APES QUIZ: Energy & Waste

Fossil fuels

Fuels derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago

Nonrenewable energy resource

An energy source with a finite supply, primarily fossil fuels and nuclear fuels

Renewable energy resources

Sources of energy that are infinite

Potentially renewable

An energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as it is not overharvested

Nondepletable

An energy source that cannot be used up

Commercial energy sources

Energy sources that are bought and sold, such as coal, oil, and natural gas

Subsistence energy source

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 combusion

The chemical reaction between any fossil fuel and oxygen resulting in the production of carbon dioxide, water, and the release of energy

Hubbert Curve

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

Peak oil

The point at which oil extraction and use would increase steadily until roughly half the supply had been used up

Energy conservation

Methods for finding and implementing ways to use less energy

Energy efficiency

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

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

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

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 280 million to 360 million years ago

Peat

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

Lignite

A brown coal that is a soft sedimentary rock that sometimes shows traces of plant structure; it typically contains 60 to 70 percent carbon

Bituminous coal

A black or brown coal that contains bitumen, also known as asphalt. Typically contains up to 80 percent carbon

Anthracite

Also known as hard coal, it contains greater than 90 percent carbon. It has the highest quantity of energy per volume of coal and the fewest impurities

Natural gas

A relatively clean fossil fuel containing 80 to 95 percent methane (CH4) and 5 to 20 percent ethane, propane, and butane

Crude oil

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

Tar sands

Slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen or asphalt, mixed with sand, water, and clay; also known as oil sands

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 seperate turbine that is powered by the exhaust gases from natural gas combustion to turn another turbine to generate electricity

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

The use of a fuel to both generate electricity and deliver heat to a building or industrial process. Also known as combined heat and power

Fracking

Short for hydraulic fracturing, a method of oil and gas extraction that uses high-pressure fluids to force open existing cracks in rocks deep underground

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

A type of organic compound air pollutants that evaporate at a 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 from the nuclear energy contained in nuclear fuel

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 nucleus, which then splits into two or more pa

Fuel rod

A cylindrical tube that encloses nuclear fuel within a nuclear reactor

Control rod

A cylindrical device inserted between the fuel rods in a nuclear reactor to absorb excess neutrons 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 is equal to the decay of one atom per second

Curie

A unit of measure for radiation, a curie is 37 billion 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

Particulates

Solid or liquid particles suspended in the air

Carbon monoxide

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

Nitrogen oxides

A by-product of combustion of any fuel in the atmosphere (which contains 78 percent nitrogen)

Carbon dioxide

A by-product of all combustion, carbon dioxide 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

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

Biodiesel

A diesel substitute produced 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

Active solar energy

A use of technology that captures and stores the energy of sunlight with electrical equipment and devices

Photovoltaic solar cells

A use of energy from the Sun as light, not 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 dam or no dam

Tidal energy

Energy that comes from the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull of the Moon

Siltation

Sediments from moving water that accumulate 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 pump

A technology that transfers heat from 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 from 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 it is turned off

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

Cellulosic ethanol

An ethanol derived from cellulose, the c

Air pollution

The introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or microorganisms into the atmosphere at concentrations high enough to harm plants, animals, and materials such as buildings, or to alter ecosystems

Sulfur dioxide (SO2)

A corrosive gas that comes primarily from combustion of fuels such as coal and oil, including diesel fuel from trucks

Haze

Reduced visability

Photochemical oxidant

A class of air pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on chemical compounds such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide

Smog

A type of air pollution that is a mixture of oxidants and particulate matter

Lead (Pb)

A trace metal that occurs naturally in rocks and soils, is present in small concentrations in coal and oil and is a neurotoxin

Hydrocarbons

Pollutant compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen bonds, such as gasoline and other fossil fuels, lighter fluid, dry-cleaning fluid, oil-base paints, and perfumes

Primary pollutant

A polluting compound that comes directly out of a smokestack, exhaust pipe, or natural emission source

Secondary pollutant

A primary pollutant that has undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, oxygen, or other compounds