The energy industry is a generic term for all of the industries Industry refers to the production of an economic good within an economy. There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction, and manufacturing; the tertiary sector, which deals with services (such as law involved the production and sale of energy In physics, energy is a quantity that can be assigned to every particle, object, and system of objects as a consequence of the state of that particle, object or system of objects. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, elastic, light, and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are often named, including fuel Fuel is any material that can be used to generate energy to produce mechanical work in a controlled manner. The processes used to convert fuel into energy include chemical reactions, such as combustion, and nuclear reactions, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Fuels are also used in the cells of organisms in a process known as metabolism extraction, manufacturing, refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy industry is a crucial part of the infrastructure Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth and maintenance of society in almost all countries A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, ethnic origin and language, often possessing or seeking its own government. The development and conceptualization of a nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although.
In particular, the energy industry comprises:
- the petroleum industry The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and, including oil companies Categories: Lists of companies by industry | Oil companies , petroleum refiners, fuel transport and end-user sales at gas stations A petrol station, filling station, gas station, fueling station, service station, garage, gasbar, petrol pump or petrol bunk is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are petrol (known as gasoline in Canada and the U.S.) or diesel fuel
- the gas industry, including natural gas Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with other fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas extraction, and coal gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous fuels produced for sale to consumers and municipalities. In the days of gas lighting it was also known as "illumination gas," although this term largely fell out manufacture, as well as distribution and sales
- the electrical power industry The electrical power industry provides the production and delivery of electrical power , often known as power, or electricity, in sufficient quantities to areas that need electricity through a grid. Many households and businesses need access to electricity, especially in developed nations, the demand being scarcer in developing nations. Demand for, including electricity generation The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic method is still used today: electricity is generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or disc of copper between the poles of a magnet, electric power distribution The modern distribution system begins as the primary circuit leaves the sub-station and ends as the secondary service enters the customer's meter socket. A variety of methods, materials, and equipment are used among the various utility companies, but the end result is similar. First, the energy leaves the sub-station in a primary circuit, usually and sales
- the coal Coal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable industry
- the nuclear power Nuclear power is produced by controlled nuclear reactions. Commercial and utility plants currently use nuclear fission reactions to heat water to produce steam, which is then used to generate electricity industry
- the renewable energy industry, comprising alternative energy Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels and sustainable energy Sustainable energy is the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. A broader interpretation may allow inclusion of fossil fuels as transitional sources while technology develops, as long as new sources are developed for future generations to use. A companies, including those involved in hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level, wind power Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, wind mills for mechanical power, wind pumps for pumping water or drainage, or sails to propel ships, and solar power Solar power is the generation of electricity from sunlight. This can be direct as with photovoltaics , or indirect as with concentrating solar power (CSP), where the sun's energy is focused to boil water which is then used to provide power. Solar power had the potential to provide over 1,000 times total world energy consumption in 2008,[citation generation, and the manufacture, distribution and sale of alternative fuels Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Conventional fuels include: fossil fuels (petroleum , coal, propane, and natural gas), and nuclear materials such as uranium
- traditional energy industry based on the collection and distribution of firewood Firewood is any wood-like material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, the use of which, for cooking and heating, is particularly common in poorer countries
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Government classifications
The United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of developed the International Standard Industrial Classification The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities is a United Nations system for classifying economic data. The United Nations Statistics Division describes it in the following terms:, which is a list of economic and social classifications.[1] There is no distinct classification for an energy industry, because the classification system is based on activities, products, and expenditures according to purpose. [2]
Countries in North America use the North American Industry Classification System The North American Industry Classification System or NAICS is used by business and government to classify business establishments according to type of economic activity (process of production) in Canada, Mexico and the United States. It has largely replaced the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system; however, certain government (NAICS). The NAICS sectors #21 and #22 (mining and utilities) might roughly define the energy industry in North America. This classification is used by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States. In addition to the 1934 Act that created it, the SEC enforces.
Financial market classifications
The Global Industry Classification Standard The Global Industry Classification Standard is an industry taxonomy developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), and Standard & Poor's (S&P) for use by the global financial community. The GICS structure consists of 10 sectors, 24 industry groups, 68 industries and 154 sub-industries into which S&P has categorized all major used by Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City, New York, United States serves a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000. The company reports US$779 define the energy industry as comprising companies primarily working with oil, gas, coal and consumable fuels, excluding companies working with certain industrial gases.[3] Add also to expand this section: Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also referred to as the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is one of several stock market indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow. The average is named after Dow and one of his business associates, statistician Edward Jones. It[4]
Environmental impact
Because of government encouragement in the form of subsidies A subsidy is a form of financial assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry (e.g., as a result of continuous unprofitable operations) or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire and tax To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law incentives In economics and sociology, an incentive is any factor that enables or motivates a particular course of action, or counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives. It is an expectation that encourages people to behave in a certain way. Since human beings are purposeful creatures, the study of incentive structures is central to the, energy conservation Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption in order to preserve resources for the future and reduce environmental pollution. It can be achieved through efficient energy use , or by reduced consumption of energy services. Energy conservation may result in increase of financial capital, environmental value, national efforts are also being increasingly viewed as a major function of the energy industry, as saving an amount of energy has almost identical economic benefits to generating that same amount of energy. This is compounded by the fact that the economics of delivering energy tend to be priced for capacity as opposed to average usage. One of the purposes of a smart grid A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers' homes to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency. It overlays the electricity distribution grid with an information and net metering system infrastructure is to smooth out demand so that capacity and demand curves are more closely aligned.
The energy industry generates a large amount of pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies,, including the generation of toxic gases and greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. In our solar system, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and from fuel combustion, nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a waste product containing radioactive material. It is usually the product of a nuclear process such as nuclear fission, though industries not directly connected to the nuclear power industry may also produce radioactive waste. The majority of radioactive waste is "low-level waste", meaning it has low levels of from nuclear power generation, and oil spillages in the petroleum industry. Government regulations to internalize these externalities In economics, an externality is a cost or benefit, not transmitted through prices, incurred by a party who did not agree to the action causing the cost or benefit. A benefit in this case is called a positive externality or external benefit, while a cost is called a negative externality or external cost form an increasing part of doing business, and the trading of carbon credits A Carbon credit is a generic term meaning that a value has been assigned to a reduction or offset of greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon credits and markets are key components of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases . One carbon credit is equal to one ton of carbon dioxide, or in some and pollution credits on the free market may also result in energy saving and pollution control measures becoming even more important to energy companies.
References
- ^ United Nations economic and social classifications Accessed 6 April 2007.
- ^ United Nations Available Classifications Accessed 6 April 2007.
- ^ MSCI-Barra GICS Tables Accessed 6 April 2007.
- ^ Industry Classification Benchmark for Dow Jones Indexes (United States) and FTSE Indexes (United Kingdom) (pdf)
See also
- Energy: world resources and consumption In 2005, total worldwide energy consumption was 500 Exajoules with 80-90% derived from the combustion of fossil fuels. This is equivalent to an average energy consumption rate of 16 TW (= 1.6 x 1013 W). Not all of the world's economies track their energy consumption with the same rigor, and the exact energy content of a barrel of oil or a ton of
- Hydrogen economy The hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors Technical Center. Hydrogen lobbyists promote hydrogen as potential fuel for motive power (including cars and boats), the energy needs of buildings and portable
- Canadian Centre for Energy Information
Categories: Industries | Energy development | Energy economics Categories: Energy | Natural resources | Resource economics | Transport economics
New York Times
And doing nothing to reduce our energy dependence from foreign sources. God bless America. #2 Vanessa's post is hopeful. The renewable energy industry can ...
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ndustry based on accepted industry standards and practices. With increasing globalization and interdependence of energy products, delivery mechanisms, and risk management techniques, it is imperative that everyone in the . energy industry. ...
Q. When I hear of the profit levels these companies make it seems that it should be obvious that the revenue be invested in Solar projects and wind generation energy and other renewable energys.Then we wouldn't need oil from anywhere. No use for oil means no use for any more to do with the Mid-east.
Asked by jhall11068 - Sat Feb 10 10:47:10 2007 - - 5 Answers - 1 Comments
A. --- If we required the oil companies to provide revenue for alternative energy, they would just make sure that time and money is wasted on more unworkable boondoggles like hydrogen. * Instead, take a look at what has been developed without any government or corporate subsidies: * * The Phoenix electric car can travel up to 250 miles between charges, carries 5 people plus cargo at 95mph, charges batteries in only ten minutes, and has batteries that will last over 200,000 miles. The electricity cost to drive it is only about one cent per mile. * You won't hear anyone in the government talking about this car. Because this is exactly the sort of success story they did NOT want to happen. In fact, you'll have a hard time even finding the… [cont.]
Answered by apeweek - Sat Feb 10 13:12:32 2007
