chapter 12

Question 1

fossil fuel

Answer 1

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

Question 2

non renewable energy resource

Answer 2

an energy resource with a finite supply

Question 3

nuclear fuel

Answer 3

fuel derived from radioactive materials that give off energy

Question 4

commercial energy source

Answer 4

an energy source that is bought and sold

Question 5

subsistence energy source

Answer 5

an energy source gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs

Question 6

energy carrier

Answer 6

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

Question 7

turbine

Answer 7

a device with blades that can be turned by water wind steam or exhaust from combustion that turns a generator in an electricity plant

Question 8

electrical grid

Answer 8

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

Question 9

combined cycle

Answer 9

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

Question 10

capacity

Answer 10

in reference to an electricity generating plant the max electrical output

Question 11

capacity factor

Answer 11

the fraction of time a power plant operates in a year

Question 12

cogeneration

Answer 12

the use of a fuel to generate electricity and produce heat

Question 13

coal

Answer 13

solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees ferns and other plant materials

Question 14

petroleum

Answer 14

a fossil fuel that occurs in underground deposits composed of a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons water and sulfur

Question 15

crude oil

Answer 15

liquid petroleum removed from the ground

Question 16

oil sands

Answer 16

slow flowing viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand water and clay

Question 17

bitumen

Answer 17

a degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the surface of earth and is modified by bacteria

Question 18

CTL

Answer 18

the process of converting solid coal to liquid fuel

Question 19

energy intensity

Answer 19

the energy use per unit of gross domestic product

Question 20

hubbert curve

Answer 20

bell curve representing oil use and projecting both when oil production with reach max and when the world will run out of oil

Question 21

peak oil

Answer 21

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

Question 22

fission

Answer 22

neutron strikes atomic nucleus and splits it

Question 23

fuel rod

Answer 23

cylindrical tube that encloses nuclear fuel within a nuclear reactor

Question 24

control rod

Answer 24

device inserted between fuel rods to absorb excess neutrons and slow reaction

Question 25

radioactive waste

Answer 25

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

Question 26

becquerel

Answer 26

unit that measures the rate at which a sample of radioactive material decays

Question 27

curie

Answer 27

unit of measure for radiation

Question 28

nuclear fusion

Answer 28

when lighter nuclei are forced together to produce heaver nuclei