Societal Implications and Applications

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The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy can energy can neither be created nor destroyed but is transformed from one form to another.  As such, the total energy of an isolated system remains constant.  If this is the case, why then are there concerns about “running out of energy” and the emphasis on using it wisely?  The simplest reason is that the transfer of energy between systems is not completely efficient.  While the total amount of energy in the system remains constant, some energy will be wasted and transferred to a non-useful form.  For example, the average power plant’s efficiency for burning coal is 32.6% on a net output basis (Power Generation from Coal, 2010).   

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This lack of efficiency makes the distinction between renewable and non-renewable resources that much more important.  With non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, crude oil, gas and coal, there are finite resources available, which will expire one day as energy is transformed into non-usable forms.  This makes for much greater emphasis on renewable energy which can be efficiently converted from sustainable energy sources.  (What is Energy, 2017)