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84 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Admiral Hyman G. Rickover |
- a four-star admiral of the U.S.Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and is known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy"
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Anthropogenic
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- describes pollutants caused or produced by human activity
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1973 Arab-Israeli War
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- Also known as the Yom Kippur War and the October War, this war was fought by a coalition of Arab states (led by Egypt and Syria) against Israel in October 1973.
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Arab Oil Embargo of 1973
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- The Arab-dominated Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an oil embargo on the United States and other nations that provided aid to Israel during the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, which prompted a disruption of the oil supply in the U.S.and other nations dependent on foreign oil.
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Biodiesel
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- vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel fuel that can be used alone or blended with petrodiesel
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Biofuels
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- fuels that are produced from living organisms
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Cap rock
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- a harder, more resistant rock type that overlays a weaker, less resistant rock type; in the petroleum industry, cap rock is any non-permeable formation that can trap oil, gas, or water.
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Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
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- the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from power plants, transporting it to a storage site, and depositing it underground so that it will not enter the atmosphere
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Carson, Rachel
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- American marine biologist and author known for calling attention to environmental problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides
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Chernobyl disaster
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- a nuclear accident that took place at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, (then part of the U.S.S.R.) on April 26, 1986, due to an explosion and fire that released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere
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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
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- organic compounds widely used as refrigerants, propellants, and sol-vents whose manufacture has been phased out by the Montreal Protocol (which entered into force in 1989) because they contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere
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Clean Air Act
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- a U.S.federal law passed in 1963 designed to control national air pollution
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Clean Water Act (CWA)
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- a U.S.federal law passed in 1972 that governs water pollution by establishing the goal of eliminating the release of toxic substances into water and ensuring that surface waters meet standards necessary to support human sports and recreation
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Cogeneration
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- the use of a heat engine to simultaneously generate electricity and use the waste heat; also known as combined heat and power (CHP)
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Combined-cycle
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- An assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, such that the exhaust of one heat engine is used as the heat source for the other, to produce steam and then electricity
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Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs)
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- fluorescent lamps designed to replace incandescent lamps because they use less electric power, last longer, and produce the same amount of visible light
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Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund)
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- enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980, and designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances
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Concentrating solar power
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- a system that uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a small area, then converts this light to heat, which drives a heat engine and produces electricity
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Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
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- First enacted by Congress in 1975, CAFE regulations are meant to increase the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks sold in the United States.
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DDT
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- an organochlorine insecticide used in World War II to combat malaria and typhus among civilians and troops; its negative environmental and human health impacts were explored in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.
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Demand response
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- a program that facilitates changes in normal electricity consumption by end-use customers in response to changes in the price of electricity, often through incentive payments, at times of high wholesale market prices, or when system reliability is jeopardized
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Demand shifting
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- programs that help shift electricity consumption away from hours of peak demand
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Department of Energy
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- a Cabinet-level department of the U.S.federal government that develops policies related to energy and is responsible for the national nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production
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Earth Day
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- an annual event celebrated on April 22nd that is intended to demonstrate support for environmental protection
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"Earthrise"
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- the name given to a photograph of the earth taken in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission, touted as the most influential environmental photograph ever taken and used as the primary symbol for the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970
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Ehrlich, Paul
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- an American biologist and educator who authored the controversial 1968 book The Population Bomb, which warned of the negative consequences of population growth and its strain on limited resources
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Electricity market
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- a system for effecting the purchase, sale, and/or trade of power and energy
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Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA)
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- Passed by the 110th Congress in 2007, EISA's purpose was to move the U.S. toward great¬er energy independence and security by increasing the production of renewable fuels; increasing energy efficiency in products, buildings, and vehicles; improving the energy performance of the Federal Government; and promoting research for carbon capture and sequestration.
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Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992
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- Passed in 1992 by the 102nd Congress, this law set goals, created mandates, and amended utility laws to increase clean energy usage and improve energy efficiency in the United States.
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Energy Policy Act of 2005
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- an act that provided tax incentives and loan guarantees for renewable energy and coal and also exempted oil and gas producers from certain requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act
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Energy Star
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- an international standard for energy-efficient consumer products
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Environmental Defense Fund
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- a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that works on environmental issues, including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and human health
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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- a U.S.federal agency created in 1970 to protect human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
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Ethanol
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- a volatile, flammable alcohol often used as a motor fuel and fuel additive
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Fossil fuel
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- any naturally occurring carbon or hydrocarbon fuel, such as coal, petroleum, peat, and natural gas formed by the decomposition of prehistoric organisms
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Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
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- the location of a nuclear accident caused by a tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011; it is considered the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
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Geothermal energy
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- thermal energy generated and stored within the earth and used for heating applications in the residential, industrial, and agricultural sectors
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Horizontal drilling
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- the practice of drilling non-vertical wells to increase the exposed section of the drill and allow more wellheads to be grouped together, reducing surface area disturbance
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Hydraulic fracturing
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- a technique in which a mix¬ture of water, chemicals, and sand is injected at high pressure into a wellbore to create small fractures in rock, which brings natural gas, petroleum, and brine water to the surface; this process is commonly used in wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas.
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Hydrocarbons
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- organic compounds made entire¬ly of carbon and hydrogen; the primary energy source for most nations
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Incandescent light bulb
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- a traditional, less efficient electric light that produces light with a filament wire heated to a high temperature by an electric current
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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- an international scientific intergovernmental organization established in 1988 by the United Nations to provide comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information about the risks of climate change
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International Energy Agency (IEA)
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- an intergovernmental organization established in 1974 (in response to the 1973 oil crisis) to act as a policy advisor to its member states
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Iranian Revolution
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- events in 1978-79 that involved the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty that had been supported by the U.S.and the United Kingdom
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Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
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- semiconductor light sources used as indicator lamps in many devices and for general lighting
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Lumens
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- a measure of the total amount of visible light emitted by a source
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Market deregulation
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- transition from vertically integrated utilities setting rates for electricity to consumer choice on the basis of competitive prices and products; this process has been slowed or halted in several states, notably California, due to market failures and price gouging that cost consumers and states billions of dollars.
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Montreal Protocol
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- an international treaty that came into effect on January 1, 1982, and was designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion
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National Energy Act of 1978
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- a legislative response by Congress to the 1973 energy crisis; it includes the following statutes: the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, the Energy Tax Act, the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act, and the Natural Gas Policy Act.
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National Energy Conservation Policy Act
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- Passed into law in 1978, this Act serves as the foundation of most current energy requirements and is the underlying authority for Federal energy manage¬ment goals and requirements.
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National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
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- a 1970 U.S.environmental law that established a national policy of protecting the environment and created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
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Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
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- a nonprofit international environmental advocacy group established to seek sustainable policies from federal, state, and local governments, as well as from industry and corporations
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Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
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- an intergovernmental organization formed in 1960 whose mission is to coordinate the policies of oil-producing countries, and secure a steady income for the member states and a sup¬ply of oil for its consumers; its current member states include Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
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Peak demand
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- In the energy sector, peak demand is a period in which electricity is expected to be provided for a sustained amount of time at a significantly higher than average supply level.
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Peak oil
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- the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached
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Permeable
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- allowing liquids or gas to flow through (e.g., the extent to which air or water can flow through a rock or earth material)
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Petrochemicals
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- chemical products derived from petroleum
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Photovoltaics (PV)
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- a method of generating electricity by converting solar radiation (sunlight) into direct current electricity using semiconductors
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Policy
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- a principle or course of action to guide decision-making
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Porous
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- having small holes or spaces (in a rock or other material) that allow air or liquid to pass through
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Price controls
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- governmental restrictions on the price that can be charged for goods and services in a market in order to maintain affordability, prevent price gouging, and slow inflation
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Progressive Era
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- a period between the 1890s and the 1920s in the U.S.that was marked by a desire for political reform and a push for efficiency
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Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA)
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- Passed as part of the National Energy Act, PURPA helped enable some domestic renew¬able energy use by forcing electric utilities to buy power from non-traditional power producers.
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Public utility
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- an organization that maintains the infrastructure necessary to provide a public service, such as electricity, that is often regulated by a public utilities commission
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Public utility commission (PUC)
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- a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a public utility
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Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA)
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- PUHCA was passed to regulate electric utilities by either limiting their operations to a single state or by forcing divestitures so that each became a single integrated system limited to a single state.The Energy Policy Act of 2005 repealed PUHCA in its entirety.
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Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
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- Created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and strengthened by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS program requires transportation fuels sold in the U.S.to contain a minimum volume of renew¬able fuels.
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Renewable Portfolio Standard
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- a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources
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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
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- Enacted in 1976, this is the principal U.S.federal law that governs the disposal of solid and hazardous waste.
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Quad -
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A quad is a unit of energy commonly used in energy analysis.A quad, technically, is a unit of energy equal to 1015 British Thermal Units (BTUs)—another commonly used unit of energy.A single BTU is the amount of energy required to heat or cool one pound of water by a single degree Fahrenheit.So a quad is a significant amount of energy.In 2009, the U.S.used only about 97 quads of energy.
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Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
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- Passed in 1974, the SDWA is a federal law that required the Environmental Protection Agency to set and enforce standards for drinking water quality for the public.
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Seven Sisters
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- a term coined in the 1950s to describe the seven oil companies that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s
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Shale gas
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- natural gas that is trapped within shale—fine-grained sedimentary rock—formation
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Silent Spring
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- Written by Rachel Carson in 1962, this widely read book documented the detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment, particularly on birds.
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Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs)
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- SMRs are a new nuclear power plant design with an out¬put of less than 300 MW; they are considered more efficient and secure than traditional nuclear power plants.
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Smart grid
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- a modernized electric grid that uses information and communications technology to gather and act on information in an automated fashion to improve efficiency, reliability, and security
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Source rock
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- rocks from which hydrocarbons have been generated or are capable of being generated
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Spot market
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- a market in which commodities such as oil or natural gas are traded for immediate delivery; this is in contrast to futures markets in which such commodities are traded for delivery sometime in the future.
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Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
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- an emergency oil supply maintained by the U.S.Department of Energy
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Supermajors
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- Also known as "Big Oil," supermajors is a term used to describe the world's five or six largest publicly owned oil and gas companies; these include BP, Chevron Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, and ConocoPhillips Company.
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Three Mile Island
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- The site of a partial nuclear meltdown that occurred in one of the two nuclear reactors in Pennsylvania on March 28, 1979, it is considered the worst accident in U.S.nuclear power plant history.
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Unconventional hydrocarbon resource
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- hydro¬carbon reservoirs that have low permeability and porosity and are therefore difficult to exploit; examples include tight gas, coalbed methane, shale gas, shale oil, and tar sands
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Wind power
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- the conversion of wind kinetic energy into either mechanical energy or electricity
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Wind turbine
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- a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy to produce electricity |
