C1 - topic 5 - biofuels and fuel cells

Question 1

what are micro organisms used to do?

Answer 1

decompose living organisms waste of dead plants to create biogas which can be used as fuel

Question 2

what can biogas be used as?

Answer 2

fuel

Question 3

biogas can be burned to do what?

Answer 3

heat water
used in central heating systems
power a turbine - generate electricity

Question 4

was is an advantage of biogas over fossil fuels?

Answer 4

it’s renewable so it won’t run out

Question 5

why is biogas renewable?

Answer 5

the plants which are decomposed to make biogas can be replaced quickly with new crops

Question 6

what is another advantage of biogas?

Answer 6

dead plants need to make biogas photosynthesised when alive, removing Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which balances out the release of Carbon dioxide from burning the biogas

Question 7

what is biogas?

Answer 7

70% methane

30% Carbon dioxide

Question 8

why is biogas a fairly clean fuel?

Answer 8

it doesn’t produces as many small particles (particulates) of significant amount of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen (causes of acid rain)

Question 9

why is biogas cheap?

Answer 9

because the raw materials are cheap and readily available

Question 10

what is alcohol made from?

Answer 10

sugar

Question 11

what is a type of alcohol that can be used as fuel?

Answer 11

ethanol

Question 12

what does ethanol burn to give?

Answer 12

Carbon dioxide and water

Question 13

what kind of sugar materials can be used to make alcohol?

Answer 13

sugar cane and sugar beet

Question 14

what is gasohol?

Answer 14

10% ethanol m90% petrol

Question 15

what is a use of gasohol?

Answer 15

some cars can be adapted to rub on a mixture of ethanol and petrol

Question 16

what is a disadvantage of gasohol?

Answer 16

large amounts of land are needed to grow the crops used to produce ethanol so there would be less land available to grow food

Question 17

what is an advantage of gasohol?

Answer 17

the crops needed for ethanol production absorbs Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in photosynthesis whilst growing which contributes to balancing out the release of carbon dioxide when the gasohol is burnt

Question 18

what does using googol instead of pure petrol mean?

Answer 18

less crude oil being used

Question 19

why isn’t gasohol the perfect solution?

Answer 19

distilling the ethanol after fermentation needs a lot of energy

Question 20

what two elements give out energy when they react?

Answer 20

hydrogen and oxygen

Question 21

when hydrogen and oxygen react what is produced?

Answer 21

water

Question 22

what is released during the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen?

Answer 22

energy

Question 23

what is useful about reacting oxygen and hydrogen?

Answer 23

it produces energy but doesn’t procure any nasty pollutants

Question 24

what do fuel cells use to produce electrical energy?

Answer 24

fuel and oxygen

Question 25

what is a fuel cell?

Answer 25

a fuel cell is an electrical cell that it supplied with a fuel and I oxygen and used energy from the reaction between them to generate electricity

Question 26

does a fuel cell run out?

Answer 26

no

Question 27

what is an advantage of fuel cells?

Answer 27

they’re much more efficient than power stations or batteries at producing energy

Question 28

in a fuel cell, the electricity is generated directly form the reaction, is this an advantage or disadvantage?

Answer 28

advantage

Question 29

why is there not being a lot of stages to the process of generating electricity an advantage for fuel cells?

Answer 29

there are fewer places for the nervy to be lost as heat

Question 30

why isn’t energy in fuel cells lost through frictions?

Answer 30

there are no moving parts

Question 31

what don’t fuel feel vehicles produce?

Answer 31

any conventional pollutants - no greenhouse gases etc

Question 32

what are the by-products of fuel cells?

Answer 32

water and heat

Question 33

what would be a major advantage of fuel cells in cities where air pollution from traffic is a big problem?

Answer 33

fuel cell cars don’t produce any pollutants

Question 34

what are the disadvantages of fuel cells?

Answer 34

1) hydrogen is a gas that takes up loads more space to store than liquid fuels like petrol
2) hydrogen is very explosive so is hard to store safety
hydrogen is often made from either hydrocarbons or by electrolysis of water which uses electricity so fossil fuels are usually involved

Question 35

what is a disadvantage of fuel cells involving the disposal of batteries?

Answer 35

batteries are incredibly polluting to dispose because they’re usually made of highly toxic metal compounds

Question 36

what is biogas made by?

Answer 36

micro organisms