energy resources Flashcards
how does affluence effect energy consumption/production
-people buy more and use more energy in activities such as travelling and larger homes wit more appliances.
-more energy to construct housing
-energy shortages limit transportation, waterr access, power and preservation of food.
how does social and environmental awareness affcet energy shortages.
regions of past energy shortages often have a tradition of managing their energy use carefully e.g Scandinavia has led to an energy conservation culture.
what has led to changes in energy use
-industrial energy consumption changes e.g industrialisation era.
-population growth
-income levels.
-changes in environmental; awareness.
how does politics/economics influence energy
governments assistance e.g development costs of new technology or increase national energy security.
new technologies to extract coal is coal gasification wat is this
coal too deep to be mines can be burnt underground to produce a mix of fuel and gas including hydrogen and methane.
what is primary oil recovery
using natural pressure of water below and the pressure forces oil up the production well.
what is directional drilling
allows wells to be drilled that are not vertical. so energy can be extracted for under locations such as urban areas.
what is fracking
crude oil and natural gas is trapped in pore spaces of shale rock. Hydraulic fracking uses high pressure to open fissures in the surrounding shale rock so oil can flow through them.
what are the concerns over fracking
-natural gas may enter aquifer water.
-chemicals injected underground may enetr aquifers .
-mobile toxic chemicals.
-large volumes of water needed.
-earthquakes.
what is enhanced gas recovery -natural gas
increases gas recovery rates using processes such as injecting c02 or nitrogen to maintain pressure.
what is nuclear fission
splitting the nuclei of large atoms e.g isotopes of uranium-is commercially now. Fusion is a research project. releases enegry.
give a cas study that shows the concerns of nuclear fission
reactor incidents at Chernobyl (1986, Ukraine) or Fukishima (japan,2011).
what are new technologies for uranium extracion
polymer absorpton
-phosphatye mining
-coal ash.
thorium reactors
thorium 232 is not fissile so does not release energy after neutron bombardment. It can be converted to fissil;e uranium 233.
what is nuclear fusion
joining of the nuclei of small atoms such as iasotopes of hydrogen e.g tritium produced by neutron bomabrdment of lithium.
toroidal reactors
several projects are being developed e.g ITER that is a new project that builds on the knowledge from JET and is planned to release more energy than it uses.
what are the methods of harnessing solar power
photothermal solar power-absorb sunlight to produce heat for low temp uses e.g space heating.
-passive solar architecture- maximising absorption through building design- overheating in summer can be reduced with fixed solar screens that deflects sunlight.
new hydroelectric power technologies
Kaplan turbines-axial flow turbines with blades that can be rotated to allow variations in water flow - they can harness 90% of kinetic energy.
micro-hydro schemes- small scale projects divert part of the flow of a river t drive a turbine but don’t create a barrier across the whole river.
what are advantages of biofuels
supply rate of energy crops can be controlled.
-can be stored until needed.
-some can replace petrol/diesel for cars
-carbon neutral fuels.
-biodiesel and alcohol have an energy density nearly as high as fossil fuels.
low temperature geothermal schemes -
-geothermal springs and aquifers -hot water may be pumped to surface for district heating.
high temperature geothermal shemes
geothermal steam systems and hot dry rock systems.
low temerature fluids-Geothermal
neew turbine technology that use liquids which boil and turn turbines at lower temperatures. Water as cool as 60c can be used to boil butane or propane.
tidal barrages
The barrage is constructed so that the incoming tide passes through turbines. Turbines in a power station turn the generators. to generate electricity. It also harnesses the reverse flow of the water when the tide goes out.
developments in energy storage technologies
-peak shaving using pumped HEP-surplus energy used to pump water uphill which stores the energy as gravitational potential energy and can be converted to kinetic energy through water flowing to the lower reservoir.
-chemical energy-stored fossil fuels, hydrogen and battery fuel call store energy.
vehicle to grid systems
Energy can be transferred between national electricity grid and vehicle batteries. The proposal is that all vehicles are plugged into the grid when parked for long periods. If there is peak demand then a small proportion from vehicle batteries may be used.
kinetic energy
flywheels can be used as a temporary store of kinetic energy, the rotating flywheel can be used to drive machinery ore generate electricity when needed.
industrial energy conservation
heat recovery
-insulation
-high volume storage.
-combined heat and power
-integrated manufacture.
-recycling.
-mass reduction
transport energy conservation
bulk transport -carrying larger loads on fewer vehicles -more efficient.
reduced mass- e.g plastic instead of steel of aluminium engine blocks instead of cast iron-limits energy consumption.
transport energy conservation
-bulk transport
-vehicle design
-reduced mass
-regenerative braking
-wheel design
-fuel combustion efficiency.-vehicle design for end of life.
building energy conservation
building surface area
-high thermal mass materials
-low embodied energy materials
-earth sheltered buildings.
-building insulation
-window energy conservation
-ventilation
-occupancy sensors
-programmable thermostats.
-low energy appliances.
