New Energy Consrvation Technologies Flashcards
What are the three areas where energy can be conserved?
Transport
Building
Industry
How does car shape affect efficiency?
Improving its aerodynamics or hydrodynamics
What does a more effective vehicle shape mean?
Less energy is needed to push the vehicle forwards
How can lorry design be more effective?
Instead of having a boxy trailer the cabin of the lorry can be sloped to become more aerodynamic and ave energy as there is less drag
What does a lower mass vehicle do?
Less weight to move so less energy is used
What are some ways a vehicle can be made lighter?
- If strength isn’t needed plastic or carbon fibre can be used
-steel alloys with titanium (strong and light) is used in the panels - engine blocks aren’t cast iron but are now aluminium
- rounded surfaces take up less room and have a smaller surface area
- high density batteries store more energy but have less mass
What happens to fuel economy when a cars weight is reduced by 10%?
5-7% improvement in fuel economy
What % do your tyres and rolling resistance account for overall fuel consumption?
Around 15%
What is the main characteristic of energy saving tyres?
They have a lower rolling resistance
How are tyres ranked for efficiency?
A for the best
G for the worst
What does lower tyre pressure mean?
More rolling resistance (increased friction) so higher fuel consumption
What does KERS stand for?
Kinetic Energy Recovery System
what is KERS?
A system for recovering a moving vehicles kinetic energy under braking
What happens to energy form braking in traditional cars?
It is lost to the atmosphere as heat
What does KERS do?
Recovers energy and sores it for after use under acceleration
How can bulk transport systems be more efficient?
To do fewer journeys
Why is less energy better is mass is increased?
Once the mass is moving there is energy saving as log as more goods are in transit
What is embodied energy?
The sum of all energy required to produce a product (extraction, assembly, and transportation)
What is the embodied energy of a typical car?
Equivalent to 1.5 years of the fuel it consumes
What are the ways embodied energy can be reduced in cars?
Can be made using recycled materials
Electric cars- the mass of the batteries used to power them increases their embodied energy so reducing battery mass
Using fewer materials
What are transport infrastructure and management systems?
The idea that it is not always efficient or sustainable to use one vehicle type for a whole journey (car in a city centre congestion)
What is a better inner city transport option over cars?
Park and ride
Trains where people can lock their bike
What do SMART motorways do?
Relieve congestion by making the hard shoulder available for use by traffic
What does the technology on SMART motorways do?
Monitor traffic levels
Change the speed limit to smooth traffic flow , reduce frustrating stop-start driving and improve journey items
Activate warning signs to alert drivers to traffic jams and hazards up ahead
Close lanes
How can the end of life environmental impacts of vehicle design be minimised?
Using recycled materials where possible
Easy identification of components and their composition (code numbers)
Easy dismantling and separation of components
Use of reusable components for use in new vehicles
Use of compostable materials for components that can’t be recycled
what is one of the most important aspects for energy saving house design?
Orientation- the way the house faces
what way does the sun face in the northern hemisphere?
south for most of the day
what way does the sun face in the southern hemisphere?
north
why does sun direction affect house design?
must ensure windows exist on the south sides usually making a warmer home
what is common with north facing houses?
they are usually colder
what can be done to reduce the coldness of north facing houses?
make sure windows are smaller so less heat is lost form this side
what rooms would you want to put on the south side of a house?
rooms that need more warmth such as lounges as less artificial heating is needed
how can surface area of a house affect how warm it is/ how much is needed to heat it?
lots of exterior walls make for cooler houses (detached houses are cooler, flats are generally warmer)
what are materials with a high thermal mass?
using materials which are denser so warm up and cool down more slowly
what is a good example of an energy dense material?
concrete
what is one way to reduce energy demands of the home?
using low embodied energy materials
what is the negative of concrete?
naturally high in embodied energy
what makes the high embodied energy of concrete less of a problem?
concrete is found in powder form so old buildings can be demolished and the concrete recycled
where is an example of when concrete has been recycled?
92% of the London Olympic buildings were recycled
what is an alternative to concrete?
limecrete
what is the difference in embodied energy for limecrete and concrete?
limecrete cuts the energy by half
what can also be done to keep a building warmer in winter and cooler in summer?
sinking the building into the ground
what unconventional materials can be used to make buildings?
rammed earth or straw
where has rammed earth been used in the past?
the great wall of china which was made over 1000 years ago
what is traditional rammed earth made of?
a mix of clay-rich soil
water
natural stabiliser
what are some examples of natural stabilisers for rammed earth?
animal urine
animal blood
plant fibres
bitumen
what is a newer version of rammed earth?
for past 30 years cement-stabilised rammed earth (CRSE) has appeared
what does CSRE consist of?
mix of low clay soil
water
cement
what is the main positive of CSRE?
main ingredient is soil (in remote areas using local soil significantly reduces cost of transportation and embodied energy)
what can be used over CRSE?
straw is a by-product but can be used to build homes and often locally sourced so reduces energy/ environmental impacts
what can be done to homes to stop heat escaping easily?
well insulated
contain low conductivity materials
use energy conserving materials (windows/doors)
what can make windows more effective?
should have multiple layers of glass with gaps between
what do the gaps between glass layers need to be?
big enough to reduce conduction losses but not too big that convection currents can start
how can the gaps between glass layers vary?
depending on the gasses pumped into the gap
inert gasses (argon and xenon) are most effective but expensive
what is low e-glazing?
a film coating enabling infrared to be reflected back into the house keeping it warmer
what are U values?
these are the standard measure for insulation
there are legal requirements for minimum insulation level
what is the most common floor/ wall insulation?
prefabricated boards with a foil layer (reflects back infrared radiation)
what is a more natural form of insulation?
Wool waste product not used for much else
what is energy management?
looks at how we can be less wasteful within the home itself
what are occupancy sensors?
work by detecting the movement of body heat
can turn lighting on or off as needed
what are the 4 stages of occupancy sensors?
light off
gradual light on
light to full on
gradual light off
What are programmable thermostats?
Unlike having a dial it is a device that connects to your phone and monitors/ learns you energy usage and routine and will turn the heating on before you get home and can turn it off if it sees you’re in another country
What do heat exchangers and mechanical ventilation do?
Warm stale air sucked out of ‘wet’ rooms to the heat exchanger
Heat removed from warm stale air and passed by the het exchanger to the cool air outside
What are some low energy appliances?
Light bulbs LED instead of CFL
Dish washer use new dishwashers use less water so less heating needed
Cookers modern cookers have double or triple glazing to prevent heat losses
What is the most important energy saving area of industry?
Heat management
Why is heat so important t in industry?
Usually needed for processing and manufacturing
What are heat exchangers used for?
To keep machinery, chemicals , water, gas and other substances within a safe operating range
Used to transfer heat exhaust/ steam that is a by product so that it can be put to better use somewhere else
