Thermodynamics W1 assignment James R.

Price Environmental Science GS104

Energy is the ability to bring about change or to do work. Thermodynamics is the study of energy. (http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookener1.html) The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is neither created nor destroyed when converted from one form to another. The second law of thermodynamics states that whenever energy is converted from one form to another in a physical or chemical change, we end up with lower-quality or less useable energy than we started with. (Week 1 Lecture-The Science Basics) The second law of thermodynamics tells us that energy is wasted as our natural resources are used. Energy can not be created or destroyed. It simply changes from one form to another. With non-renewable energy sources, such as oil, there is no way to recreate the energy which is lost during each step of the oil to fuel process, or the energy which is wasted by the engines which use petroleum based fuels. (http://dieoff.org/synopsis.htm) This fact, coupled with the decline in available oil supplies, requires civilization to find other renewable energy sources in order to continue our way of lives. Transportation as a whole largely depends on oil reserves to provide the energy for the majority of our vehicles to continue being used as is. On the other side of this need, with our current economy in a decline, it has become extremely difficult for the average person to own technology which relies on other resources, such as hybrid and

electric cars, due to high costs being presented by manufacturers. The alternative is to find a way to reuse the energy which has been released into other forms, such as heat, or to incorporate other forms of energy to assist or replace the use of oil as our main fuel source. Solar panels, for example, provide a renewable energy source which can be stored for future use. The downside to solar paneling is the cost and the time it takes to actually store enough potential energy to be usable. It would be beneficial for our generation to take the initial steps necessary to reduce our ecological footprint, so that we can have enough resources to survive, and to pass on to future generations.