Apes Chapter 17: Part 2

Front 1

Hydropower

Back 1

Tides, waves, and temperature differences: dams or underwater turbines can be built in locations with large tidal fluctuations

Front 2

Liquid Biofuels

Back 2

Produced from plants and plant wastes, used for fuel for automobiles. includes ethanol, biodiesel, and methanol

Front 3

Positives about biofuels

Back 3

- growing large monocultures may not be sustainable, as they can degrade land, increase air and water pollution, and add greenhouse gases
- They decrease biodiversity as some South American countries are cutting down rainforests to grow biofuels
- Competition for growing biofuels with growing plants for food

Front 4

Ethanol

Back 4

- Comes from corn in the U.S.
- Gas can be up to 10% ethanol
- Brazil uses residue from sugar cane
- Switchgrass is promising because it has a higher net yield than the ethanol from corn and is easier to grow

Front 5

Biodiesel

Back 5

- Made from combining alcohol with vegetable oil extracted from renewable resources (soybeans, rapeseed, sunflowers) and used vegetable oil from restaurants
- In the U.S., it is highly subsidized and made from soybean crops

Front 6

Methanol

Back 6

Made mostly from natural gas

Front 7

Geothermal Energy

Back 7

- Stored in the Earth's mantle
- Used to heat and cool buildings and to produce electricity

Front 8

Geothermal Heat Pump

Back 8

- Uses a piping system filled with water or antifreeze solution
- In the winter, the water is piped down into the Earth to get heat and distribute to the home
- In the summer, heat from the house is piped down and distributed into the earth
- No air pollutants and no CO2 emissions

Front 9

Hydrothermal Reservoirs

Back 9

- Can contain dry or wet steam or hot water
- If close to the surface, wells can be drilled to extract the heat source
- Heat homes or turn turbines for electricity production

Front 10

A Sustainable Energy Strategy

Back 10

Making our lives more energy efficient will help to decrease reliance on energy sources (especially non-renewable)

Front 11

Nuclear Fusion and Solar Energy

Back 11

- Two light elements fused together to create heavier element while energy and neutron are released
- Only get energy from sun, not radioactive waste
- Smallest wavelength of light is most dangerous
- Sun sends down energy and about half is absorbed by land and ocean
- Plenty of solar energy to provide for humans, but widely scattered (season, location, etc.)

Front 12

Problems w/ Solar Energy

Back 12

- Not cost-effective
- Not concentrated constant energy

Front 13

More Solar Energy Facts

Back 13

- Need to collect, convert, and store with low cost
- Solar space heating
- Solar water heating
- Photovoltaic cells
- Landscaping and architecture
- Concentrated solar power

Front 14

Indirect Solar Energy

Back 14

- Hydropower (Turns water into steam: evaporation)
- Wind Power (Pressure changes from uneven global temperatures)
- Biofuels
- Hydrogen
- Biomass Energy

Front 15

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

Back 15

The use of the large difference in temperature between different levels of the ocean to produce electricity

Front 16

Passive Solar Heating System

Back 16

Absorbs and stores heat from the sun directly within a structure without the need for pumps or fans to distribute the heat

Front 17

Photovoltaic Cells

Back 17

Can convert solar energy directly into electrical energy

Front 18

Plug-in Hybrids

Back 18

A hybrid automobile that has a second battery that can be plugged in and recharged when the vehicle is not in use. Could easily get 100 mpg

Front 19

Power Tower

Back 19

A type of solar thermal system, also known as a central receiver system, that uses computer-controlled mirrors called heliostats to track the sun and focus sunlight on central heat collection tower.

Front 20

Sewer Power

Back 20

Large heat pump systems extract heat from raw sewage to heat buildings and produce electricity

Front 21

Solar Cells

Back 21

Can be mounted on many different structures and convert sunlight into electricity

Front 22

Solar Cookers

Back 22

Can focus and concentrate sunlight to cook food (especially in rural villages in sunny areas)

Front 23

Solar Thermal Plant

Back 23

Sunlight collected and focused on oil-filled pipes running through large area of curved solar collectors. This concentrated sunlight can generate temperatures high enough to produce steam for running turbines and generating electricity.

Front 24

Solar Thermal Systems

Back 24

Collect and transform energy from the sun into high-temperature thermal energy, which can be used directly or converted into electricity

Front 25

Strawbale Houses

Back 25

Unconventional form of "superinsulating" homes with an agricultural waste

Front 26

Superefficient and Ultralight Cars

Back 26

Automobiles that can get 80-300 miles per gallon

Front 27

Superinsulated House

Back 27

A home so heavily insulated and airtight that heat from direct sunlight, appliances, and human bodies can warm the whole house with little or need for a backup heating system

Front 28

Switchgrass

Back 28

A possible alternative to corn for producing ethanol in that grows faster and requires less fertilizer

Front 29

Wet Steam

Back 29

A mixture of steam and water droplets found in a type of hydrothermal reservoir

Front 30

Wind

Back 30

The difference in solar heating of the Earth between the equator and the poles, together with the Earth's rotation, set up air flows called wind.

Front 31

Wind Farms

Back 31

Wind turbines located in clusters on land and at sea