usable amount of high quality energy available from a given quantity of an energy resource
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which has a higher net energy? oil or nuclear?
oil.
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net energy efficiency
how much useful energy we get from an energy source
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life cycle cost
initial cost of car/appliance + lifetime operating costs
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best lightbulbs
LED and CFL
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no incandescent bulbs
95% energy wasted
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fluorescent light bulbs
contain Hg which can be recycled
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LEDs and organic LEDs
lower energy waste percentage
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CFL uses _ of the energy of incandescent bulbs
1/4
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LED uses _ of the energy of incandescent bulbs
1/6
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internal combustion engines waste %
94% waste in fuel
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coal burning power plant waste %
66% waste heat
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nuclear power used for heat and heating water waste %
83-92%
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peak load
amount of electricity needed at the time of highest demand
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brownout
lights dim
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rolling blackout
take turns losing power to different neighbourhoods
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how do people find natural gas and oil?
GIS, satellites, drilling test holes and rock samples, explosion on the surface and measuring seismic waves
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sweet crude oil
low sulfur, less corrosive, found in LA, Libya, Nigeria
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sour crude oil
high sulphur, corrosive, found in most of middle east
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primary recovery
oil extracted by drilling into deposit, oil flows into wells and is pumped to the surface
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secondary recovery
increases yield by injecting water into well to force oil into a central well
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tertiary recovery
even more oil removed, injecting steam and C02, really expensive
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1/2 of the worlds oil reserves are in the
persian gulf region
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peak oil
the point at which half of the supply of oil has been used up
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1/2 of the worlds natural gas is in
Russia, Iran and Qatar
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largest coal reserves found in
US, Russia, China, Australia and India
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natural gas is 80-95%
methane.
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advantages of natural gas
\-natural gas contains fewer impurities and therefore emits almost no sulfur dioxide or particulates during combustion
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disadvantages of natural gas
\-unburned natural gas will leak into the atmosphere (methane) is a potent GHG
\ \-pipelines and tankers can leak
\ \-drilling leads to enviro degradation
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oil sands
slow-flowing viscous deposits of degraded petroleum mixed with sand, water and clay
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oil sands issues
* have to be surface mined * require refinements to remove sand * releases more air pollutants * mostly found in UTAH and Alberta, Canada, Venezuela, and Russia, and Columbia * boreal forests damaged during removal
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bitumen
a degraded type of petroleum that forms when it migrates to the surface of the Earth and is modified by bacteria
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CTL
(coal to liquid) the technology to convert coal solid into coal liquid
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energy intensity
the energy use per unit of gross domestic product
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strip mining
the removal of strips of soil and rock to expose ore
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mine tailings
unwanted waste material created during mining including mineral and other residues that are left behind after the desired metal or ore is removed.
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open-pit mining
a mining technique that creates a large visible pit or hole in the ground
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mountaintop removal
a mining technique in which the entire top of a mountain is removed with explosives
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placer mining
the process of looking for minerals, metals, and precious stones in river sediments
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subsurface mining
mining techniques used when the desired resource is more than 100 meters below the surface of the earth.
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Mining Law of 1872
allowed individuals and companies to recover ores or fuels from federal lands.
\ \-few environmental protection provisions
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SMCRA (1977)
land has to be minimally disturbed during the mining process and be reclaimed after the mining is completed.
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How long did EXXON VALDEZ spill take to clean up?
2 decades
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How much oil spilled from the EXXON VALDEZ accident?
42 million liters
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Deep Water Horizon oil spill
780 million liters spilled out into the Gulf of Mexico
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thermal shock
a dramatic change in water temperature that can kill organisms.
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bottom ash
residue collected at the bottom of the combustion chamber in a furnace
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fly ash
the residue collected from the chimney or exhaust pipe of a furnace
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gravitational settling
a way to remove ash and particulate matter using gravity. the ash falls to the bottom, easier to collect.
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a scrubber
removes particulate matter using water mist. mist collects the particles and drops it down where it is collected by a sludge removal system.
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nuclear fission
a nuclear reaction in which a neutron strikes a relatively large atomic nucleus, which then splits into two or more parts, releasing additional neutrons and energy in the form of heat.
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fuel rods
a cylindrical tube that encloses nuclear fuel within a nuclear reactor
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control rods
a cylindrical device inserted between the fuel rods in a nuclear reactor to absorb excess neutrons and slow or stop the fission reaction
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Hubbert curve
a bell-shaped curve representing oil use and projecting both when world production will reach a maximum and when the world will run out of oil.
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anthracite
is a metamorphic rock.
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lignite and bituminous
are sedimentary rocks.
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most important energy used in the US
oil
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meltdown
when the metal around the uranium melts, releasing radiation called a meltdown
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stigma against nuclear energy
\-accidents and radioactivity
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bacquerel (Bq)
Unit that measures the rate at which a sample of radioactive material decays; 1 Bq = decay of 1 atom or nucleus per second.
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Curie
a unit of measure for radiation; 1 curie = 37 billion decays per second
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problem with nuclear waste
it is really difficult to dispose of
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nuclear fusion
a reaction that occurs when lighter nuclei are forced together to produce heavier nuclei