A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

alternative fuels - The U.S. Department of Energy classifies the following fuels as "alternative fuels": bio-diesel, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, propane, p-series, and solar energy.  Using these alternative fuels can help our nation reduce its dependence on imported petroleum and improve air quality.  Methane Hydrides is of particular interest as this source of fuel can be found in abundance and offers real potential as working fuel.

bottled gas - Lighter hydrocarbons, such as propane, butane, pentane, and mixtures of these gases are liquefied and employed as fuels.  These bottled gases, which are usually stored in steel cylinders, make possible the use of appliances such as cooking stoves, heaters, and generators in localities where a centralized gas supply is not available.

calorie - A metric unit of heat measurement. The small, or gram, calorie (cal) is usually specified in science and engineering as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water from 14.5° to 15.5° C. The temperature interval is sometimes specified in other ways. The definition now generally accepted in the United States, and standard in thermochemistry, is that 1 cal equals 4.1840 joules(J). 

digester gas - Biogas produced during the decomposition of organic waste, typically ordinary manure.  This is a simple process that requires three conditions: (1) a tank that excludes air, (2) a constant, even temperature of 95 to 100 degrees F, (3) a gentle stirring action.  All three of these conditions mimic the conditions.

DOE - United States Department of Energy. Main government agency responsible for regulating many energy sources, gas included. www.energy.gov

electric power systems - Systems for the transformation of other types of energy into electrical energy and the transmission of this energy to the point of consumption. The production and transmission of energy in the form of electricity have important economic advantages in terms of cost per unit of power delivered.

electrolysis - The producing of chemical changes by passage of an electric current through an electrolyte to separate the hydrogen and oxygen into separate gases.

emissions - The release of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

energy - The capacity of matter to perform work as the result of its motion or its position in relation to forces acting on it. Energy associated with motion is known as kinetic energy, and energy related to position is called potential energy.  Energy exists in various forms, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, radiant, and atomic. All forms of energy are interconvertible by appropriate processes. In the process of transformation, either kinetic or potential energy may be lost or gained, but the sum total of the two remains always the same.

external combustion - Engines that are designed such that the working fluids never comes into direct contact with the heat source, but are heated and cooled through the use of heat exchangers.

Federal Energy Regulatory commission (FERC) - US government agency that regulates hydroelectric dams and interstate commerce in oil, natural gas, and electricity. Successor to the Federal Power Commission, the FERC is considered an independent regulatory agency responsible primarily to Congress, but it is housed in the Department of Energy. http://www.ferc.gov

fossil fuels - Hydrocarbon deposits used for fuel, such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. These  deposits are derived from the living matter of a previous geologic time.

fuel cell - Fuel cell technology is one of the most exciting and environmentally sound advances in Natural Gas technology. These cells were first used by NASA in the 1960's for power generation in space capsules. The high price of fuel cell technology has limited the growth of their implementation, but now cells are being used to generate power in hospitals, and soon vehicles may employ this technology. Fuel cells rely on the chemical interaction of natural gas and certain other metals, such as platinum, gold, and other electrolytes to produce electricity. The only by product of a fuel cell's operation is water, which is pure enough to drink. 

generator - Any device that transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy.

genset - A generator set which include an engine that drives a generator.

geothermal energy - Geothermal energy is based on the fact that the earth is hotter the deeper one drills below the surface. Water and steam circulating through deep hot rocks, if brought to the surface, can be used to drive a turbine to produce electricity or can be piped through buildings as heat. Some geothermal energy systems use naturally occurring supplies of geothermal water and steam, whereas other systems pump water down to the deep hot rocks. Although theoretically limitless, in most habitable areas of the world this subterranean energy source lies so deep that drilling holes to tap it is very expensive.

gig watt - A unit of power equal to one billion watts.

global warming - An increase in the earth's temperature due to the use of fossil fuels and other industrial processes leading to a buildup of "greenhouse gases" (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons) in the atmosphere.  It has been known that these gases help stop the earth's infrared radiation from escaping into space and thus function to maintain the earth's relatively warm temperature. (This is called the greenhouse effect.) 

green energy - Energy produced from non-polluting renewable sources as biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind.

greenhouse effect - Term, for the role the atmosphere plays in insulating and warming the earth's surface. The atmosphere is largely transparent to incoming short-wave solar radiation, which is absorbed by the earth's surface. Much of this radiation is then reemitted from the earth at infrared wavelengths, but it is reflected back to the earth by gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone in the atmosphere. The reflected radiation maintains the temperature of the earth in a range that is hospitable to life. This heating effect is the basis of the theories concerning global warming.

greenhouse gas - Any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere.  Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halogenated fluorocarbons (HCdFCs), ozone (O3), per fluorinated carbons (PFCs), and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs)

grid - A network of conductors for distribution of electric power.

Three different horsepower values are used to quote the performance of an engine: (1) Indicated horsepower is the theoretical efficiency of a reciprocating engine, which is determined from the pressure developed by the cylinders of the engine; (2) brake or shaft horsepower is more commonly used to indicate the practical ability of the engine, or the maximum performance, which is the indicated horsepower minus the power lost through heat, friction, and compression; (3) rated horsepower is the power that an engine or motor can produce efficiently for sustained periods of time.

hybrid system - An engine designed to operate with solar power and another heat source, such as internal combustion as seen in the Hybrid Trochilic engine.  In principle, a hybrid system could provide power 24 / 7, using solar energy when the sun is available and another energy source the rest of the time. 

hydrogen fuel - Hydrogen a fuel for the future, the simplest element composed of one proton and one electron.  It makes up more than 90% of the composition of the universe.  More than 30% of the mass of the sun is atomic hydrogen.  It is the third most abundant element in the earth's surface, and is found mostly in water. Under ordinary (earthly) conditions, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonpoisonous gas composed of diatomic molecules (H2).  When hydrogen is generated from renewable sources, its production and use is part of a clean, cyclic process.

hydropower -  Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity.  A turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy.  Then a generator converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy.  Hydro-plants range in size from "micro-hydro" that power only a few homes to giant dams like Hoover Dam that provide electricity for millions of people.

independent power producer (IPP) - Private firms producing electricity, as opposed to utility companies.

internal combustion - Any type of machine that obtains mechanical energy directly from the expenditure of the chemical energy of fuel burned in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the engine. Four principal types of internal-combustion engines are in general use: the Otto-cycle engine, the diesel engine, the rotary engine, and the gas turbine.

isothermal - Marked by changes of volume or pressure under conditions of constant temperature.

kilowatt (kW) - A unit of electrical power equal to one thousand watts.

kilowatt-hour - A unit for measuring electrical energy, equal to the power supplied by one kilowatt for one hour.

Kyoto Protocol - A Protocol, negotiated by more than 160 nations in December 1997, aims to reduce net emissions of certain greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide (CO2)). Each of the participating developed countries must decide how to meet its respective reduction goal during a five-year period (2008-2012); but specific ground rules remain to be worked out at future negotiating sessions.

megawatt (MW) - One million watts.

micro-generator - Generating systems less than 1 MW in size.

micro-siting - A process for identifying and qualifying site locations for wind farms.

micro-turbines - Small combustion turbines typically less than 500kw.

natural gas - A natural occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases found in porous geological formations beneath the earth’s surface, usually in connection with oil deposits. 

Newton - The unit of force in the meter-kilogram-second system equal to the force required to impart an acceleration of one meter per second per second to a mass of one kilogram. 

NREL - National Renewable Energy Laboratory. www.nrel.gov.

Otto cycle - The ordinary Otto-cycle engine is a four-stroke engine; that is, in a complete power cycle, its pistons make four strokes, two toward the head (closed head) of the cylinder and two away from the head. During the first stroke of the cycle, the piston moves away from the cylinder head while simultaneously the intake valve is opened. The motion of the piston during this stroke sucks a quantity of a fuel and air mixture into the combustion chamber. During the next stroke, the piston moves toward the cylinder head and compresses the fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. At the moment when the piston reaches the end of this stroke and the volume of the combustion chamber is at a minimum, the fuel mixture is ignited by the spark plug and burns, expanding and exerting a pressure on the piston, which is then driven away from the cylinder head in the third stroke. During the final stroke, the exhaust valve is opened and the piston moves toward the cylinder head, driving the exhaust gases out of the combustion chamber and leaving the cylinder ready to repeat the cycle.

parabolic collector trough - A solar collector system using mirrored surfaces curved in a parabolic shape that linearly extend into a trough shape. The collector focuses sunlight on a tube running the length of the trough. A heat transfer fluid is pumped around a loop through this tube, picking up heat. The fluid then goes to a heat exchanger where it either directly heats potable water or heats a thermal storage tank. As with all concentrating solar collectors, parabolic-trough collectors use tracking systems that keep them facing the sun throughout the day, maximizing solar heat gain. 

photovoltaic (PV) - A renewable energy technology that converts the sun’s lights, not its heat, directly into electricity.  The solar cells are made from thin slices of crystalline silicon, gallium arsenide, or other semiconductor materials that convert solar radiation directly into electricity. Cells with conversion efficiencies in excess of 30 percent are now available. By connecting large numbers of these cells into modules, the cost of photovoltaic electricity has been reduced to 30 cents per kwh, about twice the rate that the largest U.S. cities were paying for electricity in 1989. Current use of solar cells is limited to remote, unattended low-power devices such as buoys and equipment aboard spacecraft.

power - Physical force or energy, which produces or tends to produce motion; opposed to the weight, which is acted upon.  Power is always expressed in units of energy divided by units of time.  Two units of power are the horsepower and the watt. One horsepower is equal to the amount of power required to lift 33,000 pounds a distance of 1 foot in 1 minute.  One watt equals the power needed to do 1 joule of work per second. There are 746 watts in 1 horsepower.

power conversion unit - A system that converts potential energy in the form of fuels into electricity.

power tower - Central receiver systems, where heliostats reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a central tower-mounted receiver where the energy is transferred to a heat transfer fluid such as molten nitrate salt.  This is then passed optionally to storage, and finally to power-conversion systems which convert the thermal energy into electricity and supply it to the grid.

Principia Mathematica - (for short) is a three-volume work by Isaac Newton published on July 5, 1687. It contains the statement of Newton's laws of motion forming the foundation of classical mechanics as well as his law of universal gravitation. He derives Kepler's laws for the motion of the planets (which were first obtained empirically). In formulating his physical theories, Newton had developed a field of mathematics known as calculus. However, the language of calculus was largely left out of the Principia. Instead, Newton recast the majority of his proofs as geometric arguments.

public utility commission (PUC) - State public utility commission regulates utility industries to ensure that customers receive safe, reliable services at reasonable rates.

renewable energy - Energy sources that cannot be exhausted such as Biomass; Solar Energy;  Windmill; Geothermics; and Waterpower offer alternatives to America's dependence on foreign oil.

solar dish concentrator system - A parabolic dish system used to focus solar radiation onto its focal point.  The parabolic dish is the most efficient concentrator, and with existing, designs the most inexpensive.  These concentrators are used primarily for high temperature applications such as Stirling Engines for electricity generation. 

solar energy - Radiant energy produced in the sun as a result of nuclear fusion reactions. It is transmitted to the earth through space in quanta of energy called photons, which interact with the earth’s atmosphere and surface. The strength of solar radiation at the outer edge of the earth’s atmosphere when the earth is taken to be at its average distance from the sun is called the solar constant, the mean value of which is 1.37 × 106 ergs per sec per cm2, or about 2 calories per min per cm2. The intensity is not constant, however; it appears to vary by about 0.2 percent in 30 years. The intensity of energy actually available at the earth’s surface is less than the solar constant because of absorption and scattering of radiant energy as photons interact with the atmosphere.

solar thermal energy systems - A device that either absorbs or reflects solar light to produce heat energy such as: dish concentrators, power towers, parabolic collector troughs, or flat plate solar water heater systems. 

Stirling cycle - A modified form of the Carnot cycle in which all the heat is added and rejected at the highest and lowest temperatures reached. 

Trochilics - The science of rotary motion.

trough system - A type of concentrating solar power where the sun's energy is concentrated by parabolic curved, trough-shaped reflectors onto a  receiver pipe running  along the inside of the  curved surface. This energy heats oil flowing through the pipe, and the heat energy is then used to generate electricity in a conventional steam generator. 

watt - A unit of power.  One watt equals the power needed to do 1 joule of work per second. There are 746 watts in 1 horsepower.

watt-hour - A unit of work or energy equivalent to the power of one watt operating for one hour. 

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