P3 Re-Usable Energy Flashcards
What is sustainability?
Using a reasorce at a rate in which it can be replaced
What is non renewable energy?
Why will it run out?
Is energy found in fossil fuels and nuclear fuel. They are typicaly burnt to rovide energy. They all damage the enviroment but they provide most of our energy.
The 3 main fossile fules are: Coal,oil,gas.
They will run out because they take billions of years to form and we are using them quickly
What are the main renewable energy resources?
Solar
Wind
Water waves
Hydro-electricity
Tides
Bio-fuel
Geothermal
Why is reneable enery generaly better? Or worse?
They will never run out
Most do damage to the enviroment but not as much as non renewable energy
They don’t provide as much energy and they are less reliable because they depend on weather
How can renewable energy be used for heating?
It can also be used as fuel in different ways
Non renewable- natual gass is used to power radiators
Coal in fireplaces
Electric heater uses electrcity generated from non renewable sorce
RENEWABLE
Using a geothermal heat pumps
Solar water heaters (using the sun to heat water and then pumping it into radiators around the house
Burning bio fuel
How do wind turbines produce energy?
Wind pushes the turbines
This causes a generator inside the turbin to turn. This transferes the kinetic energy (wind) tovjhvgucyfcygc energy ()
What are the advantages of wind turbines?
No pollution
There is no permenant damage
What are the disadvantages of wind turbines?
They are expensive to make
They ruin the view
They only create energy when it is windy (they only work around 80% of the time)
They can be very noisy
You can’t increase supply when there is demand
What are the advantages of solar pannels?
No pollution
In sunny countrys they are very reliable
What are the disadvantages of solar pannels?
Thye are expensive
They arn’t very efficent
You can’t increase energy supply when there is demand
When it is cloudy or night they don’t work
What is geothermal power?
Energy in underground thermal energy stores
Where might grothermal energy be used?
What can they be used for?
Places near volcanos where there are hot rock near the surface
Generate electricity. Heat buildings up directly
What are the advantages of geothermal energy sorces?
Free energy from the earth
Reliable
Little damage to the enviroment
What are the negatives of geothermal energy?
Arn’t many suitabable locations
Cost of building a power plant is often high compared to the amount of energy it will produce
What is hydroelectric power?
Getting power from falling water in a dam
What are the benifits of hydroelectric dams?
There is no pollution
It provides an imediate responce to an increased demand of electricity
No fuel costs and low running costs
May behsefull in generating small amounts of energy is remote areas
What are the disadvantges of hydroelectric power?
They cause damage to the enviroment as you need to flood valleys woth water. This may destroy many habitats
They may look ugly
Initial costs are high
What are the disadvnatges of wave power?
It may disturb the seabed and animals and are dangerous to boats
You need lots of them
It is unreliable
Initial costs are high
Unlikley to privide large scales of energy
What are the advantages of wave power?
No fuel costs and low running costs
Good way to create small amounts of energy
No pollution
What is wave power?
You build lots of mini turbines in the sea to collect energ from the waves
What is a tidal barrage?
Big dams built across river estuaries with turbines in them. As the tides come up it fills the estuary and water is let through down the turbines at a controlled pace
How are tides formed?
When will the tide be at it’s strongest?
The sun and moon’s gravitation pull acting on the water pulls the water to eather side
The tide will be at it’s strongest when the moon and sun are in a straight line?
What are the benifits of tidal barrages?
No pollution
Reliable
No fuel costs minimal running costs
Some tidal barrages have to potential to generate a lot of energy
What are the disadvantages of tidal barrages?
Make it harder for boats to get around
May destroy some habitats
Initial costs are monderatly high
Of the tide isn’t as strong as normall it may produce less energy
What are bio fuels made of?
Plants and waste
What are bio fuels similar to?
Fossile fuels however it is renewable and good for the enviroment. It is burnt to give electricity
Why may bio fuel not be carbon neutral?
Because you need to grow plants at the same rate as which you burn bio fuel
What are the benefits of bio fuel?
It is fairly reliable
Crops take a relativly short time to grow
They can be stored for when they are needed
What are the disadvantages of bio fuels?
They can’t respond to immediate energy demands (to help this bio fuel is constantly being grown and stored for future use)
It costs a lot to refine it
Some people worry that if we use to much crops for bio fuel we won’t have enough food
In some areas forests have been cleared so people can grow crops for bio fuel leading to deforestation and loss of habitats and animal species
The decay and burning of the bio fuels release CO2 and methane into the atomosphere
How is bio fuel good for the enviroment?
Althoguh when burnt it releases CO2 in the prosses of growing the crops for the bio fuel there will in theory be altogether a positive impact
What are the advantages of fossile fuels and nuclear energy?
They are reliable
They can be used to respond to a surge in demand
The running costs of power and nuclear factories arn’t that high
It is cost effective (so people make profit from it. That is why it is so popular)
Nuclear fuel is quite cheep
What are the disadvantages of Nuclear and fossile fuels?
Fossile fules are nin renewable
The factories have a large initial cost
Adds to the greenhouse effect and global warming
Burning coal and gass releases sulfer diozide which causes acid rain
Coal minning can ruin the landscape (open cast mining)
Power plants can be aestheticly unpleasing
Oil splillages cause serious enviromental damage
Nuclear waste is very dangerous and hard to dispose of
The cost of a nuclear powerplant is very high
Nuclear power carries the risk of major catastrophe’s like cheynoblyl
How can we solve the problem of acid rain becoming more frequent?
By removing the sulfur out of the coal and gas before burning them
Why are nuclear power plants expensive?
Final decommissioning
What energy to we rely on now?
Fossile fuels
How has energy usage changed in the 20th centery?
In the UK it has increased as the population grew and people ised electricity for more things
How has energy usage changed in the 21st Centery
In the UK it has been decreasing (slowly) as out things become more energy efficent and we become more careful about how we use your electricity
What might we use fossile fuels for?
Energy
Heating
Cars/transport
Cook food
What are governments trying to do with there energy?
Use more renewable energy
How are businesses being effected by the want for a more eco-friendly world?
Governments are introducing legestation to stop businesses from dumping too much pollution into the atmosphere
Electric cars are now more popular than petrol cars
Why is it hard to change to renewable sorces?
- It’s not profitable so many people won’t do it
- It is expensive to develope ways of solving these problems
- It may not produce enough power to support a country
- They arn’t reliable
- Wind farms ect take up a lot of space and no one wants to live near them
- Making personal changes is hard eg hybrid cars are more expensive than normall cars due to the time and money put into developing it
