense in 1807 to unify
several forms of energy
 James P. Joule (1818-1889) quantified the mechanical equivalent of heat
(1 cal= 4.184 J).
 William Thomson (Lord Kelvin, 1824-1907) and William Rankine (1820-1872) unified
the thermal and mechanical views of the concept, and coined the terms kinetic and
potential energy
 Max Planck (1858-1947) explained the energetic (i.e. quantum) nature of light
 Albert Einstein (1879-1955) proposed the connection between energy and mass
(E = mc2)

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 Definition for Power

In common language
 Energy and power are often used as synonyms meaning capacity to act,
strength, vitality or force

 Therefore their use is somewhat ambiguous

In physics
 No doubt

 Rate at which energy is delivered/exchanged/transformed/converted

or work is performed

 Therefore, power is always related to a process in which energy changes

and not to its absolute value.

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 Definition for Power

Warning about getting Energy and Power mixed up

 It is like mixing up length and speed, but it does occur!

 Sometimes there is a vague borderline (time affects everything …)

 A water pump needs 8 640 000 Joules daily to raise a certain amount of
water to a given height
What is its power?

 We can calculate …

 What does this number mean?

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 Units for Energy and Power

International System of Units

Energy Joule J = Nꞏm (kgꞏm2/s2)
Power Watt W = J/s (kgꞏm2/s3)
Other common Units
Energy electron-volts eV 1 eV = 1.6ꞏ10-19 J
Energy erg erg 1 erg = 10-7 J
Energy calorie cal 1 cal = 4.186 J
Energy kilowatt-hour kWh 1 kWh = 3.6ꞏ106 J
Energy Tons of Oil Equivalent TOE 1 TOE = 1010 cal
Energy Tons of Coal Equivalent TCE 1 TCE = 0.7 TOE
Power Horsepower (metric) CV 1 CV = 735 W
Power Horsepower (imperial) HP 1 HP = 746 W

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 Definition for machine

Definition
 A machine is an agent which transforms energy

Purpose
 To realize an energetic transformation (heater, fan, solar panel, ..)
 To perform mechanical work (car, elevator, crane, …)
 To transform a material (coffee machine, metal smelting furnace, …)

Sketch

EP MP EU MU
Machine
Primary Energy, Useful
Resource, energy
Fuel

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 Energetic Machines

Definition
 Those machines intended to turn energy from one type into another

 Examples: A car, a solar panel, a hydropower station, …

Sketch

EP EU
Machine
Primary energy, Useful
Resource, energy
Fuel

Concept of Efficiency
EU

EP
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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

First law of thermodynamics

(Energy conservation principle)
 Energy can neither be created nor
destroyed, only transformed

Consequences
 In an isolated system, the total amount of
energy remains constant over time

 Today there is the same amount of

energy in our Universe that just after the
Big Bang

 In an isolated system, only transfers http://www.holon.se/folke/index.shtml

between different types of energy can

occur without net loss or gain of energy

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Principles in physics
 Principles of physics are those
laws that cannot be proven;
however we can measure and
quantify them observing the
results that they produce

Noether’s Theorem and the 1st Law

 In physical systems from every
continuous symmetry it can be
derived a conservation law
 In Lagrangian systems (as the
Universe as a whole is) it can be
demonstrated that if physical laws
are invariant with time then there
is energy conservation

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Machines and 1st law

 Energy is a time invariant

 Machine transforms primary

energy into useful energy:
EP MP EU MU
EPEU
Machine
 = EU/EP ≤ 1 ? Primary energy , Useful

Resource, Ei
energy
1) Energy is destroyed Fuel

2) Energy is accumulated EW MW

within the machine (Ei)
Waste energy
3) There is an additional flow:
E = 0  
 ER ,, EP = EU+ER There is always a waste energy!

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

We need more laws to explain some phenomena

 The limiting efficiency of a Carnot Heat Engine

W T [K ]
 max   1 C
Q TH [ K ]

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Second law of thermodynamics (Entropy law)

 In any spontaneous process in an isolated system, the entropy of the
system never decreases (Boltzman)

or

 The spontaneous transfer of heat form a cold body to a hotter body is

impossible (Clausius)

or

 It is impossible to extract an amount of heat from a hot reservoir and use

it all to do work (Carnot-Kelvin-Plank)

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

On the concept of Entropy (S)

 Entropy is commonly thought as an elusive concept
dS  dQ T
 It is a thermodynamic quantity clearly defined and quantifiable
S  k B ln 
 It is a concept even more recent than the concept of energy

 Entropy never decreases, so it distinguishes between the past and the

future (It establishes some irreversible changes in nature)

 It is frequently related to the extent of disorder in a system

 In an atomistic view of matter, it can be considered as the amount of

microstates of a system characterized macroscopically by a given energy,
volume, and number of particles (Boltzmann)

 In terms of energy, the entropy is related to the amount of energy that

cannot be converted into mechanical work

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Consequences of the 2nd law

 Not all energy can be converted into work

E  W U and U  S
So S   U   W 
http://www.holon.se/folke/index.shtml

Concept of Exergy (W)

 Is the part of the energy that can be
converted into work

 Exergy can be destroyed!

 We humans are mostly interested in exergy

rather than energy

 Maximum entropy  End of Exergy 

Total immobility (death?) of the Universe

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 Energetic Machines and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Machines and 2nd law

 There is also an entropy flow:
SP  SU , SW
EP SP MP EU SU MU
2nd law: SP ≤ SU+SW

Machine
Primary energy Useful
 Entropy increase of the energy
main line
EW SW MW
o if SU < SP  SW 
 EW   Waste energy
(Machine produces order)

o if SU > SP  SW   The 2nd law allows to anticipate the

 EW    
maximum potential efficiency of a machine
by considering the flows of entropy

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 Living beings as Machines

Life and entropy ...

 Living beings are energetic systems
highly ordered and structured

 Their subsistence strongly depends on

their ability to maintain such complex
internal organization Living
being
 Nature always tends to maximize EP , MP EW, MW
Extracts S<0
disorder (i.e. to maximize entropy)
Resources for its internal Waste
 Living beings can be thought as organization
energetic systems oriented to extracting
negative entropy from their surroundings
(S<0 → order)
(What’s life, E. Shrödinger, 1944)

 Their efficiency must be low

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 Dissipative Systems

Definition
 These are systems or structures (machines?) operating far from
thermodynamic equilibrium, in an environment with which they exchange
energy and matter
Characteristics
 Dissipative systems are very complex systems, highly ordered and
endowed with a well-defined structure
 They need a continuous exchange of matter and energy with their
surroundings to exist. They need to endlessly fight against disorder and
decomposition (i.e. the return to equilibrium)
Examples
 Living beings (including humans), societies, ecosystems
 Hurricanes, whirls, climate on earth, …

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 Assignments

 Assignment Unit I.1

 Once completed upload your results in Moodle

(preferably before next class,
the latest before Block II starts)

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 Some additional Readings

About the origin of the concept of energy

 The vis viva dispute: a controversy at the dawn of dynamics

George E. Smith (2006)

Some clarifying discussion on entropy and the 2nd law

 Introduction, and a Short History of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics,

Chapter 1 of ENTROPY DEMYSTIFIED , A. Ben-Naim, World
Scientific Publishing (2008)

 Shakespeare and Thermodynamics: Dam the Second Law!

Frank L. Lambert (2001)

About the relations between Energy, entropy y life

 What’s life, E. Shrödinger (1944)

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