Chapter 16 Flashcards
Passive Solar Energy
Buildings are designed to maximize absorption of sunlight in winter
Active solar energy
Uses technology to focus, move, or store solar energy
Concentrated Solar Power
Technologies that concentrate solar energy to generate electricity
Photovoltaic (pv) cells)
Convert sunlight directly to electrical energy
Thin-film solar cells;
PV materials are compressed into thin sheets
Wind Energy
Energy derived from the movement of air
wind turbines
Devices that convert winds kinetic energy into electric energy
Geothermal energy
Thermal energy from beneath earths surface
Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs)
Geothermal pumps heat buildings in the winter
TIdal Energy
Dams cross the outlets of tidal basins
dont release emissions but change areas ecology
Wave energy
The motion of waves is harnessed and converted from mechanical energy into electricity
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
A potential energy source that involves harnessing the solar radiation absorbed by tropical oceans in the tropics
Electrolysis
Electricity splits hydrogen from water (production of hydrogen fuel)
Bioenergy
energy obtained from biomass (organic material from living or recently living organisms)
Biopower
Biomass sources are burned in powerplants
Biofuels
Liquid fuels used to power automobiles
Ethanol
A biofuel made by fermenting carbohydrate rich crops
Biodiesel
Produced from vegetable oil, cooking grease, or animal fat
Cellulosic ethanol
Produced from structual plant material (eg cornstalks) that has no food value
Hydropower
Uses kinetic energy of moving water to turn turbines to generate electricity
Storage Technique
Water stored in reservoirs behind dams passes through the dam and turns turbines
Run of river
approach generates electricity without disrupting rivers flow
Pumped storage
water is pumped to a high reservoir and flows downward through a turbine
