Energy is required to move or heat an object. The laws of physics state that matter cannot be created or destroyed and only converted between mass and energy (e=mc2). Living organisms require energy to live, move, function and stay alive. Technology needs energy to function. The entire cosmos is composed of energy and matter.
There are four fundamental states of matter: solid, liquid, gas and plasma. There are four fundamental forces: electromagnetic, gravitational, weak and strong interaction (nuclear). Energy is carried by some forces, or is released by radioactive decay of the weak force, or released when particles of matter that have binding energy are dislodged from each other. The strong force is approximately 137 times as strong as electromagnetism, 106 times as strong as the weak force, and 1038 times as strong as gravitation.
Energy is measured in joules (J) which is the energy transferred to an object; this is work done (force times displacement) or input. A watt (W) is 1 joule per second, used to quantify the rate of energy release, which is the power output. For example, a supernova blast can release around 1044W of heat energy.
The Kardashev scale measures the total annual renewable and non-renewable primary energy (found in nature and not yet engineered) in Mtoe (tonne of oil equivalent) which is converted into TWh (terawatt hours) and divided to get an average hourly power output in TW.
The TNT equivalent is used to compare the energy yield and therefore destructiveness of explosives. For example, a nuclear bomb can yield 1 kiloton of TNT.
Type of energy
| Type of energy | Comment |
|---|---|
| Chemical | Potential energy of chemical bonds |
| Chromodynamic | The quantum colour force responsible for the strong interaction (carried by gluons) that binds quarks found in the protons and neutrons (nucleons) of atoms. Color charge is analogous to electromagnetic charge, but comes in three types (±red, ±green, ±blue). |
| Electroweak (or flavordynamic) | The quantum flavor force responsible for the weak interaction that keeps atoms from decay (not involving binding energy). Quarks also come in six "flavors" – up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom. |
| Dark | Dark energy |
| Elastic | Force exerted on a material and it returns to its original shape. This ranges from a few joules in a rubber band to the M9.5 1960 Chile earthquake which is estimated at 1023 J and the associated elastic energy release at 1019 J. |
| Electric | Potential energy in electric fields |
| Electromagnetic | Electromagnetic (EM) radiation are waves of the electromagnetic field carrying electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays, which comprise the electromagnetic spectrum. |
| Electrostatic | A form of electricity that is created by friction. |
| Exotic | Exotic energy |
| Gravitational | Potential energy in gravitational fields |
| Gravitational radiation | A form of radiant energy similar to electromagnetic radiation carried by gravitational waves |
| Gravitoelectromagnetic | Gravitoelectromagnetism (GEM) refers to the kinetic effects of gravity, in analogy to the magnetic effects of moving electric charge. |
| Hygroelectric | Type of static electricity that forms on water droplets, existing in thunderstorms and volcanic eruptions, and gives rise to lightning. |
| Ionization | Binds an electron to its atom or molecule |
| Kinetic | Energy an object has due to its motion |
| Magnetic | Potential energy in magnetic fields |
| Mechanical | Kinetic and potential energies of a moving system |
| Mechanical wave | Kinetic and potential energy due to propagated waves |
| Negative | Negative energy |
| Neural | Neural or neurogenic energy is contained within a lifeform's nervous system. |
| Nuclear | The strong interaction (carried by mesons) that binds protons and neutrons (nucleons) together to form the nucleus of an atom. Responsible for nuclear reactions. |
| Phantom | Phantom energy |
| Piezoelectric | Piezoelectricity is produced when certain crystals are compressed. |
| Qi | Qi is a vital force or energy forming part of any living entity. An ancient belief was that it permeated everything and linked the surroundings to the flow of energy around and through the body, forming a cohesive functioning unit. This rhythm and flow provides stability and longevity. The surrounding energy, once known as aether, may now be related to dark energy. |
| Quantum fluctuation | Random change in the amount of energy in a point in spacetime, as prescribed in the Heisenberg uncertainty principle |
| Potential | Energy held by an object because of forces or charges in relation to another object |
| Psionic | Psionic energy is a phenomenon associated with mental processes, including telepathy. |
| Radiant | Potential energy of electromagnetic radiation, including light |
| Rest | Potential energy of an object's rest mass |
| Sound wave | Kinetic and potential energy due to a sound propagated wave |
| Temporal | Temporal energy related to instances of time travel. Can take many forms, such as found in spacetime anomalies or rifts, or as radiative energy produced by quantum singularities found in black holes, releasing chroniton particles. |
| Thermal | Heat energy |
| Vacuum | Special case of zero point energy. |
| Zero point | Zero point energy |
Energy carrier
| Energy carrier | Comment |
|---|---|
| Radiation | Emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles. This includes: electromagnetic radiation (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma radiation), particle radiation, sound radiation, and gravitational radiation. |
| Mechanical wave | Transfers energy through a medium, for example water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves. |
| Magnetic wave | Magnetohydrodynamic waves in a plasma where the ions move in response to tension from a magnetic field, such as those found in the photosphere of the Sun. Also called Alfvén waves. |
| Gravitational wave | Disturbances in the curvature of spacetime, generated by accelerated masses, that propagate as waves outward from their source (such as a supernova) at the speed of light. Gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation. |
| Heat | Energy in a thermodynamic system which is a confined body of matter and/or radiation. |
| Enthalpy | To fill or expand the volume of a thermodynamic system by displacing its contents with pressure. |
| Electricity | Associated with matter that has an electric charge |
| Magnetricity | Associated with magnetic monopoles |
| Fuel | Material made to react so that it releases heat energy, for example solid, liquid and gas fuels, biofuels, fossil fuels and nuclear fuels. |
| Battery | A power source and storage unit consisting of cells with external connections for powering devices. Initially used for electrical storage. A gravity battery stores gravitational energy or potential energy, resulting from a change in height due to gravity, commonly used for hydroelectricity. |
| Capacitor | An electrolytic device that stores electrical energy in an electric field. It has a positive and negative terminal. A supercapacitor stores 10 to 100 times more energy than electrolytic capacitors. |
| Flywheel | Works by accelerating a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and storing its rotational energy. Such a system has torque which is the rate of change of angular momentum, analogous to force. |
| Spring | Springs, typically made of steel, have elasticity and store mechanical energy. Common types are coil, torsion and compression. Superconductors and nanotubes can be used to make torsion batteries. |
| Compressed air | Air that is kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure, used typically in power tools, cylinders and vehicles. |
| Superconductor | Can store electricity indefinitely and is capable of lossless energy transmission. |
| Wireless | Wireless power transfer (WPT) or wireless energy transmission (WET), is the electromagnetic transmission of electrical energy without wires as a physical link. Using near field or non-radiative techniques, power is transferred over short distances by magnetic fields using inductive coupling between coils of wire, or by electric fields using capacitive coupling between metal electrodes. Applications include phones, wireless charging, electric toothbrushes, and induction cooking. In far-field or radiative techniques, also called power beaming, power is transferred by beams of electromagnetic radiation, like microwaves or laser beams. Applications for this type are solar power satellites, and wireless powered drone aircraft. |
Binding energy
Binding energy is the amount of energy required to dislodge particles from each other, and this separation energy is responsible for the release of energy. This is measured in electronvolts (1 eV = 1.6×10−19 J). Because binding energy = mass change × c2, exponentially higher amounts of energy is required to dislodge particle bonds higher up the scale.
| Type | Comment | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Gravitational Binding Energy | The gravitational binding energy of a system like a celestial body is the minimum energy required to stop it being gravitationally bound, which will disintegrate it. | Earth has a gravitational binding energy of 2.18×1032 J = 1.36×1013 eV. If there are about 1.36 × 1022 atoms on Earth, that is about 1×10-9 eV per atom. |
| Bond Energy | Between the atoms of a molecule; appears as chemical energy, such as that released in chemical explosions, the burning of chemical fuel and biological processes. | 1×100 eV to 1×101 eV |
| Atomic Binding Energy | From the electromagnetic interaction of the electrons with the nucleus, for example in plasma. | 1×101 eV to 1×102 eV |
| Electron Binding Energy; Ionization Energy | From the electromagnetic interaction of the electron with the nucleus and the other electrons of the atom, molecule or solid. An example is a fluorescent lamp. | 1×101 eV to 1×104 eV |
| Nuclear Binding Energy | From the strong interaction that disassembles a nucleus into neutrons and protons (nucleons); found in nuclear fission and fusion | 1×106 eV to 1×107 eV |
| Quantum Chromodynamic Binding Energy | From the strong interaction that disassembles quarks inside a nucleon; found in primordial nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang | 1×108 eV to 1×109 eV |
| Antimatter collision with strong force disassembly | A collision with a 175 MeV antlproton with a uranium-238 nucleus | 2×109 eV |
| Magmatter binding energy | Between magnetic monopoles | 3×1011 eV |
Non-renewable energy
These are non-renewable or natural resources that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption.
| Energy generation | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Fossil fuel | A fossil fuel is formed by natural processes, contain high percentages of carbon, and include oil, coal, and natural gas like kerosene and propane. In 2019, the world's main primary energy sources consisted of oil (33%), coal (27%), and natural gas (24%), amounting to 84%. The remaining 16% was gathered from renewables (5%), hydro (6.5%) and nuclear (4.5%).
A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel like coal or gas to produce electricity. They are major emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. An oil refinery is an petrochemical industry plant where crude oil is transformed and refined into energy-generation products such as petroleum, gasoline, diesel, asphalt, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), jet fuel and fuel oils. Energy released is 6.3 x 106 J per kg of nitroglycerin, 1.9 x 107 J per kg of wood, 3.2 x 107 J per kg of bituminous coal, 4.6 x 107 J per kg of fuel oil and 1.4 x 108 J per kg of liquefied hydrogen.
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| Nuclear or mineral fuel | Heat is created when nuclear fuel (metals like uranium, plutonium or thorium) undergoes nuclear fission in nuclear power stations. U235 decay is 0.085 % efficient and releases around 7.7 x 1013 J per kg of fuel. In addition to low efficiency, it produces radioactive nuclear waste which can be extremely dangerous such as in the Chernobyl disaster.
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| Antimatter | When antimatter comes into contact with normal matter in a controlled reaction, their mutual annihilation is 100% efficient and releases around 90 petajoules (9 x 1016 J) of energy per kg of antimatter. This is 300 times more powerful than nuclear fusion reactors, 1000 times more powerful than nuclear fission reactors, and 10 billion times more powerful than combustion engines. |   |
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale.
| Energy generation | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Solar energy | Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun (converted into electricity) that is harnessed using:
In 2021 the efficiency of a surface panel averages at around 20% (with the highest at 22%) so non-renewables like gasoline are still far more efficient. A 30-million panel solar farm in the desert can only produce 2 gigawatts of power, equivalent to two coal plants. The 173,000 TW of incoming solar radiation is the largest percentage of the renewal energy accessible to Earth. |
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| Bioenergy | Bioenergy is energy made from biomass or biofuel. Biomass is any organic material which has absorbed sunlight and stored it in the form of chemical energy, for example wood, crops and waste. Biofuel is result of manufacturing biomass into liquid or gaseous fuels. Biogas is the mixture of gases produced by the anaerobic breakdown of biomass, such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste. |   |
| Wind power | Energy that uses wind to provide mechanical power through wind turbines with blades that turn with almost no friction. The rotating motion spins a magnet inside a coil. The spinning magnetic field pushes electrons inside the coil, creating a net current of electricity. It has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels. Wind farms around the world produce hundreds of gigawatts of power in total.
Windcatcher floating offshore wind turbine arrays can generate five times the annual energy production of the world’s biggest single turbines while reducing the operating costs. Windcatcher grids stand more than 300 m high, deploying multiple smaller turbines in a staggered formation atop a floating platform moored to the ocean floor. One Windcatcher unit produces enough electricity for 80,000 European households. Five Wind Catching units can produce the same amount of electricity as 25 conventional turbines. CO2 emissions are reduced. |
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| Hydropower | Hydropower, or water power, converts the kinetic energy of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity using turbines in the same way that wind power does. Watermills have been used since ancient times, whereas modern generation uses dams, reservoirs and tidal power plants. Hydropower does not directly produce atmospheric pollutants, however, environmental downsides limit its use.
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| Marine power | Marine or ocean energy is carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy to generate electricity. Wave power such as WEC is from surface waves, whereas tidal power is from the kinetic energy of large bodies of moving water. Offshore wind power is not a form of marine energy, as wind power is derived from the wind, even if the wind turbines are placed over water.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses the ocean thermal gradient between cooler deep and warmer shallow to run a heat engine to produce electricity of up to 88,000 TW. Marine power especially OTEC generates a large percentage of renewable power for Type I. |
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| Geothermal power | Geothermal energy is generated and stored in the Earth. With water from hot springs, it has been used for bathing since ancient times, but in modern times is limited to steam-based power plants near tectonic plate boundaries.
The flow of heat from Earth's interior to the surface is about 47 TW and comes from the radiogenic heat in the mantle and crust, and the primordial heat left over from the formation of Earth. This is a fraction of the 173,000 TW of incoming solar radiation. Because of this, a Type I civilization would eventually tap into the core more for waste recycling rather than power generation. |
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| Atmospheric power | The atmosphere on any world will form circulation zones (or Hadley cells) to transport thermal energy from areas that are hotter to places that are cooler. Two towers would work in tandem to collect this energy.
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| Gravity storage | Gravity generation and storage systems are like pumped hydro systems but make use of solids such as huge, heavy blocks of concrete which are lifted with a mechanical crane. The cranes are powered by excess energy from the grid. When they’re lowered, their weight pulls cables that spin turbines and generate electricity. Because concrete is denser than water, it takes more energy to elevate it, but that means it’s storing more energy too. Energy Vault is a company that has a practical gravity storage system. |
Currently, the average hourly total energy consumed by mankind leads to 0.73 on the Kardashev scale. In comparison 100 to 140 TW of energy gets captured by plant photosynthesis, out of a total of 173,000 TW of incoming solar radiation. Of the 340 W/m2 of solar radiation received by the top of Earth's atmosphere (TOA), about 100 W/m2 is reflected back to space, leaving 240 W/m2 of solar energy input to the Earth.
In spite of the enormous transfers of energy into and from the Earth, it maintains a relatively constant temperature because there is little net gain or loss. Earth emits via atmospheric and terrestrial radiation to space about the same amount of energy as it receives via all forms of electromagnetic radiation, so Earth's energy budget has a net zero gain.
Antimatter, nuclear fission and fusion have much higher energy densities than (bio)chemical fuels and renewables, and therefore a very small amount of material is needed to gain a very large amount of energy. However because of the astronomical amount of renewables available to a planet, solar system or galaxy, advancing civilizations make use of both forms of energy especially once renewable-gathering becomes more efficient.
The Earth receives about one billionth of the Sun's energy, and humans use about one millionth of it. So we consume about one millionth of a billionth of the Sun's total energy. More efficient gathering of this energy could initially come from space-based solar power, and eventually from Dyson spheres which could also be placed around cosmic objects like black holes and quasars to gather astronomical amounts of energy.
Exotic energy
Exotic energy is the term to classify all types of 'unnatural' energy that follow the new laws of physics once the quantum dimension (7d) is discovered. All these energy types have an associated exotic matter. Exotic energy and matter are also found naturally in neutron stars or black holes or cosmic events such as supernovas.
| Exotic energy | Exotic Matter |
|---|---|
| Dark energy | Dark matter |
| Magnetricity is energy associated with magnetic monopoles. | Magmatter |
| Negative energy | Negative mass is matter whose mass is of opposite sign to the mass of normal matter |
| Phantom energy | Negative mass from dark matter |
| Quantum fluctuation is a random change in the amount of energy in a point in spacetime, making up the quantum foam. | Virtual particles are in pairs, a particle and antiparticle, which exist for units of planck-times, and then mutually annihilate. |
| Temporal energy is related to instances of time travel. Can take many forms, such as found in spacetime anomalies or rifts, or as radiative energy produced by quantum singularities found in black holes, releasing chroniton particles. | When chroniton and antichroniton particles collide, they cause spacetime ruptures or rifts into other instances. |
| Vacuum energy is a special case of zero point energy | A quantum vacuum is a quantum state with the lowest possible energy but with particles that pop into and out of the quantum field, or virtual particles. |
| Zero point energy | An "aether" of fluctuating matter fields, whose quanta are fermions, and force fields, whose quanta are bosons. |
Exotic energy generation
| Exotic Energy generation | Comment |
|---|---|
| Magnetic monopole reactor | Similar power output but more stable than antimatter reactors. |
| ZPE radiation of a vacuum | Zero-point radiation of a vacuum is an order of magnitude greater than nuclear fusion, with a single light bulb containing enough energy to boil all the world's oceans. |
| Dark Energy reactor | Uses quantum fluctuations, ZPE radiation and dark energy. |
| Hawking's Knot | Uses black holes to segregate and store antimatter from matter. |
| Stellar engine | A megastructure that is used to capture the power of stars and even move them. |
| Stellification engine | Uses artificial black holes or magnetic monopoles to generate enough energy to create stars. |
| Black hole accretion | Accretion of material as it falls into a black hole entering the event horizon releases up to 40% of the energy of the material falling in; only an antimatter-matter collision is more efficient at 100%. If the material is outside the event horizon, the Penrose process is used. Black hole accretion disks contain material of high temperatures generated by high accretion rates, allowing nuclear fusion and nucleosynthesis to take place. |
| Tapping into natural cosmic energy release events |
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