Powering Energy and Our Future Final Exam

The Industrial Revolution began in which country before eventually moving to the rest of Europe

United Kingdom

Which of the following power sources are NOT considered a fossil fuel?

Nuclear

The modern movement of trade or labor unions was first begun with what country's resource workers?

United Kingdoms coal miners

The primary energy source used by humans prior to 1750 was _________.

Wood

In the 400,000 years prior to 1800, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations typically ranged from __________ to ___________ parts per million (ppm).

200 to 300

An increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere changes the energy flow of Earth slightly which leads to one of the following as a direct consequence.

Increase in global average temperature

In comparing "weather" to "climate", which of the following is NOT a characteristic or statement of climate?

The temperature in Kutztown on September 8, 2014

This atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration milestone was first reached in 2013 and the atmosphere is now permanently (for the for-seeable future at least) above this mark.

400 ppm

Which gas is always a product of the combustion of fossil fuels?

Carbon dioxide

Fossil fuels are used to produce roughly what percentage of Earth's current energy mix?

75%

What causes the repeating oscillations in the Keeling Curve shown above?

Changing seasons

Which of the following is NOT expected to occur due to climate change?

Decrease in major hurricanes

In addition to the effect of rising sea levels due to ice caps melting, what other effect will the melting of ice caps cause?

Decreased reflection of incoming solar light

The Arctic sea ice caps melt faster than the Antarctic glacial ice primarily because ____________.

Ice melts faster in water than on land

Using Climate Change science, we can say with certainty that a particular hurricane is due exclusively to climate change.

False

In the next 100 years, droughts are expected to ____________ as a result of climate change.

Increase in length and severity

Which of the following are expected human health outcomes of climate change?

Increase in heat-related illnesses and death, Increase in the ragweed pollen season length and severity, Increase in the prevalence of Lyme disease

Global power use is on the order of what energy unit?

Terawatt

The average human being on Earth currently uses roughly _______ times more energy than the human body itself requires.

25

The figure above illustrates the relationship between life expectancy and per capita energy consumption rate, the best way to describe this graph accurately is _____________

As the energy consumption per person increases, life expectancy increases, but only to a certain point at which life expectancy levels off

What renewable resource is capable of fully powering the planet now and into the future with no other resource needed?

Solar Power

According to Nathan Lewis' "Powering the Planet" article, for nuclear power to be sufficient to completely power all of Earth, we will need to build a nuclear power plant every __________ forever.

2 days

Which of the following is a reason why it is desirable to use gasoline to power our cars over rechargeable battery power?

The energy density of gasoline allows for more miles to be driven in a tank of gas with no waiting for recharging

In an atom, which of the following particles is/are found in the nucleus?

Protons and Neutrons

The fossil fuels are given different names based on their state of matter (i.e. solid, liquid, or gas), which of the following is the gaseous fossil fuel?

Natural Gas

The fossil fuel that can be combusted to release the LEAST amount of carbon dioxide per energy unit is ________________, so it is the least environmentally damaging energy source among the fossil fuels.

Natural Gas

What region on Earth has the largest amount of proved oil reserves?

Middle East

The process of _________________ creates energy at our sun.

Nuclear fusion

Which of the following is a primary environmental concern about nuclear power plants?

Nuclear waste

Which of the following statements is true about U.S. hydroelectric power?

A majority of the easiest to obtain hydroelectricity is already being utilized

Generators that are attached to turbines generate electricity by spinning a ________ material inside of a stationary __________ material.

magnetic, magnetic

The preceding graph shows the typical timing of electricity consumption of homes (dark line) as well as the energy production from solar cell systems (both light lines between ~7AM and 7PM). According to the graph, over what time range is the 3kW system (the dashed light line) provide sufficient electricity to fully power the home?

10AM - 5PM

Solar Insolation describes how much energy in sunlight hits a particular geographic area. In general, areas near to ___________ receive the most sunlight energy.

the equator

The primary challenge in developing longer rotor blades for wind turbines is ___________

Finding lightweight, strong materials that can withstand the constant outward force of rotation

Geothermal energy can be used to heat or cool a house at different times because __________

The temperature ~30 feet underground stays relatively constant despite the changes in seasons.

Compared to nitrogen and oxygen gases, greenhouse gases make up a much _________ portion of the atmosphere

Smaller

Global warming potential is a term used to quantify __________________

how much heat a particular gas absorbs in the atmosphere, and how long the gas stays in the atmosphere

Different isotopes of certain elements are used to determine how old a sample (i.e. a fossil, or a layer of ice) is. Which component of the nucleus of an atom is different in each of these isotopes?

Neutron

Certain radioactive isotopes decay (or change to a different isotopes or element) at different rates allowing for _____________.

the measurement of how old a sample is

Since the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1850), which country has cumulatively put the most carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere (by a large margin!)?

USA

Which of the following methods allow for the determination of temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere in the distant past (1000-100,000 years ago)?

Drilling deep into polar glaciers and measuring the contents of the ice at different depths.

Which process of carbon dioxide being taken out of the atmosphere happens at the fastest rate?

Plant growth

As temperatures in the atmosphere rise, the concentration of water vapor (the gas form of water) increases. Water vapor itself is a greenhouse gas, so an increasing concentration of it in the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature, and the cycle continues. What is such a process called?

Positive feedback loop

The figure above shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the y axis versus time after carbon dioxide is no longer emitted by human caused sources on the x axis. All of the colored lines on the graph indicate models of how long it would take for the atmosphere to get close to the pre-Industrial Revolution concentration (shown with the horizontal dashed line at 260 ppm) of carbon dioxide. The most appropriate way to characterize the models shown in the graph is....

After 10,000 years, none of the models expect the concentration of carbon dioxide to get back to pre-Industrial Revolution concentrations.

The above map indicates that the change in pH (acidity ot basicity of water) of the ocean is _______________

More drastic at the north and south poles

One effect of the ocean pH changing is that _____________.

Coral reefs are decreasing in size

Which of the following best describes humans relationship in contributing to pollution and also personally feeling the effects of pollution?

The pollution often effects humans unequally, with many people experiencing the effects of pollution substantially more than they contribute to the pollution themselves

Of the following choices, from 2010 to 2020, which electrical power generation source has the largest decrease in cost per kWh (unit of energy)?

Solar power

The psychology experiment known as the "marshmallow test" was meant to determine what characteristic of a child?

Ability to delay gratification

In trying to understand why humans are bad at thinking about problems like climate change, psychologists assert that a primary reason is that it is hard to consider such large problems if they seem distant from us in both time and location.

True

As the cumulative installation of solar and wind power capacity increase there is a learning curve that causes______

The price of future installations to decrease

In the above image, the only electricity technology shown that exhibited an increase in the cost of a new power plant is _______________.

Nuclear

One likely effect of adding a carbon tax to fossil fuels is _______________

Increasing use of renewable energies, Higher costs of fossil fuels, Lower carbon dioxide emissions

Purchasing an electric car is not necessarily an environmentally friendly decision, particularly if __________

The electric car will need to be driven very long distances, thus using any gasoline backup system, The new electric car is replacing a highly functional, high gas mileage car, The car is recharged at a home that is powered by fossil fuels

Determining the total amount of energy used to produce, use, and dispose of a particular item is known as which of the following?

Lifecycle Analysis

Lifecycle analysis of different types of food shows that _____________ require the most carbon dioxide emissions to produce?

Meat and Dairy

In order to sell more consumer goods, many businesses create new models of products on a yearly basis that are marginally improved from the previous version, an idea known as which of the following?

Planned obsolescence

What is the electric grid?

A massive system of wires, power plants, and transformers that move electricity

One benefit of interconnecting the electrical grids of European countries is it allows each country to share excess renewable energy if they are producing more than they need and to receive excess renewable energy from a neighboring country if they are not producing sufficient renewable electricity at a given time.

True

The use of which of the following industrial chemicals were being phased out globally beginning with the Montreal Protocol in 1988 in order to repair the ozone hole?

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

Which of the following agreements was the first to address carbon dioxide emissions at the global level?

Kyoto Protocol

Which of the following best represents the primary goal of the Paris Climate Agreement?

To lower carbon dioxide emissions to a level that allows for, at most, a 2 degree Celsius rise in temperatures globally.

The above diagram represents historical carbon dioxide emissions for the United States as well as projections out to 2030 with the current governmental policies in place.  This graph indicates that it is highly likely that continuing the current policies will allow the US to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

False

What does it mean for the world to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050?

All carbon dioxide emissions are counteracted by other processes that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Placing a direct financial penalty on individuals, companies, or governments in proportion to how much carbon dioxide is emitted by them is called a ________________.

Carbon Tax

Cattle emit methane through burping and flatulence in the process of digesting food.  One possible strategy to limiting the emission of this greenhouse gas and make cattle farming more environmentally sustainable is to…

Change the diet of the cattle

Which of the following is a principle tenet of regenerative agriculture/farming?

Minimize the disturbance of soil (don't till the soil)

The process of planting trees in geographical locations that have not had forests for a long time is known as ____________.

Afforestation

The most important forest globally for the storage of carbon dioxide is _______________.

The Amazon Rainforest

Investing in bicycle accessibility infrastructure in large cities is likely to increase carbon dioxide emissions because it encourages less travel by cars and public transportation that typically burn fossil fuels in combustion engines.

False

Copenhagen, Denmark uses the concept of district heating to lower their carbon dioxide emissions.  What is district heating?

Using waste heat from power plants, connected via pipes, to heat and cool homes and buildings

Incandescent light bulbs are __________ efficient than LED bulbs due to incandescent light bulbs ___________

Less, wasting energy as heat

Of the following choices, which one has seen a decrease in household energy use from 1978 until 2005 primarily due to increased energy efficiency?

Home heating

Residential energy usage makes up roughly _________of the overall US energy usage.

20%

Which of the following is unlikely to decrease your heating/cooling energy usage?

Setting the temperature a few degrees warmer in the winter and few degrees colder in the summer

Many appliances and electronics draw electrical power from outlets even when they are turned off, this power that is drawn is known as which of the following?

Vampiric loads

Which of the following is a way to lower household energy use?

Conserving water

Because only about 10% of plastics get recycled, the best decision for consumers to achieve sustainability is to ....

Reduce and reuse plastics as much as possible

Metals are capable of being recycled into new materials easily and economically because they can be melted down and remolded into their next product.

True

If you see the recycling symbol on a bottle, placing the bottle into a recycling container guarantees it will be used in a future product.

False

According to the USDA, roughly 30-40% of food is wasted in the U.S.  One of the primary ways in which this occurs is________

Produce that appears ugly or different not being sold due consumers not wanting it

Which of the following describes the concept of a circular economy?

Creating products with their disposal and reuse in mind from the outset

Which of the following is NOT a change that an individual can make to lower their energy use and carbon footprint?

Turn the temperature of their water heater up