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176 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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A strategy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels |
Increase use of alternatives |
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A strategy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels |
Reduce use of energy |
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This involves the collection and transformation of solar energy |
Direct Solar Energy |
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This type of solar power use requires collectors and pumps |
Active solar heating |
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This type of solar power does not use mechanical devices |
Passive solar heating |
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Active solar heating actually heats this |
Water |
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Passive solar heating achieves heat through what process? |
Convection |
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What type of device is used to collect solar energy? |
Photovoltaic Cells |
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Name three drawbacks to photovoltaic cells |
•low efficiency •high square footage requirements •toxic to produce |
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How do photovoltaic cells work? |
Sunlight is converted to electricity |
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What is solar-thermal electric generation? |
The collection of sunlight through mirrors or lenses, which heat a substance (often water or oil) to high temperatures (steam generators) |
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How is solar energy stored? |
As chemical energy |
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What is solar generated hydrogen energy used for? |
To power cars and heat buildings, even some cell phones |
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What is a benefit of solar generated hydrogen energy? |
Energy can be stored in fuel cells |
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What is a drawback to solar generated hydrogen energy? |
Fuel cells are expensive and large |
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What type of energy is solar generated hydrogen energy stored as? |
Chemical energy |
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What portion of the world relies on biomass for energy? |
1/2 the population |
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What is biomass? |
Organic matter; plant or animal material used as fuel |
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What state can biomass be found in? |
Solid, liquid, gas |
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What are biomass digesters? |
Anaerobic digestion is a collection of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen |
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What is the end product of a biomass digester? |
methanol or ethanol |
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What is biodiesel? |
a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters. |
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What powers wind energy? |
Surface air currents moving as they're heated by the sun |
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What are the best places for wind energy? |
Great plains, Sierra Nevadas |
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What are two drawbacks to wind energy? |
•Dangerous to wildlife (birds, bats) •Disrupt view |
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Where do you find wind energy being collected in the United States? |
Minnesota, Texas, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska |
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The world gains _% of its total energy from hydropower |
19% |
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What type of water is needed for hydropower? |
Flowing or falling water |
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Which type of renewable energy is most efficient? |
Hydropower |
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What percent of hydropower is renewable? |
90% |
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Name three drawbacks to hydropower |
• Water backs up, causing floods • Causes Schistosomiasis or “snail fever” |
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Where is geothermal energy derived from? |
Earth's core |
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What is geothermal energy used for? |
Heating and generating electricity |
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Where is geothermal energy captured? |
Wells (300 ft), volcanoes, geysers |
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What is the hydrothermal reservoir? |
Naturally occurring hot water reservoirs, typically found at depths of less than 6 miles below the Earth's surface where there is heat, water and a permeable material (permeability in rock formations results from fractures, joints, pores, etc.). |
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Who is the world's largest producer of geothermal energy? |
the United States |
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Name two energy solutions for the future |
Conservation and efficiency |
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What is a ground effect heat pump? |
A geothermal pump used to heat a building |
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What is a drawback to a ground effect heat pump? |
They are expensive |
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What are two drawbacks to geothermal energy? |
•The smell; most geothermal water contains H2S, Hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. • Sinkholes |
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Through what process is nuclear energy achieved? |
Fission |
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In the nuclear energy process, a ______ is bombarded |
Uranium 235 nutron |
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Nuclear reactions can go out of control if this happens |
a free neutron is released out of the fission process |
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how big are the uranium rods used in a nuclear power plant? |
the size of a pencil eraser |
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how much coal can one uranium rod replace |
1 ton of coal |
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What process is used at most nuclear reactors |
Steam generator |
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Name three nuclear accidents |
Three mile island, Chernobyl, Fukushima |
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What is fusion? |
The fusing of two or more lighter atoms into a larger one. Fusion occurs in stars, such as the sun. |
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What is fission? |
The splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller ones. Fission reaction does not normally occur in nature. |
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What is the biggest problem with nuclear accidents? |
Isotopes released from reaction are decaying and releasing radiation |
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Name three drawbacks to nuclear power |
• Nonrenewable • Plant Safety • Waste products |
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Name the locations most promising for the use of tidal energy |
Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Puget Sound in WA |
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What is required for tidal energy to reach high enough levels to be useful? |
Drastic tidal changes |
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What must be built in order to capture tidal energy? |
A dam |
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Where is energy consumption highest? |
Developing countries |
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Where is the highest increase in energy consumption currently occurring? |
China and India |
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What is causing energy consumption in the US to level out? |
Technological advances |
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Name four reasons that US energy consumption has leveled off |
• Superior insulation • Energy Star Appliances • New Light-bulb Technology • Recycling Waste Heat |
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What did the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act create? |
Standards for refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers. |
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When was the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act passed? |
1987 |
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Name three types of light bulbs |
•compact fluorescent light (CFL) •light-emitting diode (LED) •incandescent light bulb |
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What is the light bulb law passed in 2007? |
It requires about 25 percent greater efficiency (that is, less energy use) for household light bulbs that have traditionally used between 40 and 100 watts of electricity. |
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What is cogeneration of energy? |
In separate production of electricity, someenergy must be discarded as waste heat, but in cogeneration some of this thermal energyis put to use. |
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Define CHP |
Combined heat and power |
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What can CHP or coenergy be used for? |
cooking food, heating buildings, heating water, powering electric devices |
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Where is the most energy consumed? |
In homes |
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What is surface mining? |
A form of mining including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed. |
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What is subsurface mining? |
The extraction of minerals and ores from underground. It consist of digging shafts into the earth for ore. One con would be that the mines make a lot of hazardous acid mine drainage |
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What is mountaintop removal? |
A form of surface mining that involves the mining of the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. |
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What type of mining is typically done for coal? |
Surface or 'opencast' mining, and underground mining. |
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What are the environmental impacts of burning coal? |
•Acid and toxic mineral drainage from mines, along with the removed topsoil become acid mine drainage pollution. •Dangerous landslides due to lack of vegetation •Acid deposition from air pollution •Greenhouse gases increase |
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What are the benefits of using nuclear power vs coal? |
•Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions •Cheaper •Less Destructive to Environment |
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Name ways in which we can "clean" coal. |
• Scrubbers which clean the plant's exhaust • Fluidized-bed combustion where crushed coal is mixed with limestone particles |
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Where are oil reserves found ? |
All over the world. Top oil producing countries are •Saudi Arabia |
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How is oil refined? |
Fractionation via heat |
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What are the environmental side effects of petroleum refining? |
•Refineries can leak chemicals into the air, soil, and groundwater •Refineries can suffer accidental fires and breakages that produce more pollution •Refineries can create sites that are heavily toxic for future generation |
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What petroleum byproduct has >80 carbons and a boiling point of >580c |
asphalt |
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What >70 carbons and a boiling point of >490c |
candles, fuel oil for ships and power stations |
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What petroleum byproduct has a boiling point of ~400c |
crude oil |
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What petroleum byproduct has >60 carbons and a boiling point of 350-575c |
motor oil, feedstock for cracking |
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What petroleum byproduct has 16-60 carbons and a boiling point of 260-350c |
diesel fuel, feedstock for cracking
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What petroleum byproduct has 10-16 carbons and a boiling point of 180-260c |
kerosene for home heaters, jet fuel
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What petroleum byproduct has 5-10 carbons and a boiling point of 30-180c |
gasoline
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What petroleum byproduct has 1-4 carbons and a boiling point of 0-30c |
bottled and natural gas
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During petroleum distillation __ goes up |
Vapors |
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During petroleum distillation __ goes down or out |
Liquid |
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What are the problems with offshore drilling? |
•Drilling can introduce toxic metals, such as lead, chromium and mercury, and potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene, and xylene into the ocean. •Drilling can pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles a day. |
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How much energy did oil and natural gas provide to the United States in 2010? |
62% |
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How much energy did coal provide to the US in 2010? |
21% |
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How much energy did nuclear power provide to the US in 2010? |
9% |
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How much energy did renewables provide to the US in 2010? |
7% |
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How much energy did liquid biofuels provide to the US in 2010? |
1% |
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What year was the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) passed? |
1977 |
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What is the SMCRA? |
It is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. |
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What two programs does the SMCRA have? |
One for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. |
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On Dec 22, 2008, a pond containing 4 million m3 of fly ash slurry broke open in what town? |
Kingston, Tennessee |
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What is fly ash slurry? |
A combination of water, dirt, and up to three types of ash: •Fly Ash, a very fine, powdery material composed mostly of silica •Bottom Ash, a coarse, angular ash particle •Boiler Slag, molten bottom ash from slag tap and cyclone type furnaces that turns into pellets |
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What Tennessee rivers were contaminated by fly ash slurry in the Kingston incident? |
The Emory and Clinch Rivers, which feed the Tennessee River, the Ohio River and the Mississippi River |
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What percentage of energy consumption in the United States is due to industry? |
31% |
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What percentage of energy consumption in the United States is due to homes and offices? |
41% |
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In the United States, what percentage of energy consumption is due to transportation? |
28% |
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Where are the highest known deposits of recoverable coal located? |
• United States • Russia •China • Austrailia |
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How was coal formed? |
Millions of years ago, ancient plants used energy from the sun to convert CO2 into complex organic compounds. When these plants died, the carbon was stored underground. Over a long period of time, pressure and high temperatures turned the plant material into coal. |
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What does pressure and high temperature do to plant material to transform it into coal? |
It forces out the water and increases the energy content of the chemical bonds. |
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According to the World Coal Association, how long will current known coal reserves last at the present rate of consumption? |
100 years |
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How long would coal resources too expensive to develop last, should we actually pursue them? |
1000 or more years |
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What year was the Clean Air Amendment Act passed? |
1990 |
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What did the Clean Air Amendment Act provide for? |
Incentives for utility companies to convert to clean coal technologies |
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How many facilities are there in the United States with the capability to return Liquefied Natural Gas to its gaseous state (gasification plants)? |
Four |
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How does natural gas compare to petroleum? |
Natural gas contains only a few hydrocarbons: methane and smaller amounts of ethane, propane and butane. |
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What four areas is natural gas primarily used in? |
• electricity generation •transportation •commercial cooling •feedstock for producing plastics and fertilizers |
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What makes natural gas ideal for a vehicle fuel? |
Vehicles emit •33% less carbon dioxide •80-90% fewer hydrocarbons •70% less carbon monoxide •90% fewer toxic emissions •almost no soot |
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As of 2011, how many natural gas vehicles are there in the United States? |
150,000 |
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How many natural gas vehicles were there worldwide in 2011? |
10 million |
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What is the main disadvantage to natural gas? |
Deposits are often far away from where the energy will be used and it costs four times more to transport than crude oil |
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How many regasification plants does America need, according to industry experts? |
40 |
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How much of the world's electricity is provided via hydropower? |
18% |
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How much of the world's electricity is provided via nuclear energy? |
17% |
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How many people worldwide do not have access to electricity? |
2 billion |
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How much electricity does wind power provide globally? |
1% |
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How much electricity does wind power provide in Denmark? |
26% |
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How much electricity does France get from nuclear power? |
78% |
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How much energy does the world use every day? |
320 kilowatt-hours, equal to each person burning 22 light bulbs nonstop |
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what is hydrolic fracturing? (fracking) |
the use of pressurized water and chemicals to extract natural gas from deep layers of shale |
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how much more natural gas was achieved in 2010 vs 2005 via fracking? |
seven times as much |
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In what year do predictions say we will run out of natural gas? |
2035 |
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What are some of the environmental impacts of using oil? |
•Release of CO2 into the atmosphere •Acid deposition •Formation of photochemical smog •Nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere •Oil spills create environmental damage on massive scales |
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What are some of the environmental impacts of usingnatural gas? |
• Relativly clean energy source • Natural gas leaks can cause massive explosions |
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This act, passed in 1990, established liability for damages to natural resources resulting from catastrophic oil spills |
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 |
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The ___ hit ____ and spilled 260,000 barrels of crude oil into Prince William Sound along the coast of Alasaka |
the Exxon Valdez, Bligh Reef |
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This oil drilling platform exploded, spilling over 4 milling barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico |
Deepwater Horizon |
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This year saw the largest oil spill (in millions of barrels of oil) |
1910 |
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What was the largest oil spill in history? |
When a drilling rig hit a pressured oil pocket in Kern County, California in 1910 and spilled 9 million barrels of oil |
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What was the second largest oil spill in history? |
When the Iraqi army dumped 6 million barrels of oil in Kuwait in 1991; many wells were also set on fire. |
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What is enrichment? |
The process by which uranium ore is refined after mining to increase the concentration of fissionable U-235 |
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What three isotopes are in uranium ore? |
•U-238 (99.28%) •U-235 (0.71%) •U-234 (>.01%) |
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How much uranium-235 is in each uranium dioxide pellet? |
3% |
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Once the uranium dioxide pellet are placed in closed pipes they are known as __; together, they are called _____. |
fuel rods, fuel assemblies |
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why can a bomb-like nuclear explosion not take place at a nuclear power plant? |
because, unlike bomb-grade material, nuclear fuel has a very low percentage of u-235 |
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what are the four main parts of a nuclear reactor? |
•reactor core •steam generator •turbine •condenser |
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What was the most serious commercial nuclear reactor accident in the United States? |
Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania; a result of human error after a cooling system failure. |
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Name two additional nuclear reactor accidents, including dates and locations. |
•Chernobyl, Ukraine, 1986 •Fukushima Daiichi, Japan, 2011 |
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What are the health consequences of radiation exposure? |
•Leukemia •Thyroid Cancer •Abnormalities of the Immune System |
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What is the concern over nuclear fuel? |
That it could be used to make weapons |
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low-level radioactive wastes |
solids, liquids or gasses that give off small amounts of ionizing radiation |
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high-level radioactive wastes |
solids, liquids or gases that initially give off large amounts of ionizing radiation |
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where are low level radioactive wastes produced? |
nuclear power plants, university research labs, nuclear medicine departments, industry |
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where is low level radioactive waste stored? |
four sites: •Washington State •South Carolina •Nevada •Utah |
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Where is high level radioactive waste produced? |
power plants, weapons facilities |
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where is high level radioactive waste stored? |
no where permanent |
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Nuclear Waste Policy Act did what? |
put the burden of developing permanent sites for radioactive wastes on the federal government and required the site to be operational by 1998 |
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What site was chosen for radioactive waste disposal? |
Yucca Mountain |
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What is the current status of the Yucca Mountain project? |
In 2009 the Obama administration withdrew support and as of 2012 no alternative has been proposed. |
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What three options are available for decommissioning a nuclear power plant? |
•Storage (50-100 years of guarding) •Entombment •Immediate dismantling |
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What is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge |
A section of northeastern Alaska protected by Congress in 1960 (and expanded in 1980) because of its distinctive wildlife. |
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What controversy surrounds the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline and drilling for oil in the refuge |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 2-10 cents per kilowatt |
Hydropower |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 6-9 cents per kilowatt |
Biomass |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 3-8 cents per kilowatt |
Geothermal |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 4-7 cents per kilowatt |
Wind |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 5-13 cents per kilowatt |
Solar thermal |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 5-7 cents per kilowatt |
Natural Gas |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 6-8 cents per kilowatt |
Nuclear Power
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 6-8 cents per kilowatt |
Coal |
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This form of energy has a generating cost of 15-25 cents per kilowatt |
Photovoltaics |
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What is a fuel cell? |
A device that directly converts chemical energy into electricity through electrodes which require hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air. |
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What is a biogas digester? |
Animal manure is placed in a composter, releasing methane gas which can be used for cooking. |
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How often does a wind turbine's blades turn? |
16 to 60 revolutions per minute |
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What makes a CFL bulb preferable? |
uses 25% of the energy, lasts up to 15% longer |
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List six features of a super-insulated building |
•Few or no windows on north, east, and west •No large furnace •Concrete foundation •Excellent insulation •Small south facing windows, insulating glass •Air to heat exchanger |
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What is the energy consumption difference of an appliance from today versus one from 1970? |
80% less energy consumed |
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What is net metering? |
A program where excess energy homeowners generate is supplied to the utility's power grid and their meter runs backward, offsetting their energy costs. |
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How much electricity is lost in transmission? |
10% |
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What temperature should a water heater be set at? |
140 degrees |
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What temperature should a dishwasher be set at? |
120 degrees |
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What does LEED stand for? |
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design |
