APES Unit 6

Fossil fuels

fuels derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years

Renewable energy resource

an energy source with a finite supply, primarily fossil fuels and nuclear fuels (natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear)

Renewable energy resources

source of energy that are infinite (2 categories potentially and nondepletable)

Potentially renewable resources

an energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as it is not overharvested (wood, biofuel)

Nondepletable/perpetual resources

an energy source that cannot be used up (wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal)

Commercial energy sources

energy sources that are bought and sol such as coal oil and natural gas

Subsistence energy sources

energy sources gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs including straw, sticks, and animal dung

Energy intensity

the energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)

Fossil fuel combustion

the chemical reaction between any fossil fuel and oxygen resulting in the production of CO2, H2O and the release of energy

Hubbert curve

a graph that represents oil use and projects both when world oil production will reach max and when world oil will be depleted

Peak oil

the point at which oil extraction and use would increase steadily until roughly hald the supply had been used up (top of hubbert curve)

Energy conservation

methods for finding and implementing ways to use less energy (shorter showers)

Energy efficiency

the ratio of the amount of energy expended in the form you want to the total amount of energy that is introduced into the system

Energy return on energy investment (EROEI) equation

(energy obtained form fuel)/energy invested)

Energy return on energy investment (EROEI)

the amount of energy we get out of an energy source for every unit of energy expended on its production

Conservation

focuses on protecting nature from human activities by preserving existing resources

sustainability

aims to use resources in a way that allows them to regenerate and be used by future generations

Biofuel

a liquid fuel such as ethanol or biodiesel created from processed or refined biomass

Modern carbon

carbon in biomass that was recently in the atmosphere

Fossil carbon

carbon in biomass that was recently in the atmosphere

Fossil carbon

old carbon contained in fossil fuels

Carbon neutral

an activity that does not change atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Coal

a solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant materials that were preserved 280m to 360 years ago (easy to extract, handle, and process)

Peat

a precursor to coal, made up of partly decomposed organic material including mosses

Lignite (brown coal)

soft sedimentary rock that sometimes shows traces of plant structure it typically contains 60-70% carbon

Bituminous coal (asphalt)

a black or dark brown coal that contains bitumen, typically contains 80% carbon and high sulfur content

Anthracite (hard coal)

contains greater than 90% carbon and has the highest quantity of energy per volume of coal and fewest impurity

Natural gas

a relatively clean fossil fuel containing 80-95% methane (CH4) and 5-20% ethane, propane, and butane (very few impurity burns cleanly minus its CO2 and methane emission, cleanest fossil fuel)

Crude oil

a mixture of hydrocarbons such as oil, gasoline, kerosene, as well as water and sulfur that exists in a liquid state underground when brought to the surface

Tar/oil sands

slow flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen or asphalt mixed with sand, water, and clay (extraction results in it becoming crude oil)

Energy carrier

an energy source such as electricity that can move and deliver energy in a convenient usable form to end users

Combined cycle

a feature in some natural gas fired power plants that uses both a steam turbine to generate electricity and a separate turbine that is powered by the exhaust gases from natural gas combustion to turn another turbine to generate electricity (60% efficiency)

Capacity

the maximum electrical output of something such as a power plant

Capacity factor

the fraction of time a power plant operates during a year

Cogeneration/combined heat and power

the use of a fuel to both generate electricity and deliver hat to a building or industrial process

Hydraulic fracturing/fracking

a method of oil and gas extraction that uses high pressure fluids to force open existing cracks of rocks deep underground

Volatile organic compounds

a type of organic compound air pollutants that evaporate at typical atmospheric temperatures

Turbine

a device that can be turned by water, steam, or wind to produce power such as electricity

Electrical grid

a network of interconnected transmission lines

Energy quality the ease with which an energy source can be used to do work

Nuclear power

electricity generated form the nuclear energy contained in nuclear fuel (uranium 235) only gas released in water vapor and low emissions of CO2, concerns include radioactivity, accidents proliferation of radioactive weapons

Radioactivity

the emission of ionizing radiation or particles caused by the spontaneous disintegration of atomic nuclei

Fission

a nuclear reaction in which a neutron strikes a relatively large atomic nuclei which then splits into two or more parts, releasing additional neutrons and energy in the form of heat

Fuel rods

a cylindrical tube that encloses nuclear fuel within a nuclear reactor

Control rods

a cylindrical device inserted between the fuel rods in a nuclear reactor to absorb energy reactions and slow or stop the fission reaction

Radioactive decay

when a parent radioactive isotope emits alpha or beta particles or gamma rays

Half life

the time it takes for one half of the original radioactive parent atoms to decay

Radioactive waste

nuclear fuel that can no longer produce enough heat to be useful in a power plant but continues to emit radioactivity

Becquerel (Bq)

a measurement of the rate at which a sample of radioactive material decays, 1 Bq= the decay of 1 atom per second

Curie

a unit of measure for radiation a curie is 376 decays per second

Biomass

biological material that has mass

Charcoal

woody material that has been heated in the absence of oxygen so that water and some volatile compounds are driven off (type of solid biomass)

Particulates (Particular matter/soot)

solid or liquid particles suspended in the air

Carbon monoxide

a colorless odorless gas that is formed during incomplete combustion of most materials

Nitrogen oxide

a by product of combustion of any fuel in the atmosphere (contains 78% nitrogen)

Carbon dioxide

a product of combustion, CO2 from biofuels contains modern carbon from woody material, rather than fossil carbon from fossil fuels

Biofuel

liquid fuel created from processed or refined biomass (ethanol, biodiesel)

Ethanol

alcohol made by converting starches and sugars from plant material into alcohol and CO2

Biodiesel

a diesel substitute processed by extracting and chemically altering oil from plants

Passive solar

a use of energy from the sun that takes advantage of solar radiation without active technology (cannot be stored)

Active solar energy

a use of technology that captures and stores the energy of sunlight/electrical equipment and devices

Photovoltaic solar cells

a use of energy from the sun as light ot heat and converting it directly into electricity

Hydroelectricity

electricity generated by the kinetic energy of moving water

Water impoundment

the storage of water in a reservoir behind a dam

Run of the river hydroelectricity

generation in which water is retained behind a low small damn or no dam

Tidal energy

energy that comes form the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull of the moon

Dilation

sediments from moving water that accumulates on the bottom of a reservoir

Geothermal energy

heat energy that comes from the natural radioactive decay of elements deep within Earth

Ground source heat pumps

a technology that transfers heat form the ground to a building

Fuel cell

an electrical chemical device that converts fuel such as hydrogen into an electrical current

Electrolysis

the application of an electric current to water molecules to split them into hydrogen and oxygen

Wind energy

energy generated form the kinetic energy of moving air

Wind turbine

a turbine that converts the kinetic energy of moving air into electricity

Phantom loads

electrical demand by a device that draws electrical current, even when its turned off (cable boxes and gaming consoles)

Peak demand

the greatest quantity of energy used at any one time

Passive solar design

construction technique designed to take advantage of solar radiation without active technology

Thermal mass

a property of a building material that allows it to maintain heat or cold

Smart grid

an efficient self regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it automatically to end users

Oxygenated fuel

a fuel with oxygen as part of the molecule (ethanol)

Cellulosic ethanol

an ethanol derived form cellulose the cell wall material in plants