chapter 13

Question 1

energy conservation

Answer 1

finding and implementing ways to use less energy

Question 2

tiered rate system

Answer 2

a billing system used by some electric companies in which customers pay higher rates as their use goes up

Question 3

peak demand

Answer 3

greatest quantity of energy used at any one time

Question 4

passive solar design

Answer 4

construction designed to take advantage of solar radiation without active tech

Question 5

thermal mass

Answer 5

a property of a building material that allows it to maintain heat or cold

Question 6

potentially renewable

Answer 6

an energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as it is not overharvested

Question 7

nondepletable

Answer 7

an energy source that cannot be used up

Question 8

renewable

Answer 8

in energy management an energy source that is either potentially renewable or nondepletable

Question 9

biofuel

Answer 9

liquid fuel created from processed or refined biomass

Question 10

modern carbon

Answer 10

carbon in biomass that was recently in the atmosphere

Question 11

fossil carbon

Answer 11

carbon in fossil fuels

Question 12

carbon neutral

Answer 12

an activity that does not change atmospheric co2 concentration

Question 13

net removal

Answer 13

process of removing more than is replaced by growth

Question 14

ethanol

Answer 14

alcohol made by converting starches and sugars from plant material into alcohol and co2

Question 15

biodiesel

Answer 15

diesel substitute produced by extracting and chemically altering oil from plants

Question 16

flex fuel vehicle

Answer 16

a vehicle that runs on either gas or gas ethanol mix

Question 17

hydroelectricity

Answer 17

electricity generated by kinetic energy of moving water

Question 18

run of the river

Answer 18

hydroelectricity generation in which water is retained behind a low dam or no dam

Question 19

water impoundment

Answer 19

the storage of water in a reservoir behind a dam

Question 20

tidal energy

Answer 20

energy that comes from the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull of the moon

Question 21

siltation

Answer 21

the accumulation of sediments primarily silt on the bottom of a reservoir

Question 22

active solar energy

Answer 22

energy captured from sunlight with advanced technologies

Question 23

photovoltaic solar cell

Answer 23

a system of capturing energy from sunlight and converting it directly into electricity

Question 24

wind energy

Answer 24

energy generated from the kinetic energy of moving air

Question 25

wind turbine

Answer 25

a turbine that converts wind energy into electricity

Question 26

geothermal energy

Answer 26

heat energy that comes from the natural radioactive decay of elements deep within earth

Question 27

ground source heat pump

Answer 27

a technology that transfers heat from the ground to a building

Question 28

fuel cell

Answer 28

an electrical chemical device that converts fuel such as hydrogen into an electrical current

Question 29

electrolysis

Answer 29

the application of an electric current to water molecules to split them into hydrogen and oxygen

Question 30

smart grid

Answer 30

an efficient self regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it automatically to end users