Chapter 12 Cocab

Fossil fuel

A fuel derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago.

Nonrenewable energy resource

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

Nuclear fuel

Fuel derived from radioactive materials that give off energy.

Commercial energy source

An energy source that is bought and sold

Subsistence energy source

An energy source gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs

Energy carrier

something that can move and deliver energy in a convenient, usable form to end users

Turbine

A device that can be turned by water, steam, or wind to produce power.

Electrical grid

A network of interconnected transmission lines that joins power plants together and links them with end users of electricity

Combined cycle

A power plant that uses both exhaust gases and steam turbines to generate electricity

Capacity

In reference to an electricity-generating plant, the maximum electrical output.

Capacity factor

The fraction of time a power plant operates in a year.

Cogeneration

The use of a single fuel to generate electricity and to produce heat

Coal

A solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant materials preserved 280 million to 360 million years ago

Petroleum

A widely-used fossil fuel that occurs in underground deposits, composed of a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur.

Crude oil

Liquid petroleum removed from the ground

Oil sands

Slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water, and clay.

Bitumen

A degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the surface of Earth and is modified by bacteria.

CTL (coal to liquid)

The process of converting solid coal into liquid fuel.

Energy intensity

The energy use per unit of gross domestic product.

Hubbert curve

A bell-shaped curve representing oil use and projecting both when world oil production will reach a maximum and when we will run out of oil

Peak oil

The point at which half the total known oil supply is used up.

Fission

A nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

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 waste

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

Becquerel (Bq)

Unit that measures the rate at which a sample of radioactive material decays; 1 Bq = decay of 1 atom or nucleus per second.

Curie

A unit of measure for radiation; 1 curie = 37 billion decays per second.

Nuclear fusion

A reaction that occurs when lighter nuclei are forced together to produce heavier nuclei