Introduction

In order to differentiate the forms of alternative energy sources, it is important to understand the various definitions of energy. Energy, as treated in physics, chemistry, and nature, occurs in numerous forms, all of which involve the ability to perform work. In these sciences, energy is a scalar quantity that is a property of objects and systems, and is conserved by nature.

Several different forms of energy, including kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy, gravitational energy, electromagnetic-radiation energy, chemical energy, and nuclear energy, have been defined to explain all known natural phenomena.

Conservation of Energy

Energy can be transformed from one form to another, but it is never created or destroyed. This principle, the law of conservation of energy, was first postulated in the early nineteenth century and applies to any isolated system. The total energy of a system does not change over time, but its value may depend on the frame of reference. For example, a seated passenger in a moving vehicle has zero kinetic energy relative to the vehicle, but does indeed have kinetic energy relative to the earth.

Understanding Energy Production and Use: A Historical Background

Upon establishment of agricultural societies and throughout millennia, some civilizations have established managerial rules in defense, economics, and education that have allowed them to survive and prosper, making their mark in the history. But other societies have dissolved in the annals of history.

Civilizations that established their mark were always led by leaders who maintained superiority in strategizing survival skills, which have constantly evolved as human knowledge progresses. Likewise, the downfall of major civilizations may have resulted from maintaining status quo strategies, which had once promoted their survival but later failed to meet new challenges.

What is significant is that progress in human knowledge develops from constant change and improvements in our understanding of the universal laws of nature, which follow dynamics of natural forces, energies, and events.

The anthropologist Max Gluckman remarked once that “a science is any discipline in which the fool of this generation can go beyond the point reached by the genius of the last generation.” Since strategizing is essentially information-based knowledge, and since information is always evolving at an ever-faster pace, every organizational activity must constantly keep pace with the information expansion simply to survive.

When making reference to any organizational activity, we must consider the extended boundaries of its context.