vocab 35-37

fossil fuels; derived from biological matenal that was fossilized milions of years ago

non-renewable energy resource: on energy source wl a finite supply, mainly fossil & nuclear fuels

renewable energy resource: energy sources that are infinite potentially renewable: an energy source that can be regenerated indefinitly as long as it is not overharvested

non-depletable: an energy source that can't be used up

commercial energy sources: energy sources that are bought & sold like coal, oil & natural gas

subsistence energy sources: energy scurces gathered by indivauls for their own needs live straw, sticks & animal dung

energy intensity: energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)

fossil fuel combustion: chemical reaction betwen fossil fuel & oxygen resulting in the production of carbon dioxide, water & release of energy

hubbert curve: graph that represents oil use & projects when all production will reach a maximum & when world oil will be depleted

peak oil: point at which ail extration & use would increase steadily until roughly half the supply had been used up

energy conservation: methods for finding implementing ways to use less energy energy efficentey: ratio of the amount of energy expended in the form you want to the total amount of energy introduced to the system

energy return of energy investment (EROEI): amount of energy we got out of an evergy source for every unit of energy expended on its production

biofuel: liquid fuel like 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 atmospherie co2 concentrations

coal; solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns & other plant matonals that were preserved 280 to 300 million years ago

peat: precursor to coal made of partically decomposed organic material (ex. moss)

lignite: brown coal that is a soft sedimentary rock that sometimes shows traces of plant structure, typically contains 60 to 70 % carbon

bituminous coal; black or dark brown coal that contains bitumen (asphalt) typically contains 80% carbon

anthracite: (hard coal) contains greater than 90% carbon, nighest quality of energy per volume of coal with the fewest impurities

natural gas: relatively clean fossil fuel containing 80 to 95% methane (CH4) and 5 to 20% ethane, propane & butane

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

Tar sands: slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen or asphalt mixed with sand, water & clay (aka oil sands)

energy carrier; energy source like electricity that can move & deliver energy in a convenient usable form

combined cycle: a feature in some natural gas-fired power plants that uses a steam turbine to generate electricity & a separate turbine that is powered by me exhaust gases from natural gas combustion to fun another turbine to generate electricity

capacity: maximum electrical output of something such of a power plant production

capacity factor: the fraction of time a power plant operates during a year

cogeneration: use of a fuel to both generate electricity & deliver heat to a building or industrial process aka combined heat & power

fracking: short for hydraule frachung, method of oil & gas extraction that uses high pressure fluids to force open existing cracks deep underground

volatile organic compounds (VOCs): type of organic compound our pollutants that evaporate at typical atmospheric tempatures

turbine: a device that con be turned on by water, steam or wind power to produce electricity

electrical grid: a network of interconnected transmitting lines

energy quality : the ease at which an energy source can do work