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Introduction
Energy (from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia) 'activity') is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the capacity to do work and in the form of heat and light. Energy is a conserved quantity—the law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed. The unit of measurement for energy in the International System of Units (SI) is the joule (J).
Forms of energy include the kinetic energy of a moving object, the potential energy stored by an object (for instance due to its position in a field), the elastic energy stored in a solid object, chemical energy associated with chemical reactions, the radiant energy carried by electromagnetic radiation, the internal energy contained within a thermodynamic system, and rest energy associated with an object's rest mass. These are not mutually exclusive.
All living organisms constantly take in and release energy. The Earth's climate and ecosystems processes are driven primarily by radiant energy from the Sun. (Full article...)
Selected article
As farmers worldwide respond to higher crop prices in order to maintain the global food supply-and-demand balance, pristine lands are cleared to replace the food crops that were diverted elsewhere to biofuels' production. Because natural lands, such as rainforests and grasslands, store carbon in their soil and biomass as plants grow each year, clearance of wilderness for new farms translates to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Due to this off-site change in the carbon stock of the soil and the biomass, indirect land use change has consequences in the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of a biofuel. (Full article...)
Selected image
Photo credit: From an image by Wolfgang Beyer
Strombolian volcanic eruptions can eject incandescent cinder, lapilli and lava bombs to altitudes of tens to hundreds of meters.
Did you know?
- Buildings constructed to the German Passivhaus standard use 75% to 95% less energy for space heating and cooling than current new buildings in the United States?
- Crossing 4,000 km (2,500 miles), the Druzhba pipeline is the world's longest oil pipeline?
- Coal is ground to a powder before being burnt in fossil fuel power plants?
- Compact fluorescent lamps (pictured) use about 1/4 of the energy of normal incandescent light bulbs, and pay for themselves after about 500 hours of use?
- Nuclear power in France produces 78% of all the country's electricity - more than in any other nation?
- Positive lightning bolts are typically six to ten times more powerful than normal lightning — and aircraft are not designed to withstand them?
- Dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy which permeates all of space?
Selected biography
Edison invented the first commercially practical electric light bulb which, by 1879 would burn for hundreds of hours. He was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing them and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity.
Edison patented an electric distribution system in 1880, and in January 1882 he switched on the first steam generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London, UK. The direct current (DC) supply system provided electricity supplies to street lamps and a number of private dwellings within a short distance of the station. The first investor-owned electric utility, Pearl Street Station, New York City, started generating on September 4, 1882, providing 110 volts direct current to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.
Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years," noting that the light bulb he promoted "lit up the world." He was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.
In the news
- 15 April 2026 – 2026 Iran war fuel crisis
- Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov states that Russia can supply energy to China and other countries affected by disruptions in shipments through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war. (AFP via CNA)
- Norway records its highest-ever crude oil export value in March, reaching 57.4 billion kroner (US$6.08 billion) for 56.6 million barrels, contributing to a trade surplus of 97.5 billion kroner ($10.3 billion) amid a global fuel crisis. (Bloomberg)
- 15 April 2026 – North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi reports increased activity at multiple nuclear facilities in North Korea, including the Nyongbyon site, indicating expanded capacity to produce nuclear weapons. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
- 14 April 2026 – Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- The Pakistani energy ministry announces daily power outages of about two hours during evening peak demand periods throughout the country, except in Hyderabad and Karachi, to reduce fuel costs and limit tariff increases amid higher energy prices linked to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via CNA)
- 13 April 2026 – 2026 Cuban crisis
- Spanish airline Iberia announces the suspension of flights to Cuba from June to late October due to fuel supply constraints and reduced passenger demand linked to the U.S.-imposed oil blockade of the country. The airline states that it plans to resume operations in November if conditions improve. (AFP via The Economic Times)
General images
The following are images from various energy-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Yearly geothermal generation by continent (from Geothermal power) -
Schematic flow diagram of a typical natural gas processing plant (from Natural gas) -
Sample of kerosene (from Oil refinery) -
Olkiluoto 3 under construction in 2009. It was the first EPR, a modernized PWR design, to start construction. (from Nuclear power) -
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Countries' proven natural gas reserves (2014), based on data from The World Factbook (from Natural gas) -
Sample of gasoline (from Oil refinery) -
Museum Hydroelectric power plant "Under the Town" in Užice, Serbia, built in 1900 (from Hydroelectricity) -
The Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, a pressurized water reactor that cools by using a secondary coolant heat exchanger with a large body of water, an alternative cooling approach to large cooling towers (from Nuclear power) -
A gas bill from Baltimore, Maryland, 1834, for manufactured coal gas, before the introduction of ground-extracted methane gas. (from Natural gas) -
Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electricity supply technologies, median values calculated by IPCC (from Nuclear power) -
China's count of multi-country patent filings has surged since the mid-2010s, leading in batteries and solar, though Europe still dominates in wind energy and smart grids. China also leads in highly cited publications in global peer-reviewed journals. (from Sustainable energy) -
Growth in solar and wind power from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2025 increased more than the growth in overall demand for electricity, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and helping to curb greenhouse gas emissions. (from Sustainable energy) -
Natural gas extraction by countries in cubic meters per year around 2013 (from Natural gas) -
The Calder Hall nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, the world's first commercial nuclear power station (from Nuclear power) -
Merowe Dam in Sudan. Hydroelectric power stations that use dams submerge large areas of land due to the requirement of a reservoir. These changes to land color or albedo, alongside certain projects that concurrently submerge rainforests, can in these specific cases result in the global warming impact, or equivalent life-cycle greenhouse gases of hydroelectricity projects, to potentially exceed that of coal power stations. (from Hydroelectricity) -
Sulphur (from Oil refinery) -
Nuclear waste flasks generated by the United States during the Cold War are stored underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The facility is seen as a potential demonstration for storing spent fuel from civilian reactors. (from Nuclear power) -
Electricity production by source (from Solar power) -
Greenhouse gas emissions per energy source. Solar power is one of the sources with the least greenhouse gas emissions. (from Solar power) -
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Typical composition of uranium dioxide fuel before and after approximately three years in the once-through nuclear fuel cycle of a LWR (from Nuclear power) -
Deaths caused by use of fossil fuels such as natural gas (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of wind energy, nuclear energy or solar energy (rectangles barely visible in chart). (from Natural gas) -
The Hoover Dam in the United States is a large conventional dammed-hydro facility, with an installed capacity of 2,080 MW. (from Hydroelectricity) -
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A micro-hydro facility in Vietnam (from Hydroelectricity) -
Growth in solar and wind power from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2025 increased more than the growth in overall demand for electricity, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and helping to curb greenhouse gas emissions. (from Solar power)
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The Three Gorges Dam in Central China is the world's largest power-producing facility of any kind. (from Hydroelectricity) -
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The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West (now the Idaho National Laboratory), December 20, 1951. (from Nuclear power) -
Utility cycling infrastructure, such as this bike lane in Vancouver, encourages sustainable transport. (from Sustainable energy) -
Cooling towers at a geothermal power plant in Larderello, Italy -
Fire-extinguishing operations after the Texas City refinery explosion (from Oil refinery) -
A woman in rural Rajasthan, India, collects firewood. The use of wood and other polluting fuels for cooking causes millions of deaths each year from indoor and outdoor air pollution. (from Sustainable energy) -
A photovoltaic power station in California, United States -
Anti-nuclear protest near nuclear waste disposal centre at Gorleben in northern Germany (from Nuclear power) -
Since 1985, the proportion of electricity generated from low-carbon sources has increased only slightly. Advances in deploying renewables have been mostly offset by declining shares of nuclear power. (from Sustainable energy) -
Yearly hydro generation by continent (from Hydroelectricity) -
Natural gas burning on a gas stove (from Natural gas) -
Oil refinery in Iran (from Oil refinery) -
The warming influence (called radiative forcing) of long-lived greenhouse gases has increased substantially in the last 40 years, with carbon dioxide and methane being the dominant drivers of global warming. (from Natural gas) -
Thomas Young - the first to use the term "energy" to refer to kinetic energy in its modern sense, in 1802. (from History of energy) -
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Death rates per unit of electricity production for different energy sources (from Nuclear power) -
Sample of crude oil (petroleum) (from Oil refinery) -
Global geothermal electric capacity. Upper red line is installed capacity; lower green line is realized production. (from Geothermal power) -
Seasonal cycle of capacity factors for wind and photovoltaics in Europe shown under idealized assumptions. The figure illustrates the balancing effects of wind and solar energy at the seasonal scale (Kaspar et al., 2019). (from Solar power) -
Construction close to high-pressure gas-transmission pipelines is discouraged, often with standing warning signs. (from Natural gas) -
Acceptance of wind and solar facilities in one's community is stronger among U.S. Democrats (blue), while acceptance of nuclear power plants is stronger among U.S. Republicans (red). (from Solar power) -
Motor oil (from Oil refinery) -
Natural gas bus in Salamanca, Spain (from Natural gas) -
The town of Pripyat abandoned since 1986, with the Chernobyl plant and the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement arch in the distance (from Nuclear power) -
Enhanced geothermal system 1: Reservoir 2: Pump house 3: Heat exchanger 4: Turbine hall 5: Production well 6: Injection well 7: Hot water to district heating 8: Porous sediments 9: Observation well 10: Crystalline bedrock (from Geothermal power) -
Schematics of a grid-connected residential PV power system (from Solar power) -
Clean energy investment has benefited from post-pandemic economic recovery, a global energy crisis involving high fossil fuel prices, and growing policy support across various nations. By 2025, investment in the energy transition had grown to about twice that for fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal). (from Sustainable energy) -
Proportions of the isotopes uranium-238 (blue) and uranium-235 (red) found in natural uranium and in enriched uranium for different applications. Light water reactors use 3–5% enriched uranium, while CANDU reactors work with natural uranium. (from Nuclear power) -
Russia was a key oil and gas supplier to Europe (map from 2013). This changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (from Energy policy) -
Activity of spent UOx fuel in comparison to the activity of natural uranium ore over time (from Nuclear power) -
Schematic flow diagram of a typical crude oil distillation unit as used in petroleum crude oil refineries (from Oil refinery) -
The launching ceremony of USS Nautilus January 1954. In 1958 it would become the first vessel to reach the North Pole. (from Nuclear power) -
Trends in the top five geothermal electricity-generating countries, 1980–2012 (US EIA) (from Geothermal power) -
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For cooking, electric induction stoves are one of the most energy-efficient and safest options. (from Sustainable energy) -
Reactor decay heat as a fraction of full power after the reactor shutdown, using two different correlations. To remove the decay heat, reactors need cooling after the shutdown of the fission reactions. A loss of the ability to remove decay heat caused the Fukushima accident. (from Nuclear power) -
The growth of solar PV on a semi-log scale since 1996 (from Solar power) -
Electrified transport and renewable energy are key areas of investment for the renewable energy transition. (from Sustainable energy) -
Burning of natural gas coming out of the ground (from Natural gas) -
A pipeline odorant injection station (from Natural gas) -
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Passive cooling features, such as these windcatcher towers in Iran, bring cool air into buildings without any use of energy. (from Sustainable energy) -
Several countries and the European Union have committed to dates for all new cars to be zero-emissions vehicles. (from Sustainable energy) -
The Ffestiniog Power Station can generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the demand arising. (from Hydroelectricity) -
Hydro generation by country, 2021 (from Hydroelectricity) -
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The location of shale gas compared to other types of gas deposits (from Natural gas) -
Storage tanks and towers at Shell Puget Sound Refinery (Shell Oil Company), Anacortes, Washington (from Oil refinery) -
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Most waste packaging, small-scale experimental fuel recycling chemistry and radiopharmaceutical refinement is conducted within remote-handled hot cells. (from Nuclear power) -
The nuclear fuel cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and manufactured into nuclear fuel (1), which is delivered to a nuclear power plant. After use, the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a final repository (3). In nuclear reprocessing, 95% of spent fuel can potentially be recycled to be returned to use in a power plant (4). (from Nuclear power) -
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System with all three towers under load (from Solar power) -
Global energy usage is highly unequal. High income countries such as the United States and Canada use 100 times as much energy per capita as some of the least developed countries in Africa. (from Sustainable energy) -
Natural gas processing plant in Aderklaa, Lower Austria (from Natural gas) -
Part of the 354 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) parabolic trough solar complex in northern San Bernardino County, California (from Solar power) -
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Wind turbines in Xinjiang, China -
Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since 1986, 50,000 households were displaced after radiation leaked into the air, soil and sea. Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish. (from Nuclear power) -
Benefitting from favorable policies and declining costs of modules, photovoltaic solar installation has grown consistently. In 2023, China added 60% of the world's new capacity. (from Solar power) -
By 2025, investment in the energy transition had grown to about twice that for fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal). (from Sustainable energy)
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The U.S. and Russia have been the predominant producers of natural gas. (from Natural gas) -
Anacortes Refinery, on the north end of March Point southeast of Anacortes, Washington, United States (from Oil refinery) -
Map of solar resources from World bank (from Solar power) -
The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland (from Nuclear power) -
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Crude oil is separated into fractions by fractional distillation. The fractions at the top of the fractionating column have lower boiling points than the fractions at the bottom. The heavy bottom fractions are often cracked into lighter, more useful products. All of the fractions are processed further in other refining units. (from Oil refinery) -
Buildings in the Solar Settlement at Schlierberg, Germany, produce more energy than they consume. They incorporate rooftop solar panels and are built for maximum energy efficiency. (from Sustainable energy) -
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A parabolic collector concentrates sunlight onto a tube in its focal point. (from Solar power) -
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Dry cask storage vessels storing spent nuclear fuel assemblies (from Nuclear power) -
Kenyan dairy farmer lighting a biogas lamp. Biogas produced from biomass is a renewable energy source that can be burned for cooking or light. (from Sustainable energy) -
World map showing where people without access to electricity lived in 2016—mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent (from Sustainable energy) -
Honda Civic GX, a natural gas-powered automobile sold in North America from 1998 to 2015 (from Natural gas) -
Natural gas drilling rig in Texas, US (from Natural gas) -
The status of nuclear power globally (click for legend) (from Nuclear power) -
The Warwick Castle water-powered generator house, used for the generation of electricity for the castle from 1894 until 1940 (from Hydroelectricity) -
A comparison of levelized cost of energy (LCOE) over time for nuclear power and other sources. While wind turbines and solar panels can be mass-produced and thus enjoy learning curve effects, nuclear are almost always one-of-a-kind projects due to the limited number of reactors being built. The source of this chart, Our World in Data notes that the costs presented here is the global average, and these costs were driven up by 2 projects in the United States. The organization recognises that the median cost of the most exported and produced nuclear energy facility in the 2010s the South Korean APR1400, remained "constant", including in export. (from Nuclear power) -
Yearly solar generation by continent (from Solar power) -
The US has been counting on private industry to lead in fusion power, while more recently China's government has made fusion a national priority. In 2025, $2.1 billion was poured into a single Chinese state-owned fusion company, an amount two and a half times the U.S. Energy Department's annual fusion budget. (from Nuclear power) -
Actual annual deployments of solar PV vs predictions by the IEA for the period 2002–2016. Predictions have largely and consistently underestimated actual growth. (from Solar power) -
Deaths caused as a result of fossil fuel use (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of sustainable energy (rectangles barely visible in chart). (from Sustainable energy)
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A breakdown of the products made from a typical barrel of US oil (from Oil refinery) -
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Refinery, Bayport Industrial Complex, Harris County, Texas (from Oil refinery) -
Sample of diesel fuel (from Oil refinery) -
Manhole for domestic gas supply, London, UK (from Natural gas) -
Cracks at the historic Town Hall of Staufen im Breisgau presumed due to damage from geothermal drilling (from Geothermal power) -
The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), used in several space missions such as the Curiosity Mars rover (from Nuclear power) -
Measurement of the tailrace and forebay rates at the Limestone Generating Station in Manitoba, Canada (from Hydroelectricity) -
The oil refinery in Haifa, Israel, is capable of processing about 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of crude oil a year. Its two cooling towers are landmarks of the city's skyline. (from Oil refinery) -
The outdoor section of a heat pump. In contrast to oil and gas boilers, they use electricity and are highly efficient. As such, electrification of heating can significantly reduce emissions. (from Sustainable energy) -
Peoples Gas Manlove Field natural gas storage area in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Illinois. In the foreground (left) is one of the numerous wells for the underground storage area, with an LNG plant, and above-ground storage tanks are in the background (right). (from Natural gas) -
Electrification rates of different countries compared to OECD Europe (from Sustainable energy) -
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Part of the Senftenberg Solarpark, a solar photovoltaic power plant located on former open-pit mining areas close to the city of Senftenberg, in Eastern Germany. The 78 MW Phase 1 of the plant was completed within three months. (from Solar power) -
Example of energy policy decisions: The goal of the Southern Gas Corridor, which connects the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe, is to reduce Europe's dependency on Russian gas. (from Energy policy) -
Geothermal generation by country, 2021 (from Geothermal power) -
Nuclear fuel assemblies being inspected before entering a pressurized water reactor in the United States (from Nuclear power)
Quotations
- "We must not waste time and energy disputing the IPCC's report or debating the right machinery for making progress. The International Panel's work should be taken as our sign post: and the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organisation as the principal vehicles for reaching our destination." – Margaret Thatcher, 1990
- "The Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt." – George W. Bush, 2005
- "We strongly believe that the efforts needed to combat climate change do not have to be regarded as constraints on the economy. Instead, they can be used as a lever for new, green technology." – Maud Olofsson, 2007
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