Topic 10-Using Resources Flashcards
What are renewable resources?
The reform at a similar rate to or faster than we use them.
What are examples of renewable resources?
Timber
Fresh water
Food
What are non renewable resources?
Arent formed quickly enough to be considered replaceable.
What are examples of non renewable resources?
Fossil fuels
Uranium
Plutonium
Metals found in ores
What is bioleaching?
Bacteria is used to covert copper compunds in the ore into soluable copper compounds, separating the copper from the ore in the process.
The solution produced by the process contains copper ions, which can be extracted by electrolysis or displacement.
What is phytomining?
Growing plants in soil that contains cooper.
The plants cant use or get rid of the copper so it builds up in the leaves.
The plants can be harvested dried and burned in a furnace.
The ash contains soluable copper compounds from which copper can be extracted by electrolysis or displacement.
Why is recycling metals important?
Mining and extracting metals uses alot of energy, most of which comes from burning fossil fuels.
Recycling metsls uses much less energy than is needed to mine and extract new metal.
This cuts down on waste getting sent to landfill.
How are metals recycled?
By melting and casting them into the shape of the new product.
How is glass recycled?
Glass bottles can often be resused without reshaping.
Other forms of glass cant be reused so there recycled. It is separated by colour and chemical composition before being recycled.
Glass is crushed and melted to be reshaped for use in glass products.
What do life cycle assesments do?
They look at every stage of a products life to assess the impact it eould have on the environment.
What is the first stage of a life cycle assessments?
Extracting the raw materials needed for a product can damage the local environment.
It can also result in pollution due to the amount of energy needed.
Raw materials need to be processed to get the desired materials.
What is the second stage of a life cycle assessment?
Manufacturing products and their packaging can use alot of energy resources and can cause alot of pollution.
Waste products and how to dispose of them.
What is stage three of a life cycle assessments?
The use of the product can damage the environment.
How long and how many uses a product gets.
Products that need lots of energy to produce but are used for a long time mat mean less waste in the long run.
What is stage four of life cycle assessments?
Products are often disposed of in landfill sites.
This takes up space and pollutes land and water.
Energy used to transport the waste causes pollutants to be released into the atmosphere.
Products might be burnt which causes air pollution.
What is potable water?
Safe to drink.
