Chapter 17 Vocabulary

Question 1

net energy

Answer 1

total amount of useful energy available from an energy resource or energy system over its lifetime, minus the amount of energy used (the first energy law), automatically wasted (the second energy law), and unnecessarily wasted in finding, processing, concentrating, and transporting it to users.

Question 2

net energy ratio

Answer 2

the amount of high-quality usable energy available from a resource after subtracting the energy needed to make it available for use

Question 3

petroleum (crude oil)

Answer 3

gooey liquid consisting mostly of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of compounds containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. We extract it from underground deposits and separate into products such as gasoline, heating oil, and asphalt

Question 4

conventional oil (light oil)

Answer 4

type of oil with the help of its chemical cousin natural gas that help provide us with food grown with the help of hydrocarbon-based fertilizers and pesticides

Question 5

heavy crude oil

Answer 5

remaining oil that isn’t taken out in a oil deposit

Question 6

Refinery

Answer 6

where crude oil goes after being extracted

Question 7

petrochemicals

Answer 7

Chemicals obtained by refining crude oil. Used as raw materials in manufacturing most industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, plastic, etc

Question 8

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

Answer 8

on Alaska’s North Slope that contains more than one-fifth of all land in the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge system.
refugee coastal plain

Question 9

oil sand (tar sand)

Answer 9

mixture of clay, sand, water, and a combustible organic material called bitumen

Question 10

Bitumen

Answer 10

a thick and sticky heavy oil with a high sulfur content and that smells like asphalt.
Created hen conventional oil escaping from its birthplace was degraded into tar by bacteria and groundwater

Question 11

shale oil

Answer 11

slow-flowin, dark brown, heavy oil obtained when kerogen in oil shale is vaporized at high temperatures and then condensed.
made from oil shale rock

Question 12

natural gas

Answer 12

consisting mostly of methane, is often found above reservoirs of crude oil
formed from fossil deposits of phytoplankton and animals buried on the sulfur for million of years and subjected to high temp. and pressure

Question 13

conventional natural gas

Answer 13

lies above most reservoirs of crude oil

Question 14

unconventional natural gas

Answer 14

found in other underground sources

ex. methane hydrate

Question 15

liquified petroleum gas (LPG)

Answer 15

mixture of liquified propane and butane gas removed from natural gas and used as a fuel

Question 16

liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Answer 16

natural gas converted to liquid form by cooling to a very low temp.

Question 17

coal

Answer 17

solid fossil fuel formed in several stages that is subjected to intense heat and pressure
mostly carbon and contains small amounts of sulfur, released into the atmosphere as SO2 when coal is burned

Question 18

area strip mining

Answer 18

an earth-mover strips away the overburden, a huge power shovel digs a cut to remove the mineral deposit an then the trench is refilled

Question 19

contour strip mining

Answer 19

• Used on hilly or mountainous terrain

- Earthmover removes overburden and coal is extracted with a power shovel

Question 20

peat

Answer 20

partially decayed plant matter in swamps and bogs; low heat content
not a coal

Question 21

lignite

Answer 21

low heat content; low sulfur content; limited supplies in most areas

Question 22

bituminous coal

Answer 22

extensively used as a fuel bc of its high heat content and large supplies; normally has a high sulfur content

Question 23

anthracite

Answer 23

highly desirable fuel bc of its high heat content and low sulfur content; supplies are limited in most areas

Question 24

synthetic natural gas (SNG)

Answer 24

gaseous fuel containing mostly methane produced from solid coal

Question 25

coal gasification

Answer 25

conversion of solid coal to synthetic natural gas

Question 26

coal liquefaction

Answer 26

conversion of solid coal to a liquid hydrocarbon fuel such as synthetic gasoline or methanol

Question 27

light water reactors (LWRs)

Answer 27

produce about 85% of the world’s nuclear-generated electricity.

Question 28

uranium oxide fuel

Answer 28

part of a LWR and it consists of about 97% non fissionable uranium -238 and 3% fissionable uranium-235.

Question 29

control rods

Answer 29

part of a LWR that is made of neutron-absorbing materials, such as boron or cadmium, are moved in an out of the spaces between the fuel assemblies in he core to absorb neutrons

Question 30

moderator

Answer 30

a material that slows down the neutrons emitted by the fission process to keep the chain reaction going.
can be liquid water, solid graphite, or heavy water

Question 31

pressurized water reactors

Answer 31

these are 75% of the world’s reactors and use liquid water moderators

Question 32

coolant

Answer 32

usually water, that circulates through the reactor’s core to remove heat to keep fuel rods and other materials from melting and to produce steam for generating electricity

Question 33

containment vessel

Answer 33

for safety backup
it contains very thick and strong walls that surround the reactors core.
They keep radioactive material from escaping into the environment

Question 34

water filled pools (Dry casks)

Answer 34

have thick steel walls that are used for on-site storage of highly radioactive spent fuel rods removed when reactors are refueled.

Question 35

high level radioactive waste

Answer 35

they give off large amounts of harmful ionizing radiation for a short time and small amounts for a long time.

Question 36

decommissioned

Answer 36

retired

Question 37

low level radioactive waste

Answer 37

give off small amounts of ionizing radiation and must be stored safely for 100-500 yrs before decaying to safe levels

Question 38

Where is Chernobyl and what happened there?

Answer 38

Ukraine

nuclear power plant accident

Question 39

What fuel is used by about half the world’s people in developing nations when they heat their homes and cook food?

Answer 39

wood and charcoal

Question 40

Which country is the world’s largest energy user?

Answer 40

US

Question 41

Why does oil have a high net ratio?

Answer 41

because much of it comes from large, accessible, and cheap-to-extract deposits such as those in the Middle East

Question 42

7. Where are crude oil and natural gas often found?

Answer 42

trapped together under a dome deep within the earth’s crust on land or under the seafloor

Question 43

8. What happens to crude oil at a refinery?

Answer 43

heated and distilled in gigantic columns to separate it into components with different boiling points.

Question 44

9. What is OPEC and why is it important?

Answer 44

• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• it has 78% of the world’s estimated crude oil reserves. OPEC is expected to have long-term control over the supplies and prices of the world’s convection oil

Question 45

10. What percentage of the world’s oil reserves does the U.S. have? What percentage of the extracted crude oil does the U.S. use each year?

Answer 45

• 2.9%

- 26%

Question 46

13. How are oil sands dug up?

Answer 46

by gigantic electrical shovels and loaded into house-sized trucks that carry them to upgrading plants

Question 47

14. Where are 3/4 of the world’s oil sands located?

Answer 47

Northeastern Alberta in Canada

Question 48

15. Where is shale oil located?

Answer 48

refineries

Question 49

16. what is natural gas made of?

Answer 49

mixture of 50-90% by volume of methane, the simplest hydrocarbon, and smaller amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, and butane, and small amounts of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.

Question 50

17. Who has the world’s natural gas supplies and how long will the supplies last?

Answer 50

Russia has about 31% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, followed by Iran (15%) and Qatar (9%). About 36% of the world’s natural gas reserves are in Middle East countries and the U.S. has only 3%. The gas should last for 62-125 years.

Question 51

19. how is coal extracted?

Answer 51

surface and underground mining

Question 52

20. How is coal used and how long will supplies last?

Answer 52

produce electricity and steel

last for 100s to 1000s of yrs

Question 53

22. How does a nuclear fission reactor work?

Answer 53

hen isotopes of uranium and plutonium undergo controlled nuclear fission and the resulting heat is used to produce steam that spins turbines to generate electricity.

Question 54

26. What do we do with low-level radioactive waste?

Answer 54

store them safely for 100-500 years before they decay to save levels

Question 55

27. What should we do with high-level radioactive waste?

Answer 55

no agreed way to store it

Question 56

31. What are the three ways to decommission a worn-out nuclear power plant?

Answer 56

• dismantle the plant and store its large volume of highly radioactive materials in a high-level nuclear waste storage facility
• put up a physical barrier around the plant and set up full-time security for 30-100 years before the plant is dismantled
• enclose the entire plant in a tomb that must last and be monitored for several thousand years.