chapter 13 Flashcards
energy conservation
finding and implementing ways to use less energy
tiered rate system
a billing system used by some electric companies in which customers pay higher rates as their use goes up
peak demand
greatest quantity of energy used at any one time
passive solar design
construction designed to take advantage of solar radiation without active tech
thermal mass
a property of a building material that allows it to maintain heat or cold
potentially renewable
an energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as it is not overharvested
nondepletable
an energy source that cannot be used up
renewable
in energy management an energy source that is either potentially renewable or nondepletable
biofuel
liquid fuel created from processed or refined biomass
modern carbon
carbon in biomass that was recently in the atmosphere
fossil carbon
carbon in fossil fuels
carbon neutral
an activity that does not change atmospheric co2 concentration
net removal
process of removing more than is replaced by growth
ethanol
alcohol made by converting starches and sugars from plant material into alcohol and co2
biodiesel
diesel substitute produced by extracting and chemically altering oil from plants
flex fuel vehicle
a vehicle that runs on either gas or gas ethanol mix
hydroelectricity
electricity generated by kinetic energy of moving water
run of the river
hydroelectricity generation in which water is retained behind a low dam or no dam
water impoundment
the storage of water in a reservoir behind a dam
tidal energy
energy that comes from the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull of the moon
siltation
the accumulation of sediments primarily silt on the bottom of a reservoir
active solar energy
energy captured from sunlight with advanced technologies
photovoltaic solar cell
a system of capturing energy from sunlight and converting it directly into electricity
wind energy
energy generated from the kinetic energy of moving air
wind turbine
a turbine that converts wind energy into electricity
geothermal energy
heat energy that comes from the natural radioactive decay of elements deep within earth
ground source heat pump
a technology that transfers heat from the ground to a building
fuel cell
an electrical chemical device that converts fuel such as hydrogen into an electrical current
electrolysis
the application of an electric current to water molecules to split them into hydrogen and oxygen
smart grid
an efficient self regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it automatically to end users
