Energy Resources Flashcards
four non renewavle energy resources
coal
oil
natural gas
nuclear fuel (uranium and plutonium)
what is a non renewable energy resource?
any natural resource from earth that exists in a limited supply and cannot be replaced once it is used up
what are the advantages of using fossil fuels?
- release a lot of energy
- relatively cheap
- don‘t rely on weather
- no need to develop any new technology
disadvantages of fossil fuels
- release CO^2
- contribute to climate change
- released SO^2 which causes acid rain
- NON RENEWABLE!!!
how to calculate efficency?
useful energy transferred / total energy supplied x 100%
what is the main source of almost all of our energy?
the sun
what is the source of tidal energy?
the gravitational pull of the moon
how is the suns energy produced?
from nuclear fission reactions ( it cause hydrogen atoms to make helium)
what process occurs in a power station?
- fuel is burned and steam is produced in a boiler
- the steam turns a turbine
- the turbine drives a generator
- the generator produces electricity (the kinetic energy of the turbine -> transferred to electrical energy)
- the generator produces electricity which is supplied to homes, industry… etc
what cells are in solar panels?
photovoltaic (PV) cells
advantages and disadvantages of nuclear enerty
- large supply of uranium left
- releases no greenhouse gases
- expensive
- ## radioactive waste
adv. and disadv. of wind power
- cheap to run
- wind is free
- no polluting waste
- renewable
- spoil the view
- very loud
- wind isn‘t reliable
- expensive to set up
geothermal adv disadv
- renewable
- no environmental pollution
- expensive to drill down
- cost of building is high compared to how much energy is gained
solar energy
- renewable
- low running cost
- no pollution
- no sunlight at nichht, if it‘s cloudy… etc
-
wave power
- no pollution
- renewable
- hazard to boats and sealife
- unreliable, wind might cause no waves to appear
- initial costs are high
