EGEE 101 Midterm #3

1 Million

How many people were relocated to complete the Three Gorges Dam?

Alpha Decay

Radioactive decay that emits two protons and two neutrons

10%

After a uranium based fuel rod has spent 3 years in a reactor, how much of its uranium has been used?

59%

Betz's law dictates that the maximum efficiency that can be achieved with a wind turbine is

Passive Solar Heating

Installing radiant flooring, insulating windows, and heavy curtains to absorb the sun's warmth

PV Cells

Layers of silicon that directly convert sunlight into an electric current

High Level Radioactive Waste

Spent fuel rods

4 Billion

The amount of subsidies paid out to wind power producers in 2016

Intermittency

The challenge associated with wind energy that fluctuates throughout the day

50%

A hydropower dam is rated for 1 GW power generation. The annual energy output is 4380 GWh. What percentage of its capacity is used?

5 MW

If a solar farm generates 10 MW in Arizona (320 sunny days per year) is moved to Pennsylvania (160 sunny days per year), what is the new power output?

3-4%

Nuclear fuel rods are _____ uranium by concentration

True

Nuclear weapons can be converted to nuclear reactors

True

Nuclear, wind, solar, and hydropower are all energy forms that do not directly emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, True or False?

False

Nuclear, wind, solar, and hydropower are all renewable forms of energy, True or False?

Active Solar Heating

Panels that use sunlight to heat up air or water and transfer it to your forced air heating or residential water heater

Net Metering

The policy that compels a utility to purchase electricity from third parties during excess wind or solar power production

Location Problem

The problem of needing to install large transmission capacity to move electrons from the power generation source to a market

Low Level Radioactive Waste

The radioactive waste associated with tools, clothing, and materials that come in contact with radioactivity and accounts for over 90% of all radioactive waste

Nuclear Fission

The splitting of a larger nucleus into two smaller nuclei

13 Million Celsius

The temperature at which nuclear fusion becomes possible

True

The sun delivers approximately 10,000 times more energy per second to the earth than the whole world's population uses, True or False?

True

Wind is caused by uneven heating of the earth's surface, True or False?

Tidal Energy

A technology that extracts energy out of waves

8760 GWh

If a microhydro dam generates 1 gW of power, how much energy will it produce annually?

24 Acres

If a solar farm requires 40 acres in Iowa (210 sunny days per year), how much land would it require in Nevada (350 sunny days per year)?

Solar Thermal Energy Conversion

Reflecting sunlight off of mirrors to create concentrated heat for generating steam to rotate a turbine to induce an electric current

1600 Panels

Suppose a PV farm requires 2,000 panels to generate power at 20% efficiency. If a new panel were invented that was 25% efficient, how many panels would be required?

Storage

The challenge associated with a renewable energy where excess power generation cannot be saved for later use

Predictability

The challenge associated with wind energy whose power output cannot be forecast in advance

True

The consensus of the scientific community is that deep geologic storage of high level radioactive waste is a safe long term solution, True or False?

The Hydrological Cycle

The reason hydropower is considered renewable is _____ _____ _____

The wind would stop blowing

If a wind turbine extracted 100% of the kinetic energy out of the wind, what would happen?

60 Million

How many people receive electricity from the Three Gorges Dam?

44,145 Watts

If h = 3 meters, q = 3 cubic meters per second, and efficiency is 50%, what is the power output in watts? Assume 9.81

Nuclear and Hydro

Which energy sources typically don't fluctuate during power generation?

False

The Chernobyl accident was a nuclear explosion, True or False?

7%

What percentage of the US's electricity comes from hydroelectric dams?

20%

What percentage of the world's electricity comes from hydroelectric dams?