Non-renewable energy resources

Bituminous coal

A degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the surface of Earth and is modified by bacteria; also called tar or pitch

Turbine

A device with blades that can be turned by water, wind, steam, or exhaust gas from combustion that turns a generator in an electricity-producing plant

Electrical grid

A network of interconnected transmission lines that joins power plants together and links them with end users of electricity

Combined cycle gas plant

A power plant that uses both exhaust gases and steam turbines to generate electricity

Anthracite

Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest calorific content of all types of coal, which also include bituminous coal and lignite.

Crude oil

Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. Crude oil can be refined to produce usable products such as gasoline, diesel and various forms of petrochemicals.

Subsistence energy sources

Energy source gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs (typical of rural or developing areas)

Fossil fuels

Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.

Commercial energy sources

Fuelwood, animal waste and agricultural residues are traditional sources of energy that continue to meet the bulk of energy requirement in rural India. These non-commercial fuels are gradually getting replaced by commercial fuels such as coal, lignite, petroleum products, natural gas and electricity.

Powers plant capacity

In reference to an electricity-generating plant, the maximum electrical output

Lignite

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft brown combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content.

Liquified petroleum gas

Liquefied petroleum gas or liquid petroleum gas, also referred to as simply propane or butane, are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases used as fuel in heating appliances, cooking equipment, and vehicles.

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and/or hydrogen sulfide.

Non-renewable fuels

Non-renewable energy comes from sources that will run out or will not be replenished in our lifetimes or even in many, many lifetimes. Most non-renewable energy sources are fossil fuels: coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Carbon is the main element in fossil fuels.

Coal

Solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plant materials preserved 280 million to 360 million years ago

EROEI

Something that can move and deliver energy in a convenient, usable form to end users

Sub-bituminous coal

Subbituminous coal, also called black lignite, generally dark brown to black coal, intermediate in rank between lignite and bituminous coal according to the coal classification used in the United States and Canada. In many countries subbituminous coal is considered to be a brown coal.

Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of 19,286,722 acres in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is administered from offices in Fairbanks.

OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization.

Capacity factor

The fraction of time a power plant operates in a yeart

Energy efficiency

The ratio of the amount of work done to the total amount of energy introduced to the system

Cogeneration

The use of a single fuel to generate electricity and to produce heat

Exxon Valdez

This oil tanker accident in 1989 was the largest oil spill in the United States until 2010: a supertanker carrying 53 million gallons of oil, crashed into a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Roughly 11 million gallons of oil spilled into the sound. Much of it washed up on shore, coating the coastline and killing hundreds of thousands of birds and thousands of marine mammals

Peat

a brown, soil-like material characteristic of boggy, acid ground, consisting of partly decomposed vegetable matter. It is widely cut and dried for use in gardening and as fuel.

Petroleum

a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons that is present in certain rock strata and can be extracted and refined to produce fuels including gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil; oil.