Completed notes of the course

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1 ENERGY MANAGEMENT Energy sources and uses: ENERGY SOURCES AND USES - CURRENT SCENARIO: It is important to distinguish between two types of energy sources: ➔ Primary energy sources: A source of energy is defined as primary when it occurs in nature and is not the result of the transformation of any other form of energy. Examples are fossil fuel and renewables. ➔ Secondary energy sources : A source of energy is defined as secondary when it can be used only after a process of transformation, which entails a loss of available energy. These type of energy sources do not exist in nature and can be exploited as a result of transformation. Examples are gasoline (which is processes through a transformation of oil), electricity (does not exist in nature but it is an outcome of transformation process of different natural resources such as natural gas), hydrogen. The energy use refers to the use of any kind of primary or secondary energy in a final activity , that is, different activities in which energy is actually used. The term “renewable” only applies to an energy source grown and replaced at a rate at least equal to the rate at which it is used. In terms of energy consumption all over the world, it is important to say that year by year the energy use is progressively increasing. We can stress the link between an increase in economic growth and the use of energy; as a matter of fact the economic development leads and will lead to a further use of energy in the future. The only situations in which the energ y consumption has decreased are during 2008 -2009 (economic-financial crisis) and 2019-2020 (Covid-19 pandemic), as to show that only in extraordinary cases the energy use has decreased. The decline was driven largely by oil (-9.7%), which accounted for almost three…