Energy & Power Sector
From an energy perspective, Canada is very fortunate.
We have a large land mass, small population and one of the largest and most diverse supplies of energy in the world. Our rivers discharge close to 7% of the world’s renewable water – a tremendous source of hydroelectric power.
Canada is at the forefront of innovative technologies for how we produce and use energy. For example, low- or non-emitting forms of energy are growing in significance as part of our evolving electricity mix. In fact, wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy are the fastest-growing sources of electricity generation in Canada. In addition, technological advancements, such as co-generation, have resulted in an increase in energy-efficient practices and a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in areas such as the oil sands. Ongoing developments in areas such as grid-scale electricity storage, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and electric and alternative fuel vehicles have the potential to further transform the energy system.
Work, Power and Energy.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed but may be converted from one form to another.
As a student of physics, you are very familiar with the words Work, Power, and Energy. In everyday practical life, quite often, we hear the phrase ‘Let us work! or Work for food! But what is work? If I lifted a 20kg bag of rice from the ground to my shoulder, I have done some work. Work is the amount of energy transferred. Work done = force x distance. Power is the rate at which work is done, or the rate at which energy is used and transferred, Power= work done /time taken. A body that has the capacity to do work is said to possess energy. So, energy is the ability to do work. How do we measure them? Well, the principle of conservation of energy states that the total energy of a system remains constant. Energy = Power x Time. One Joule (J), also called a Newton-Metre, is the work done or the energy expended by the force of one Newton moving an object for a distance of one meter. In electrical terms, a joule (J) is a unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one amp passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second. A joule is also the same as a Watt-second, 1 Watt = 1 Joule / Second. i.e. the work done to produce one watt continuously for one second. Electricity use over time is measured in Watthours. A Watthour (Wh) is equal to the energy of one Watt steadily supplied to, or taken from, an electric circuit for one hour. The amount of electricity that a power plant generates or an electric utility customer uses over a period of time is typically measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is the number of kilowatts generated or consumed over one hour.
Most basic forms of energy: Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy, Thermal or heat energy, Chemical Energy, Electrical Energy, Electrochemical Energy, Electromagnetic Energy, Sound Energy & Nuclear Energy, etc.
We will concentrate mainly on Hydro, Solar, Combined cycle, Nuclear Power Plant, and Natural Gas.
To measure electricity generation capacity, we will use multiples of kilowatts(KW), megawatts(MW), and gigawatts(GW), and for Natural Gas Dollar/Gigajoule & Cents/M3