EVR 1001 Chapter 15
Which of the following countries exports the most oil to the United States?
Canada
Which country leads the world in coal production and consumption by extracting and consuming approximately half of the world's annual coal yield?
China
What is the difference between EROI (energy returned on investment) and net energy?
Net energy is simply the difference between energy returned and energy invested. EROI is a ratio with energy return in the numerator and energy invested in the denominator.
How is the energy produced by nuclear fission used to produce electricity?
Water in the containment vessel is kept under high pressure and heat from the fission reactions that heat it to well over boiling. This is then used to boil another loop of water, which turns a turbine that drives a generator and makes electricity.
In the year 2000, the worst air pollution levels in the region were in downtown Johannesburg and Soweto. The probable explanation is that in downtown Johannesburg ________, while in Soweto ________.
automobile traffic was the cause; the burning of fuels in each home for heating, light, and cooking was a major contributor to indoor and outdoor air pollution
From which of the nations below did the United States import the most crude oil in 2012?
canada
All of the following are standard steps at a coal-fired power plant in the United States EXCEPT:
carbon capture
Many pollutants from coal-fired power plants are properly managed today. Which of the following is currently considered to be the biggest threat to the environment? All fossil fuels, including coal, are considered an indirect form of ____________ energy. Where is electricity made at a coal-fired power plant? During peak usage, what happens to the cost of electricity? What color smoke coming from a coal-fired power plant would indicate wasted fuel?
carbon dioxide solar generator it almost always increases black
If the following are energy returned on investment (EROI) ratios for particular energy sources, which of the following is the most efficient?
coal
The world's most abundant fossil fuel is ________.
coal
Which of the fossil fuels is most abundant on Earth?
coal
What are the three fossil fuels that are used today to meet society's needs?
coal, natural gas, crude oil
The practice of reducing wasteful or unnecessary energy use is called ________.
energy conservation
What term describes the ability to obtain a given result while using less energy?
energy efficiency
When assessing energy resources, it is helpful to use a measure called EROI, which is ________.
energy returned divided by energy invested
U.S. oil production ________.
falls far short of U.S. oil consumption
Which of the following is a method to gain additional power from coal?
gasification
Organizations like OPEC have formed ________.
in order to take maximum advantage of developed nations dependence on imported oil
Effects attributed to Chernobyl ________.
include increased incidence of thyroid cancers
The heavy levels of soot from the electrical plant upwind of Soweto, along with dust from gigantic gold and coal mines, created particulate pollution more than three times the recommended level. This would be expected to result in ________.
increased incidence of lung disease
In the United States, per capita energy use ________, and energy intensity ________.
increased sharply from 1950 to the 1970s but has since declined; has been declining since 1970
Scientists currently assessing the environmental impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico report that ________.
it may take years or decades before the full impacts are known
Secondary extraction of petroleum ________.
uses solvents, water, or steam
Efficiency of coal-fired power plants can be nearly doubled by ________.
using cogeneration
If the following are energy returned on investment (EROI) ratios for particular energy sources, which of the following is the most efficient?
48/4
What is bitumen?
A thick type of petroleum formed in clay and sand
How does a coal-fired power plant use the energy in coal to produce electricity? What environmental problem that contributes to global warming is addressed by using amine solutions to treat the fumes of a coal-burning power plant? Once the carbon dioxide is captured from the fumes of a coal-burning power plant, something must be done with it. The option with the least environmental impact involves releasing the carbon dioxide into __________. One-quarter of Scotland's electricity is generated by the third-largest coal-fired power station in Europe. In just three minutes, this power plant uses __________ of coal.
Burning coal heats water and creates steam that turns the blades of a turbine and generates electricity. the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere deep underground caverns one train car
Which of the following statements accurately describes nuclear fusion reactors?
Fusion reactions require very high temperatures.
The country with the largest amount of domestic oil available for sale on the international market is ________.
Saudi Arabia
Which of the following is one of the two methods for mining oil shale?
strip mining
Natural gas is primarily composed of ________.
methane
What compound that results from hydraulic fracturing can contaminate groundwater?
methane
In a nuclear power plant, the amount of electricity generated is regulated by ________.
moving control rods into or out of spaces between the fuel rods
One of the problems with finding new fossil fuel deposits in developing countries is that ________.
multinational corporations often move in to harvest the new deposit, and very little money or resource remains in the country
Which of the following is a nonrenewable energy source?
natural gas
What is the current status of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the United States?
not Carbon is now captured and converted to plastics at most coal power plants in the United States.
What was the primary cause of the decline in oil prices in 2016 to only one quarter of the prices in 2008?
not a prolonged peace in the Middle East
Alaskans benefit from the trans-Alaska pipeline because Alaska's state constitution requires approximately 25% of state revenues associated with the oil industry to be placed into a monetary fund called the Permanent Fund, which ________.
pays yearly dividends to all Alaska residents
Crude oil is ________.
refined to separate the chemicals used for gasoline, lubricants, plastics, and other products
What does the y-axis show? The bars on the graph are not of equal width. What does the width of each bar represent? How much energy would be saved by adding insulation to ceilings? What is the cost of conserved energy for compact fluorescent lighting? Which of these energy investments is the least expensive to install? Which of the following energy investments would be cost-effective to install? How much energy would the family save by investing in all of the features that are cost-effective at the current price of energy? If the cost of energy rose to $.18 per kilowatt-hour, which of the following would be true?
the cost of conserved energy, in dollars per kilowatt-hour the amount of energy saved by an investment, in kilowatt-hours per year about 2,000 kilowatt-hours/year about $.08 per kilowatt-hour adding insulation to ceilings triple panned windows about 9,000 kilowatt-hours per year Investing in a solar hot water heating and a ground source heat pump would become cost-effective.
Coal continues to be the main fuel used to generate electricity in the United States. This is partially because ________.
the country has such large reserves of coal
What is energy intensity?
the energy use per dollar of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
When we burn fossil fuels, ________.
the greatest environmental impact is increased greenhouse gases
When did the use of coal for cooking, heating, and other purposes begin?
thousands of years ago, by Native Americans (and other ancient cultures)
