The ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems.
Questions tagged [energy]
87 questions
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Is flying the worst choice of travelling, considering the greenhouse effect and carbon-dioxide emission?
The communities I live in in Germany keep telling everybody that flying should be avoided by all circumstances, because it has a far bigger ecological footprint than any other mode of transportation. But according to this paper, considering other…

Quantumwhisp
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Are powerful entities preventing the development of free or extremely low cost energy sources?
This is a common claim of people selling "free energy" devices that the government or oil companies are trying to suppress their work.
I'm wondering if there's any documented examples of an oil company or government going after someone, suing them,…

Jasmine
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Is Amazon powered by 85% renewable energy?
In a video on the TED YouTube channel, Chris Roe, Amazon's director of energy and sustainable operations, makes a claim that Amazon is powered by 85% renewable energy.
I suspect 85% is too optimistic a number.
When we started our journey, we were…

More Anonymous
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Are electric cars better for the environment than internal-combustion cars?
Possible Duplicate:
Does a car with a hybrid engine and Lithium batteries pollute more than a car with conventional technology?
We hear a lot about electric cars being the future. But we also heard a lot about corn ethanol being the future. Corn…

richard
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How long does it take for renewable technology to recoup its energy cost?
There are a number of technologies which are aimed at producing energy from non-fossil sources, among which very popular are wind power and solar power technologies. However, I have encountered a number of claims (1, 2) that due to the amount of…

StasM
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Does painting your radiators black make your heating more efficient?
I have heard that painting radiators in your central heating circuit black can make your heating more efficient. The 'scientific' basis being that black, whilst absorbing light in the visible spectrum, radiates infra-red (i.e. heat) better than the…

deed02392
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Do Duracell batteries last longer than normal batteries?
The claim is
Up to 10 times longer lasting power
(*) vs. ordinary zinc carbon batteries in high powered toys and flash cameras
(picture from Amazon)
Do Duracell batteries last longer than Zinc Carbon batteries?
If so, how much of the ten times…

Dudey
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Do lithium ion batteries double effective performance every 18 month similar to Moore's law?
On Quora a person claims that lithium ion batteries improve roughly similar to Moore's law:
The installed price of lithium ion batteries is dropping in half every 18 months and they last twice as long ... just like Moore's law for computer chips...…

Christian
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Is Russia's fiscal break-even price for oil around half of Saudi Arabia's?
According to the philosopher John Gray (Why this crisis is a turning point in history):
An increasing influence on the EU will come from Russia. In the struggle with the Saudis that triggered the oil price collapse in March 2020, Putin has played…

Martín-Blas Pérez Pinilla
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Will smart meters cost each UK household 420 GBP?
The roll out of smart meters is well on its way in the UK. In this article it is claimed that smart meters will cost each household 420 pounds. Apparently, this money will be taken from each customers energy bill. In the article I couldn't…

redleo85
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Do photovoltaic solar panels need replacement after 20 years?
Many manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels offer some sort of warranty that is valid for 15 to 25 years. Many people suggest that after that period of time, a replacement of the panels is necessary
For example:
The lifetime of solar panels…

humanityANDpeace
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Do ad blockers in browsers save significant energy?
There is a claim that adverts sometimes include animations, which requires more energy to display, and that, hence, ad blockers save significant energy?
Source: Blocking Online Ads May Save Energy
Using Firefox 3.04, with AdBlock Plus and NoScript,…

Rob Audenaerde
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Has a carbon price lead to a 8.6 percent drop in electricity demand in Australia?
In a press release China’s pilot carbon trading market taps UNSW expertise (press release is by the UNSW, which is my employer)
Minister Combet highlighted the benefits to date of Australia’s carbon
price, including an 8.6 per cent drop in demand…

Andrew Grimm
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Can one generate enough electricity from a plant to power a cellphone?
This company is marketing a product which uses the photosynthesis of a single houseplant to charge a phone.
http://www.bioo.tech/
IIRC the theoretical maximum efficiency of photosynthesis is about 10%, so at best the plant would be able to act as a…

Steven Gubkin
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Are Chinese companies dumping defective solar panels in other countries?
I've come across some people claiming that Chinese solar energy companies are dumping defective panels in other countries. The gist of the claim is that these low-cost panels will drive local producers out of business, but will soon have to be…

adam.r
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