Energy carrier

An energy carrier is a substance or phenomenon that can be used to produce mechanical work or heat or to operate chemical or physical processes (ISO 13600).

It is any system or substance that contains energy for conversion as usable energy later or somewhere else. This could be converted for use in, for example, an appliance or vehicle. Such carriers include springs, electrical batteries, capacitors, pressurized air, dammed water, hydrogen, petroleum, coal, wood, and natural gas.

Hydrogen is a energy carrier for use in distributing renewable energy. Electricity is used to produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water, which is then used to power a hydrogen vehicle. The power is later derived from the hydrogen in the car's fuel cell which recombines hydrogen and oxygen, producing electricity, heat, and water. This principle may be put to use in the production of heat and electricity in households. Currently both hydrogen cars and household generators are in small scale production and use.

Note that Coal, oil and natural gas are energy sources which were extracted from the earth (fossil fuels). They already contain stores of energy previously "charged"; whereas springs, batteries, hydrogen "etc." typically contain energy derived from a power plant or solar panels.

Energywares form a proper subset of energy carriers. Solar radiation is an energy carrier that is not an energyware.

ISO 13600

ISO 13600 series (ISO 13600, ISO 13601 and ISO 13602) are intended to be used as tools to define, describe, analyse and compare technical energy systems (TES) at micro and macro levels [http://www.internationalenergyworkshop.org/pappdf/Grob.pdf] :

*ISO 13600 ("Technical energy systems — Basic concepts") covers basic definitions and terms needed to define and describe TESs in general and TESs of energyware supply and demand sectors in particular.

*ISO 13601 ("Technical energy systems — Structure for analysis — Energyware supply and demand sectors") covers structures that shall be used to describe and analyse sub-sectors at the macro level of energyware supply and demand

*ISO 13602 (all parts) facilitates the description and analysis of any technical energy systems.

Related topics

* Capital goods
* Coefficient of performance
* Embedded energy
* Energy-use system
* Energy pay-back
* Energy resource
* Energy service
* Enthropy
* Exergy
* Passive and low energy architecture (PLEA)
* Renewable resource

ee also

* Energy crisis
*
* Energy storage
*
* Enthropy
* Future energy development
* Hydrogen economy
* ISO 14000
* Liquid nitrogen economy
* Lithium economy
* Methanol economy
* Solar power
* Vegetable oil economy
* Wind power
* Zinc economy

References

* "European Nuclear Society info pool/glossary: Energy carrier" [http://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/e/energy-carrier.htm]

External links

* "Boron: a better energy carrier than hydrogen?" [http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.html paper by Graham Cowan]
* [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=22366 ISO 13600 Technical energy systems -- Basic concepts] : gives the basic concepts needed to define and describe technical energy systems.