P3: Energy Resources Flashcards
What are energy demands mostly met by?
Bering oil, coal and gas.
What provides some of energy we use
Nuclear power
Biofuels
Renewable sources
What is used as fuel in a nuclear power station?
Uranium or plutonium
Are biofuels renewable sources of energy?
Yes
What examples of bio fuels are used to create electricity?
Methane and ethanol
What is a bio fuel?
Any fuel taken from a living or recently living orginism
Is a bio fuel carbon neutral?
Yes
Examples of electricity generators?
Wind turbine
Waves
Hydro electricity
Tidal power station.
How does a Wind turbine produce electricity?
The force of the wind drives the turbines blades around.
This turns a generator
The power generated increases as the wind speed increases
Wind turbines are unreliable because they do not create electricity when there is little wind.
How does wave power create electricity?
It uses the waves to make a floating generator move up or down. The motion turns the generator so it generates electricity.
Cable between the generator and the shoreline delivers electricity to the grid system.
They need to withstand storms and don’t produce a constant supply of electricity. It can effect the habitats of marine life and birds
How is hydroelectric electricity created?
It is generated when rainwater is collected and flows down hill, the flowing water drives turbines that turn electricity generators of. the bottom of the hill.
How is tidal power electricity created?
It traps water from each high tide behind a barrage. The high tide is released into the sea through turbines.
The turbines drive the generators in the barrage.
What are solar cells?
Flat solid cells that use the Sun’s energy to generate electricity directly
Solar heating panels use the sun’s energy to heat ____ directly
Water
Where does Geothermal energy come from?
Energy transferred by radioactive substances deep inside the earth.
The radioactive substances heat the rock
____ pumped into hot rocks underground produces steam to drive turbines at the earth’s surface and generate electricity.
Water
Where are geothermal power stations built?
In volcanic areas.
How does geothermal energy work?
Radioactive substances heats rock,
Water gets pumped down to hot rocks underground to create steam. The steam produced drives electricity turbines at ground level.
Radio active waste can be brought up and hurt plants
What is a solar cell panel?
Sunlight is used to create electricity
What is a solar heating panel?
Sunlight is used to heat water
What do fossil fuels produce?
Increased levels of green house gases, leads to global warming.
What do nuclear fuels produce?
Radioactive waste.
What are the disadvantages of renewable energy resources?
They cover large areas and can disturb natural habitats.
Can different energy resources be evaluated in terms of reliability, environmental effects, pollution and waste?
Yes
Does nuclear power transfer much more energy per kg of uranium or plutonium fuel than fossil fuels.
Yes
Nuclear power disadvantages:
Used fuel rods contain radioactive waste which has to be stored safely for centuries.
An explosion could release radioactive material over an area.
What gas causes acid rain?
Sulfer dioxide
Does natural gas have to have its sulfer impurities removed before it is used?
Yes
Can gas-fired power stations and pumped storage stations meet variations in demand?
Yes
Expenses of renewable recourses
Cheap to run
Expensive to install
What is the independent variable?
The variable that is changed.
What is the dependent variable?
dependent variable is the variable that is being measured or tested in an experiment.
What is a control variable
Something that is constantly the same. Eg temperature.
What can solar cells be connected together to make?
Solar cell panels.
How does a solar panel tower work?
Flat mirrors reflect light onto water.
Water turns to steam
Steam
turns turbine
what is a pumped storage scheme
Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) is a type of hydroelectric energy storage. It is a configuration of two water reservoirs at different elevations that can generate power (discharge) as water moves down through a turbine; this draws power as it pumps water (recharge) to the upper reservoir.
What is the difference between a turbine and generator ?
turbine converts available energy forms into rotation while the
generator converts rotation into electricity.
Different types of Power stations
gas-fired station (shortest start-up time)
oil-fired station.
coal-fired station.
nuclear power station (longest start-up time)
What is the national grid?
the network of high-voltage power lines between major power stations.
What is the national grid ?
All of electricity generated goes to to get distributed.
