Energy: An Overview of Type, Form, Storage, Advantages, Efficiency, and Their Impact

Abstract

Recently, energy has been a research area due to increasing awareness of its advantages. Energy is essential for all daily activities and helps the mind and body grows; it has the ability to determine the growth of an economy and the development of a country. However, energy has its disadvantages. Nonrenewable energy is energy such as fossil fuel, which is the main cause of air pollutant emissions, such as carbon dioxide, synthetic fluorinated gases, water vapor, and methane gases; and nuclear energy, its wastes are the main cause of air pollutant. They are also the main cause of global warming, human health, climate change, and environmental degradation from the extraction up to use. Nowadays, fossil fuel energy is used in production and use of energy in all sectors of the world. Nuclear energy is the most powerful energy source. Renewable energy, such as solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, tidal, wave, and hydrogen energy, produces zero greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, reducing air pollution and combating climate change, improving public health, mitigating smog and acid rain, and long-term sustainability. The production and use of this renewable energy has been increasing, but it is not sufficient to meet the demand of all sectors in the world. Hydrogen energy is the future of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, free of CO₂ emissions, and radioactive waste. The hydrogen economy envisions using hydrogen as a clean, versatile, and sustainable energy carrier to replace fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We must control the impacts of energy first by knowing the types of energy and their impact, and then totally replace nonrenewable energy with renewable energy in the future by increasing the efficiency of renewable energy. To increase the efficiency of energy production, energy storage (storing high amount of energy in a small space) uses nanomaterials and green nanomaterial technologies. International cooperation and policy alignment will be essential for driving global transition to a sustainable energy future. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the energy sector becomes more sustainable, efficient, and resilient, supporting the transition toward a low-carbon future. Harmonizing energy policies, sharing best practices, and aligning climate commitments can facilitate the development of a coordinated approach to addressing energy challenges on a global scale. By incorporating these considerations into energy planning and decision-making, stakeholders can work toward building a future energy system that is sustainable, resilient, and capable of meeting the energy needs of a rapidly changing world. In this study, a critical review of the type, form, storage, advantages, efficiency, respective, and their impact are reviewed. The amounts of energy produced by each type in different years are discussed.