CBE:2040 Exam 3

Our planet absorbs some of the solar incident light from the sun. How much is reflected back into space?

30%

The cooler earth emits ___ wavelengths than the ones it absorbs

Longer

Without the ___ our planet would be a chilly inhospitable place

Natural greenhouse effect

____ moves energy from the surface to the atmosphere in the form of latent heat

Evapotranspiration

The difference between our 255k estimate of earths average temp and its actual 288k temp is due to the naturally occurring _____

Greenhouse gases

There is about a ____ w/m2 imbalance in the earths energy

1

After a change or intense forcing, what are the ways climate sensitivity responds?

Equilibrium response

Transient response

How much carbon is released in the atmosphere each year?

9 Gt

The effectiveness of a greenhouse gas relative to co2 is what?

Global warming potential

What are the units that describe climate forcing?

W/m^2

What effect overall do aerosols have on forcing?

Produce negative forcing

What is an upset in earths energy balance?

Climate forcing

What is part of the earths system where carbon is stored?

Reservoirs

What is the most important positive feedback in the climate system?

Water vapor feedback

What types of feedback do clouds exert?

Positive and negative

When one aspect of the earth system changes, other changes may follow. This is known as what?

Feedback effects

A planets environment is the vacuum of space and the only energy loss mechanism that works is

Radiation

Earths ___ helps stabilize its rotation axis and hence its climate

Moon

solar constant

1.364 W/m2

In the 19th century who was first person to recognize the role of atmospheric greenhouse gases in the warming of earths surface

Jean baptiste Fourier

A ____ fuel-cell system needs fuel storage, fuel-supply mechanisms and heat removal

Complete

How many interconnection are there in the United States

3

Pumping water into an elevated reservoir converts electrical energy into ____ energy

Gravitational potential

The us gets most of its electrical energy from which energy source

Fossil

What is it called when an electric current passes through water and splits h20 molecules resulting in h2 and o2 collecting at two separate electrodes?

Electrolysis

What kind of transformer receives more turns on its secondary coil?

Step up transformer

____ is among the most familiar and versatile forms of energy, performing a wide range of tasks in our homes, commercial establishments, industry, and transportation

Electricity

____ is the amount of energy stored per unit mass or volume of storage

Energy density

____ combustion engines in today's vehicles can be adapted to burn hydrogen

Internal

A ___ power plant uses electrical energy to run motors that pump water to an elevated reservoir

Pumped storage

10% of moisture found in the atmosphere is released by plants through

Transpiration

Indirect solar energy supplies 10% of the US' net energy production. Which type of indirect energy contributes the most?

Hydropower

The invention of the electric generator helped convert the ___ energy of water wheels to electrical energy

Mechanical

US uses corn to produce ethanol, Brazil used ___ to produce ethanol

Sugar cane

Two factors determine the total power in a hydroelectric installation: ___ ___ and the vertical distance

Total flow

Using a power curve for a typical wind turbine with a site's ___ characteristics let's engineers assess the expected power output from proposed wind installations

Wind

Which continent is responsible for producing the most biodiesel?

Europe

___ energy is becoming the fastest growing source of electrical energy

Wind

Only ___% of energy goes into wind and ocean currents

1%

Maximum power that can be extracted using three blade wind turbines is ___%

45%

climate forcing

Any factor that upsets Earth's energy balance

radiative forcing

the amount of change in thermal energy that a given factor causes

climate sensitivity

Climate change that results from forcings.... a common measure of climate sensitivity is the global average temp change for a doubling of atmospheric co2

linear response

Climatic response to a given forcing is proportional to the magnitude of the forcing

nonlinear response

Response is not linearly proportional to its cause

positive feedback

Feedback that tends to magnify a process or increase its output.

negative feedback

Tends to reduce the magnitude of climate change

Examples of greenhouse gases

CO2, methane, nitrous oxides, CFC's(Cloroflourocarbons, used in making styrofoam and

cooling refidgerators)

Major sources of global anthropogenic co2 emissions in the early 21st century

Coal, oil, natural gas, land use, cement production

global warming potential

Greenhouse gases differ in their ability to absorb infrared radiation

saturation effect

Occurs when a given molecule absorbs 100% of the infrared at certain wavelengths

Ozone

A greenhouse gas, is not mixed evenly through atmosphere

Aerosols

tiny solid particles or liquid droplets that remain suspended in the atmosphere for a long time

Most important are sulfate aerosols from coal production

energy balance

the relationship between energy intake and energy expenditure

How does the planet lose energy

Occurs through radiation alone

greenhouse effect

The greenhouse gases inhibit outgoing infrared radiation making it difficult for earth to shed the energy it gains from the sun

Albedo

the percentage of incoming sunlight reflected from a surface

Venus, Earth, and Mars

All diff distances from sun and have diff atmospheric compositions. Together they provide a natural experiment that verifies the theory of the greenhouse effect

energy carrier

Moves energy in a usable form from one place to another, like electricity or hydrogen.

Voltage

Measure of energy gained or lost per unit of electric charge as charge moves between two points

Amperes

the unit for measuring electrical current; the abbreviation is amp.

Ohm

unit of resistance

Power

Unit of power

transformer

Used to change voltage levels on the power grid and in all sorts of electrical and electronic equipment

step-up transformer

whos output voltage is DOUBLE the primary voltage

step-down transformer

outputs HALF the primary voltage

Brownout

Reduction of voltage by the utility company for a prolonged period of time

baseload power

Supply minimum demand

net metering

Allows owners to sell power back to grid

pumped storage

Used for large scale storage of electrical energy which is simple, low tech, and efficient

thermal splitting

At sufficiently high temp h2o breaks apart into h2 and o2

Hydrogen safety

Hydrogen does present unique dangers, but in other ways it's safer than gasoline

Environmental impacts of hydrogen

Clean, non-polluting, carbon free (environmental impacts of hydrogen include whatever energy source was used to make it)

Indirect energy from sun

Water, wind, biomass

Environmental impacts of hydropower

Dams block natural flow of water

Relocate entire towns/villages

Block wildlife navigation

Human health impacts

GHG emissions

Wind

Indirect form of solar energy

primary productivity

The rate at which plants store solar energy

Biodeisel

Second biofuel in significant use today

Environmental impacts of burning biomass

Similar to burning fossil fuels

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