P3 - Energy Demands Flashcards
How are energy demands met?
- Burning oil, coal and gas.
What do nuclear power, biofuels and renewable sources of energy provide?
- They provide energy to generate some of the energy you use.
What fuel is used in a nuclear power station and why is it more efficient?
- Uranium and plutonium is used as much more energy is released per KG than other fossil fuels.
What are biofuels and what can they be used for?
- They are renewable sources of energy.
- Methane and ethanol can be used to generate electricity.
What is a wind turbine?
- A wind turbine is an electricity generator on top of a tall tower.
How do waves generate electricity?
- By turning a floating generator.
How are hydroelectricity generators turned?
- By water running downhill.
What does a tidal power station do?
- Traps each high tide and uses it to turn electrical generators.
What are solar cells?
- Flat solid cells and use the the sun’s energy to generate electricity directly.
What are solar heating panels?
- Use the sun’s energy to heat water directly.
Where does geothermal energy come from?
- Comes from energy transferred by radioactive substances deep inside the earth.
Why is water pumped into hot rocks underground?
- So that it produces steam to drive turbines at the Earth’s surface that generate electricity.
What do fossil fuels produce?
- Increased levels of greenhouse gases which could cause global warming.
What do nuclear fuels produce?
- Radioactive waste.
What are the characteristics of renewable energy resources?
- They will never run out.
- Do not produce harmful waste products.
- They can be used in remote places.
- They can disturb natural habitats as they cover large areas.
How can different energy sources be evaluated?
- Reliability, environmental effects, pollution and waste.
What can gas-fired power stations and pumped storage power stations do?
- They can meet variations in demand.
Characteristics of a nuclear power station.
- Expensive to build, run and decommission.
- Carbon capture of fossil fuels emissions is likely to b e expensive.
- Renewable sources are cheap to run but expensive to install.
What is likely to happen if nuclear power stations and fossil fuel power stations use carbon capture technology and renewable energy resources?
- Likely to be needed for future energy supplies.
What is supply and demand?
- Demand for electricity varies each day - higher in the winter.
- Electricity generators need to match these changes in demand.
- Power stations can’t just be started up, the start up depends on the type of power station.
