We use energy every day. It surrounds us in different forms, such as light, heat,
and electricity. We also use energy to do our work and to play. Humans have invented
thousands of machines and appliances that use energy and make our work easier. Machines who heat our homes and get ourselves from place to place. Some of these
machines use electrical energy, while others, like automobiles, use the energy
stored in substances such as gasoline.
Energy is easily converted from one form to another. This is an important and
very useful property, because we rarely produce energy using the same device,
or in the same form as what is needed for a specific task. Since energy is almost
all the time produced at distance from user, we also need to transmit it from
its location to where it is needed. This is done by means of wires in the case
of electricity, or pipelines or tank trucks in the case of oil or natural gas.
Not all forms of energy can be easily stored or transported. For instance, light
is impossible to store directly. It has to be converted to some other form, such
as chemical energy first.
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Marine engineering 