Topic 4: Non-renewable Energy

Question 1

What is Work?

Answer 1

The application of force over a distance.
measured in Joules

Question 2

What is Energy?

Answer 2

The capacity to do work.

Question 3

What is Power?

Answer 3

The rate at which work is done.
measured in Watts

Question 4

What is a Newton?

Answer 4

The force needed to accelerate 1 kg at 1 meter per second.

Question 5

What percentage of the world’s commercial energy is supplied by fossil fuels?

Answer 5

80%

Question 6

Approx. How much of Australia’s energy comes from fossil fuels?

Answer 6

93%

Question 7

What are Australia’s largest fossil fuel exports?

Answer 7

1. Coal
2. Gas.
3. Oil.

Question 8

The richest countries consume how much of all commercial energy?

Answer 8

Nearly 80% despite only having 20% of population.

Question 9

How many people consume less energy than the global average?

Answer 9

85%

Question 10

With current reserves, how long are coal reserves estimated to last?

Answer 10

114-133 years at current rates of consumption.

Question 11

What are the benefits/cons of open-cut mining?

Answer 11

• cheaper and safer than underground mining
• makes land unfit for other use
• acid drainage damages streams

Question 12

What is responsible for approx. 8% atmospheric mercury’s pollution in Australia?

Answer 12

Coal burning.

Question 13

What is fracking?

Answer 13

The process of extracting oil or natural gas by injecting a mix of water, gravel, or sand and chemicals under high pressure into rocks.

Question 14

What is the total estimated global oil reserves? How much is proven?

Answer 14

4 trillion barrels.
Proven 2.4 trillion barrels.

Question 15

How much more oil do tar sands and oil shales have than conventional sources?

Answer 15

About 10X as much oil.

Question 16

What are tar sands/oil shales?

Answer 16

Sand and shale particles coated with bitumen (a viscous mix of long hydrocarbon chains).

Question 17

How long is the global natural gas supply predicted to last?

Answer 17

Approx. 60 years with current consumption rates and known reserves.

Question 18

What is methane hydrate?

Answer 18

Small individual molecules of natural gas trapped in permafrost (crystalline matrix).
Thought to hold 10,000 gigatons of carbon.

Question 19

What is biogas?

Answer 19

Methan extracted from garbage and manure.

Question 20

How many nuclear reactors are there globally?

Answer 20

Approx. 440.
Approx. 55 more are under construction.

Question 21

How much global uranium reserves are in Australia?

Answer 21

47% of known reserves.

Question 22

What is the most common nuclear reactor fuel?

Answer 22

U^{235
A naturally occurring Uranium isotope.}

Question 23

What forms a reactor core?

Answer 23

Enriched Uranium formed in pellets → stacked in hollow metal rods → 100 rods bundled into a fuel assembly → thousands of fuel assemblies form a reactor core

Question 24

What is nuclear fission?

Answer 24

The process of an atom (e.g., a radioactive uranium atom) getting struck by neurons, releasing more energy and more neutrons.
This triggers a chain reaction.

Question 25

How many nuclear reactors are Pressurised Nuclear Reactors (PWR)?

Answer 25

70%

Question 26

How much radioactive waste is in the USA?

Answer 26

Approx. 200 million tons.

Question 27

What is the operating life of nuclear reactors?

Answer 27

30 years.

Question 28

How much radioactive waste does Australia have?

Answer 28

Approx. 5000m^2.
Excluding uranium mining waste, which is disposed of at mine sites.

Question 29

How much more expensive would decommissioning all nuclear reactors in the USA be?

Answer 29

10X the cost of construction.
Between $200 billion and $1 trillion dollars.

Question 30

How much waste does 1 ton of uranium fuel typically produce?

Answer 30

1. 100 tons of tailings.
2. 3.5 million litres of liquid waste.