CONVENTIONAL ENERGY: CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES, ADVANTAGES - PHYSICAL - 2025

The conventional power is that power generated from non - renewable sources; that is, they cannot be infinitely produced or extracted from nature. In addition, conventional energies can be marketed as sources of electrical energy supply to meet large power demands worldwide.

It is important to note that the use of conventional resources is limited, and their indiscriminate use has progressively led to a shortage of associated raw materials. Conventional energy can be supplied by two types of fuels: fossil and nuclear.

Fossil fuels are substances with a high energy content present in nature in a finite way, such as coal, natural gas, oil and their derivatives (kerosene, diesel or gasoline, for example).

Nuclear fuels are materials used for the generation of nuclear energy, such as fuels for nuclear research reactors or other similar ones based on oxides.

Some experts include in this group commonly used renewable energy sources such as water, which is used in hydroelectric generation.

characteristics

The most important characteristics of conventional energy are the following:

- Conventional energy is produced by converting non-renewable resources into electrical energy, through the implementation of thermal, chemical or combined cycle mechanisms. If hydroelectric energy is considered as conventional energy, the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy must also be considered.

- The resources used in the generation of conventional energy have a limited presence in nature. This means that the levels of exploitation worldwide are increasingly high.

- Due to the previous point, they are usually expensive resources, since conventional energy sources are increasingly restricted and are priced high in the market.

- For the most part, conventional energy sources tend to be highly polluting, since the conversion process involves the emission of gases that directly affect the purity of the environment.

- This affects the increase in global warming, due to the effect of the ozone layer and the increase in the greenhouse effect.

- Throughout history, the basic principle of conventional power generation has remained relatively constant over time.

Except for technological implementations in the automation of the boards, start / stop mechanisms and electrical protections, the operating principle of generating plants is, in essence, the same as 50 years ago.

Thermal machines have also considerably improved their efficiency over the years, which has made it possible to maximize the performance obtained from electricity generation processes by burning fuel.

Types

The traditional conception of conventional energies distinguishes two large groups of non-renewable fuels: fossil fuels and nuclear fuels, the details of which are broken down below.

Energy by transformation of fossil fuels

Fossil fuels are found in nature due to the action of pressure and temperature variations on biomass millions of years ago. Various transformation processes led to the formation of these non-renewable resources with important energy properties.

The most recognized fossil fuels worldwide are natural gas, coal and oil. As the case may be, each fuel is used to generate energy through a different process.

Coal is the raw material par excellence for thermoelectric generation plants. Fuel (coal, oil or natural gas) is burned, and the combustion process transforms water into steam with high levels of temperature and pressure.

The water vapor produced, if it is driven to an appropriate pressure, induces movement on a turbine connected, in turn, to an electric generator.

Energy from transformation of nuclear fuels

Nuclear fuels are those materials that can be used for the generation of nuclear energy, either in its pure state (fission) or when mixed with another component (fusion).

This type of generation takes place due to the reactions that occur in the atomic nucleus of nuclear fuels. The nuclear fuels most used today are plutonium and uranium.

During this process a good part of the mass of the particles is transformed into energy. The energy release during nuclear conversions is approximately one million times higher than that produced in conventional chemical reactions.

In this type of conventional power generation, two types of reactions are distinguished:

Nuclear fision

It consists of the division of the heavy atomic nucleus. The rupture of the nucleus brings with it the emission of powerful radiation, along with the release of a significant amount of energy.

Finally, this energy is transformed into heat. This is the principle of action of most nuclear reactors worldwide.

Nuclear fusion

It is the process contrary to fission; that is, it is the fusion of two light atomic nuclei, which together make up a heavier and more stable atomic nucleus.

Similarly, this process involves a considerably high energy release compared to conservative electrical generation processes.

Advantage

The most representative advantages of conventional energies are the following:

- The extraction of fossil fuels is usually relatively simple, as is the storage and transport of these materials.

- Due to the massification of this type of method, the associated costs (extraction, infrastructure, transportation) are considerably lower compared to the cost structure of alternative energies.

- Conventional energy is used extensively throughout the planet, which has consolidated it as a common and validated electric power generation process worldwide.

Disadvantages

The most important disadvantages in the implementation of this type of energy are detailed below:

- The sources of extraction of non-renewable resources are increasingly limited. Steps should be taken when the shortage of these inputs increases.

- Thermoelectric generation plants produce polluting gas emissions during the combustion process, such as: methane and / or carbon dioxide.

- In the case of nuclear generation plants, this type of process can produce radioactive waste of high impact for humanity, if the process is not properly monitored and controlled.

References

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5. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2018). Fossil fuel. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
6. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2018). Nuclear fuel. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
7. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2018). Non-renewable energy. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org