Chapter 13 - Achieving Energy Sustainability Flashcards
Nonrenewable
An energy source with a finite supply, primarily the fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.
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.
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
The greatest quantity of energy used at any one time.
Brownout
An intentional or unintentional drop in voltage in an electrical power supply system. Intentional brownouts are used for load reduction in an emergency
Blackout
Is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area
Sustainable Design
The philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability
Passive Solar Design
Construction designed to take advantage of solar radiation without active technology.
Thermal Inertia
A property of a building material that allows it to maintain heat or cold.
Biofuels
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 concentrations.
Net Removal
The process of removing more than is replaced by growth, typically used when referring to carbon.
Solid Biomass
Wood, charcoal, manure; potentially renewable, eliminate waste from the environment; can cause deforestation, erosion, and indoor/outdoor pollution
Ethanol
Alcohol made by converting starches and sugars from plant material into alcohol and CO2.
Flex-fuel vehicles
A vehicle that runs on either gasoline or a gasoline/ethanol mixture.
Biodiesel
A diesel substitute produced by extracting and chemically altering oil from plants.
Hydroelectricity
Electricity generated by the 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 System
Energy that comes from the movement of water driven by the gravitational pull of the Moon.
Fish Ladder
A stair-like structure that allows migrating fish to get around a dam.
Siltation
The accumulation of sediments, primarily silt, on the bottom of a reservoir.
Box Cooker / solar oven
A device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials.
Passive solar heating
The use of sunlight to heat buildings directly
Active solar energy
Energy captured from sunlight with intermediate technologies.
solar water heating
Heat from the sun heats water in glass panels which is used for hot water or for heating
Photovoltaic solar cells
A system of capturing energy from sunlight and converting it directly into electricity.
Concentrated solar thermal
Solar collectors reflect light and are used to heat a liquid that can spin a turbine to generate 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.
Wind Energy
Energy generated from the kinetic energy of moving air.
Wind turbine
A turbine that converts wind energy into electricity.
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.
Electrical grid
A network of interconnected transmission lines that joins power plants together and links them with end users of electricity.
smart grid
An efficient, self-regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it automatically to end users.
Capacity
In reference to an electricity-generating plant, the maximum electrical output.
Cogeneration
The use of a fuel to generate electricity and produce heat.
Energy Efficiency
The ratio of the amount of energy expended in the form you want to the total amount of energy that is introduced into the system.
Low E windows
allows heat from the sun to enter the building but significantly reduces heat loss from inside the building, by reflecting radiant heat back into the room
triple glazed windows
consist of three sheets of glass, each separated by an air gap. The air gaps provide the insulating layers that slow down the heat loss and reduce the opportunity for condensation to form
waste-to-energy
A system in which heat generated by incineration Capacity as an energy source rather than released into the atmosphere.
