1.2 Energy Generation and Storage Flashcards
What is energy?
energy involves growing plants or using animal materials, not for consumption but so that they can be burned to produce heat.
What are the 3 fossil fuels?
- Oil
- Gas
- Coal
What are fossil fuels?
a natural fuel such as coal, oil, gas , formed from the remains of living organisms.
What is global warming?
an increase on the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere caused by the greenhouse effect and increased levels of greenhouse gases.
What type of resource are fossil fuels?
finite
What is coal?
- Coal mining in the UK has stopped
- Open pit mining has reduced
- 23% of our electricity is from coal-fired plants, which means that it is imported from abroad
What are the advantages of coal?
- doesn’t require processing before burning, although it is usually crushed
- produces high amounts of energy
- enough coal to last hundreds of years
What are the disadvantages of coal?
- mining and burning coal produces waste and atmospheric pollution, which creates environmental problems
- produces carbon dioxide when burned, which contributes to global warming
- waste tips, stock-piles, and open pits are often hazardous
- sulfur dioxide fumes from coal power stations add to atmospheric pollution and cause acid rain, which damages trees and lakes
What is natural gas?
It is used for heating and cooking and is one of the main sources of powers for electricity production in the UK.
What are the advantages of natural gas?
- emit less carbon dioxide than coal or oil
- UK has shale gas deposits
What are the disadvantages of natural gas?
- highly flammable, so if there is a gas leak, an explosion can easily happen
- extracting gas could cause pollution in the water
What is global warming?
An increase on the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere caused by the greenhouse effect and increased levels of greenhouse gases
What is oil?
- mainly used for fuel and turned to plastics
- very little of the UK’s electricity comes from oil
- small amount is burned to heat water, creating steam, to generate electricity
What are the advantages of oil?
- a small amount can produce a lot of energy
- easy to transport and store
What are the disadvantages of oil?
- creates a lot of air pollution when burned
- impacts water, land use and disposal
What is renewable energy?
- energy from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind or solar power.
- non-finite resource
What is the % of electricity production in the UK which is coal?
23%
What is the % of electricity production in the UK which is oil?
<1%
What is the % of electricity production in the UK which is natural gas?
30%
What is the % of electricity production in the UK which is nuclear?
22%
What is the % of electricity production in the UK which is renewable?
25%
What is wind energy?
Wind energy is created through the use of wind turbines. The blades turn with the wind, driving a generator, which produced the electricity.
What are the advantages of wind energy?
- constantly available and sustainable
- no running cost for wind and the running cost for the turbine is relatively low
What are the disadvantages of wind energy?
- when there are periods of low wind, little or no energy is produced
- wind turbines cost a lot to build and put in place
What is solar energy?
Solar energy can be passive (e.g., positioning a building to gain heat from the sun, by placing near windows to the south-side of the building) or active (photovoltaic cells, which harness the sunlight energy and convert it to electricity)
What are the advantages of solar energy?
- clean, renewable energy source
- reduces household energy bills
What are the disadvantages of solar energy?
- cost a lot to install
- don’t produce much electricity when there is considerable cloud cover, during the winter months and at night
What is tidal (marine) energy?
- It is based on the gravitational pull of the moon, which causes the change in water levels (tides).
- The most common form of tidal power is tidal barrage. A tidal barrage is a long dam that’s built across the mouth of the river, where it meets the sea. The barrage is constructed so that the incoming tide passes through turbines to generate electricity. It also harnesses the reverse flow of the water when the tide goes out.
What are the advantages of tidal (marine) energy?
- clean, renewable energy source
- power plants last a long time
What are the disadvantages of tidal (marine) energy?
- river would never be completely empty, flooding mudflats, which provide habitats for thousands of birds
- problems with waste disposal, as many towns discharge sewage into rivers
- construction of tidal barrage is expensive
What is hydroelectricity?
the process which uses a dam to block a river in a valley and channels water through turbines that are used to turn generators for producing electricity.
What are the advantages of hydroelectricity?
- As the water is held, electricity can be produced very quickly by opening valves that control the flow to the turbines
- Clean, renewable energy source
- No pollution when running it
What are the disadvantages of hydroelectricity?
- Expensive to build a dam
- Reducing the water flow below the dam and the flooding of a valley, can affect the growing of crops and river ecosystems
What is wave energy?
The up and down movements of waves are converted into mechanical energy and moving rams or pistons, or they compress air so that it’s forced through a turbine
What is biomass?
The process of growing plants so that they can be burnt, or using decaying plants or animal materials to produce heat.
What are the advantages of biomass?
- Replacement crops can be grown very quickly to ensure a constant supply
- Carbon dioxide is released in the process and can be reused by plants
- Clean, renewable energy source
What are the disadvantages of biomass?
- Burning causes atmospheric pollution
- The land could have been used for growing food crops, which are more useful
What are some examples of potential energy (stored)?
- Chemical
- Mechanical
- Nuclear
- Gravitational
What are some examples of kinetic energy (motion)?
- Movement
- Electricity
- Heat
- Sound
- Light
Where is potential energy stored?
Potential energy is stored in objects not in motion, that will move once released
What are some forms of potential energy?
- Water in a reservoir ready to turn a turbine for HEP (Hydroelectric Power)
- Pressure in a fire extinguisher
- Tree branches high up in a tree have potential energy because they can fall to the ground.
- The food we eat has chemical potential energy because as our body digests it, it provides us with energy for basic metabolism.
What are some forms of kinetic energy?
- Electricity when travelling throughout a circuit
- Heat radiating from a fire
- Sound coming from a speaker
- Projected light
- Atoms vibrating
What are some examples of mechanical storage?
- Compression
- Tension
- Motion
What are some examples of chemical storage?
- Batteries
- Gases
- Solid fuel
- Food
How many volts is a battery?
1.5 V
How many volts is a rechargeable battery?
1.2 V
What are the two types of terminals a battery has?
positive and negative
What are the characteristics of an alkaline battery?
- Alkaline batteries are more
efficient and have a higher
capacity when compared to
traditional lead-acid varieties - More charge can be stored
in the same size battery - They hold their charge well
Where is there an increasing demand in rechargeable technology?
- portable domestic appliances and power tools
- disability and personal transport
- hybrid and all-electric vehicles
- mobile devices
What is a kinetic pumped storage system?
A kinetic pumped storage system is similar to hydroelecticty but there is a high-level reservoir and a low-level reservoir. This is used when there is a high demand for electricity.
The pumped storage system instantly releases electricity into the system by opening valves to allow water to flow down from the high reservoir into the lower reservoir, through turbines.
What are the characteristics of flywheel storage?
- Flywheels rotate in a near frictionless environment
- They use surplus energy to reach optimum speed
- Momentum is stored until it is required
- The motor used to power them, in turn, becomes a generator which returns electrical energy when needed
- Kinetic Energy Recovery
Systems (KERS) are used
on vehicles to save fuel
What are the characteristics of pneumatics?
- Compressed air or gas is used to create movement
- Pneumatic systems are very accurate and low maintenance - Pneumatics are commonly used in industry, for example with mechanical drills and on automated production lines
What are hydraulics?
Where pumped and compressed liquid is used instead of air which creates a more powerful system
What are hydraulics used in?
- Lifting equipment
- Car braking systems
- Firefighter cutting equipment
What does chemical energy storage include?
- Batteries (electro-chemical)
- Canisters / bottles of gas
- Flammable gels and liquids
including petrol and diesel - Hydrogen fuel cells
How is battery technology emerging?
- Flow batteries are large units
used to help smooth demand
on the National Grid - Sodium and glass batteries
are super-fast charging and
very high capacity
Why do batteries have to be disposed in certain places, and no at landfill sites?
Batteries contain toxic chemicals and metals which can leach into the soil and water table, are harmful to wildlife and the natural habitat, and need specialist recycling
