Unit 6- Energy Resource and Consumption Vocab Flashcards
Active Solar Energy Collection
An approach in which technological devices are used to focus, move, or store solar energy.
Biodiesel
Diesel fuel produced by mixing vegetable oil, using cooking grease, or animal fat with small amounts of ethanol or methanol(wood alcohol) in the presence of a chemical catalyst.
Biofuels
Fuel produced by biomass energy sources and used primarily to power automobiles. Examples include ethanol and biodiesel.
British Thermal Unit (BTU)
Is a measure of the heat content of fuels or energy sources.
Carbon Storage/Carbon Sequestration
Technologies or approaches to sequester, or store, carbon dioxide from industrial emissions(e.g., underground under pressure in locations where it will not seep out) in an effort to mitigate global climate change. We are still a long way from developing adequate technology and secure storage space to accomplish this.
Coal
Our most abundant fossil fuel. A heart blackish substance formed from organic matter(generally woodly plant material) that was compressed under very high pressure and with little decomposition, creating dense, solid carbon structures.
Cogeneration
A practice in which the extra heat generated in the production of electricity is captured and put to use heating workplaces and homes, as well as producing other kinds of power.
Crude Oil(petroleum)
A fossil fuel produced by the conversion of organic compounds by heat and pressure. Crude oil is a mixture of hundreds of different types of hydrocarbon molecules characterized by carbon chains of different lengths.
Electricity
A second form of energy that can be transferred over long distances and applied for a variety of uses.
Energy Conservation
The practice of reducing energy use as a way of extending the lifetime of our fossil fuel supplies, of being less wasteful, and of reducing our impact to the environment. Conservation can result from behavioral decisions or from technologies that demonstrate energy efficiency.
Energy Efficiency
The ability to obtain a given result or amount of output while using less energy input. Technologies permitting greater energy efficiency are one main route to energy conservation.
Energy Returned on Investment(EROI)
The ratio determined by dividing the quantity of energy returned from a process by the quantity of energy invested in a process. Higher EROI ratios mean that more energy is produced from each unit of energy invested.
Fossil Fuels
A nonrenewable natural resource, such as crude oil, natural gas, or coal, produced by the decomposition and compression of organic matter from ancient life.
Geothermal Energy
Energy that arises from beneath Earth’s surface, ultimately from the radioactive decay of elements amid high pressures deep underground. Can be used to generate electrical power in power plants, or direct heating via piped water, or ground-source heat pumps.
Smart Grid
An efficient, self-regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it effectively to end users.
Hydraulic Fracturing
A process to extract shale gas, in which a drill is sent deep underground and angled horizontally into a shale formation; water, sand, and chemicals are pumped in under great pressure, fracturing the rock; and gas migrates up through the drilling pipe as sand holds the fractures open. Also called hydrofracking or simply fracking.
Hydroelectric Power(hydropower)
The generation of electricity using kinetic energy of moving water.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell
A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity through an electrochemical reactant not combustion, in this case sunlight, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Kilowatt (kW)
A measure of 1,000 watts of electrical power.
Kilowatt-hour(kWh)
A measure of electrical energy equivalent to a power consumption of 1,000 watts for 1 hour.
Natural Gas
A fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane (CH4) and including variety amounts of other volatile hydrocarbons.
Non-renewable Energy Source
Natural resources that are in limited supply and are formed much more slowly than we use them.
Nuclear Energy
The energy that holds together protons and neutrons within the nucleus of an atom. Several processes, each of which involves transforming isotopes of one element into isotopes of other elements, can convert nuclear energy into thermal energy, which is then used to generate electricity.
Nuclear Fission
The conversion of the energy within an atom’s nucleus to usable thermal energy by splitting apart atomic nuclei.
Nuclear Fusion
The conversion of the energy within an atom’s nucleus to usablr thermal energy by forcing together the small nuclei of lightweight elements under extremely high temperature and pressure. Developing a commercially viable method of nuclear fission remains an elusive goal.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC)
A potential energy source that involves harnessing the solar radiation absorbed by tropical ocean water period
Oil Sands(tar sands)
Deposits that can be mined from the ground, consisting of moist sand and clay containing 1-20% bitumen. Oil sands represent crude oil deposits that have been degraded and chemically altered by water erosion and bacterial decomposition. Widely envisioned as a replacement for crude oil as this resource is depleted.
Oil Shale
Sedimentary rock filled with kerogen that can be processed to produce liquid petroleum. Oil shale is formed by the same processes that form crude oil but occurs when kerogen was not buried deeply enough or subjected to enough heat and pressure to form oil.
Passive Solar Energy Collection
An approach in which buildings are designed and building materials are chosen to maximize their direct absorption of sunlight in winter and to keep the interior cool in the summer.
Petroleum
Crude oil, however, the term is also used for both oil and natural gas together.
Photovoltaic(PV) Cell
A device designed to collect sunlight and directly convert to electrical energy by making use of the photoelectric effect(an effect that occurs when light strikes one of a pair of metal plates in a photovoltaic cell, causing the release of electrons, which are attracted by electrostatic forces to the opposing plate. The flow of electrons from one plate to another creates an electrical current).
Proven Recoverable Reserve
The amount of given fossil fuel in a deposit that is technologically and economically feasible to remove under current conditions.
Refinery
Refining is the process of separating the molecules of the various hydrocarbons in crude oil into different-sized classes and transforming them into various fuels and other petrochemical products.
Renewable Resource
Natural resources that are virtually unlimited or that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods(hours to weeks to years).
Solar Energy
Energy from the sun. It is perpetually renewable and maybe harnessed in several ways.
Wind Farm
A development involving a group of wind turbines.
Wind Power
A source of renewable energy, in which kinetic energy from the passage of wind through wind turbines is used to generate electricity.
