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35 Cards in this Set
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Hydraulic fracturing
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Used to reach petroleum deposits deeper underground, deeper under water, and at lower concentrations. Involves drilling deep into the earth and then angling the drill horizontally once it meets a shale formation. An electric charge sets off targeted explosions that perforate the drilling pipe and create fractures in the shale. Drillers then pump a slurry of water, sand, and chemicals down the pipe under great pressure. The sand lodges in the fractures and holds them open, while some of the liquids return to the surface. Natural gas trapped in the shale migrates into the fractures and rises to the surface through the drilling pipe. boosts production of natural gas
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Fossil fuels
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Highly combustible substances formed underground over millions of years from the buried remains of ancient organisms.
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Electricity
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A secondary form of energy that we can transfer over long distances and apply to many uses. a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons or protons), either statically as an accumulation of charge or dynamically as a current. |
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Net Energy
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Net energy = Energy returned - Energy invested
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EROI
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Energy returned on investment ratio = Energy returned/Energy invested |
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Anaerobic environment |
An environment with little or no oxygen fossils fuels form in this sort of environment |
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Coal
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World's most abundant fossil fuel Hard, blackish substance formed from organic matter compressed under very high pressure -> dense, solid carbon structures When water is squeezed out of such material as pressure and heat increase little decomposition takes place proliferation of swamps 300-400 mya strip mining, subsurface mining, mountaintop removal Cooking, steam engines, generate electricity |
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Natural gas |
gas consisting of methane and lesser, variable, amounts of other volatile hydrocarbons. Formed from organic material that drifted down through coastal marine waters mya and was buried in sediments on the ocean floor Trapped under impermeable, dense rock layer generate electricity, cook and heat homes, |
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Petroleum |
term used to refer to oil and gas collectively
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Oil (crude oil)
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Sludgelike liquid that contains a mix of various hydrocarbon molecules. Formed from accumulation of marine life buried under sediment on the ocean floor. fuel for vehicles, industry and manufacturing, plastics, lubricants, fabrics and pharmaceuticals |
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Coal mining techniques |
stripmining subsurface mining Mountaintop removal |
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Exploratory drilling |
Once a promising location is found, a company drills small holes to great depths. If enough oil or gas is encountered, extraction may begin.
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Primary extraction
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The initial drilling and pumping of oil and gas
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Secondary Extraction
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When oil or gas is extracted using new technology or approaches to force the remaining oil or gas out by pressure.
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Directional drilling |
Form of drilling that lessen some of the environmental impacts because drillers bore down vertically and then curve to drill horizontally. It allows them to follow horizontal layered deposits and cover a large underground area with fewer and smaller drill pads.
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Proven recoverable reserve
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The amount of a fossil fuel that is technologically and economically feasible to remove under current conditions. They increase as extraction tech. improves or as market prices rise.
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Refining process
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At a refinery, hydrocarbon molecules are separated by size and are chemically transformed to create specialized fuels for heating, cooking, and transportation and to create lubricating oils, asphalts, and the precursors of plastics and other petrochemical products. |
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Reserves-to-production ratio |
Used to estimate how long remaining oil will last. Amount of remaining reserves/annual rate of production (extraction and processing)
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Peak oil Hubbert's peak |
Decline of production once reserves are depleted halfway. U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 |
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Oil sands (or tar sands)
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moist sand and clay containing 1-20% bitumen, a thick and heavy form of petroleum. Crude oil deposits degraded and chemically altered by water erosion and bacterial decomposition.
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Oil Shale
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Sedimentary rock filled with kerogen that can be processed to produce liquid petroleum. Oil shale is formed by the same processes that form crude oil but occurs when kerogen was not buried deeply enough or subjected to enough heat and pressure to form oil.
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Methane Hydrate
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An ice-like solid consisting of molecules of methane embedded in a crystal lattice of water molecules. Most is found in sediments on the continental shelves and in the Artic. Methane hydrate is a potential alternative fossil fuel.
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Carbon capture |
Technologies or approaches that remove carbon dioxide from power plant or other emissions, in an effort to mitigate global climate change
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Carbon sequestration |
Technologies or approaches to sequester, or store, carbon dioxide from industrial emissions (eg., underground under pressure in locations where it will not seep out) in an effort to mitigate global climate change. The term can also refer to the natural sequestration of carbon by plants through photosynthesis
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OPEC |
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Seller nations can control energy prices, forcing buyer nations to pay more as supplies dwindle. |
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Energy efficiency |
The ability to obtain a given result or amount of output while using less energy input. Technologies permitting greater energy efficiency are one main route to energy conservation.
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Energy intensity
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Energy use per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP). A lower energy intensity indicates greater energy efficiency.
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Energy conservation
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The practice of reducing energy use as a way of extending the lifetime of our fossil fuel supplies, of being less wasteful, and of reducing our impact on the environment. Conservation can result from behavioral decisions or from technologies that demonstrate energy efficiency.
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Cogeneration
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A practice in which the extra heat generated in the production of electricity is captured and put to use heating workplaces and homes, as well as producing other kinds of power.
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Nonrenewable energy |
A nonrenewable resource is a resource of economic value that cannot be readily replaced by natural means on a level equal to its consumption. Most fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas and coal are considered nonrenewable resources in that their use is not sustainable because their formation takes billions of years.
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Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Standards |
The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are regulations in the United States, first enacted by the United States Congress in 1975,[1] after the 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargo, to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks (trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles) produced for sale in the United States.
Set benchmarks for auto manufacturers to meet |
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Nuclear Energy
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The energy that holds together protons and neutrons within the nucleus of an atom. Several processes, each of which involves transforming isotopes of one element into isotopes of other elements, can convert nuclear energy into thermal energy, which is then used to generate electricity.
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Nuclear Fission |
The conversion of the energy within an atom's nucleus to usable thermal energy by splitting apart atomic nuclei.
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Nuclear reactor
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A facility within a nuclear power plant that initiates and controls the process of nuclear fission in order to generate electricity.
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