Nonrenewable Energy Resources

What are environmental effects of coal mining?

1. Carbon dioxide release. 2. Acid rain. 3. Mine acid drainage. 4. Subsidence. 5. Black lung disease while mining. 6. Coal fires

What are environmental effects of oil and gas?

1. Carbon dioxide release. 2. Release of drilling mud. 3. Pipeline leakage. 4. Soil contamination.

What is natural gas used for?

1. Electricity generation 2. Transportation 3. Commercial cooling, as a feedstock for producing plastics and fertilizers.

A comprehensive smart grid would yield what?

1. Energy saving improvements from generation source to end-use of the electrical grid. 2. Reduced power line losses in transmission and distribution networks. 3. More efficient voltage control. 4. Lower energy consumption in individual buildings.

What are problems with coal?

1. High air pollution 2. Hazardous to mine. 3. Dirty to handle. 4. Large quantities of ash.

What are, in order from highest to lowest, the areas in which energy is used the most?

1. Industrial 2. Transportation 3. Commercial and Residential .

Describe what the newer smart grid technology could consist of.

1. Intelligent devices, such as smart meters, sensors, and grid aware equipment. 2. Network technology for two-way communications, including pathways like cable, wi-fi or power line carrier. 3. Advanced control and data management systems that provide automated decision-making on the supply and demand sides, as well as meter data management systems.

Describe the two different nuclear reactions.

1. Nuclear fission: this is the splitting of an atomic nucleus into two smaller fragments, accompanied by the release of a large amount of energy. A single neutron crashes into the nucleus of a large Adam, usually uranium or plutonium the contact causes the large Adam to break into smaller particles, releasing energy in the process. Nuclear fission is the nuclear activity that is used in nuclear power plants. 2: Nuclear fusion: this is the process that powers the sun and other stars. Two small atoms are combined, forming one larger atom of a different element.

Describe three famous nuclear accidents.

1. Three Mile Island: the most serious commercial nuclear reactor accident in the United States occurred in 1979 and the 3 mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania, as a result of human error after the cooling system failed. A partial meltdown of the reactor core took place. Had there been a complete meltdown of the fuel assembly, dangerous radioactivity would have been admitted into the surrounding countryside. Fortunately, the containment building kept almost all the radioactivity released by the core material from escaping. Although a small amount of radiation entered the environment, there were neither substantial environmental damages nor immediate human casualties. Numerous studies have failed to link abnormal health problems (other than increased stress) to the accident. In the aftermath of the accident, public wariness prompted construction delays and cancellations of several new nuclear power plants across United States. New safety regulations were put in place, including more frequent safety inspections, new risk assessments, and improved emergency and evacuation plans for nuclear power plants and surrounding communities. 2. Chernobyl: another major nuclear power plant accident took place in 1986 at the Chernobyl plant, located in the former Soviet republic of the Ukraine. One or possibly two explosions ripped apart a nuclear reactor and expelled large quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The effects of this accident were not confined to the area immediately surrounding the power plant: significant amounts of radioisotopes quickly spread across large portions of Europe. The Chernobyl accident affected and will continue to affect many nations. Although cleanup in the immediate vicinity of Chernobyl is finished, the people in Ukraine face many long-term problems. Ultimately, more than 170,000 people permanently abandon their homes. Much of the farmland and forests are so contaminated that they cannot be used for more than a century. Inhabitants of many areas of Ukraine cannot drink the water or consume locally produced milk meat fish fruits or vegetables. Mothers do not nurse their babies because their milk is contaminated by radioactivity. The frequency of birth defects and mental retardation in newborns has increased in affected areas, and children exposed to the Chernobyl fallout experienced increased incidences of anemia, thyroid cancer, and abnormalities of the immune system. 3. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan created a tsunami this severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. The tsunami disrupted both the normal power supply into backup systems that pump cooling water. Without cooling water, three of the six reactors at the plant underwent meltdown. An explosion caused by a build up of hydrogen and overheated vessel cause severe damage to one of the reactors. The Fukushima Daiichi accident contained in both the ocean and surrounding land. People from neighboring areas were evacuated, and many will be unable to return. Farmers had to abandon their crops, and high radiation levels will limit seafood catches in the area for at least decades the nuclear safety commission estimates the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi site alone will cost at least $250 billion.

Globally, oil and natural gas provided ______________ percent of the world's energy in 2010.

56

More than_____________ percent of energy consumed globally is from nonrenewable fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gasses.

86

What is a nuclear reactor?

A device that initiates and maintains a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction to produce energy for electricity.

The world's energy requirements will continue to increase during the 21st century because why?

Because the human population will become larger, particularly in developing countries.

What happens during petroleum refining?

Compounds in petroleum are separated into different products such as gases, jet fuel, heating oil, diesel, and asphalt based on their different boiling points.

During the 21st century, we may find that we are paying more in our utility bills to do what?

Decommission old nuclear plants than we are to construct new ones.

World energy consumption increased every year since__________ except between 2008 and 2009, when it decreased slightly due to what?

Economic downturn.

Why don't most experts consider entombment a viable option?

Entombment is permanently encasing the entire power planning concrete. The tomb would have to remain intact for at least 1000 years. Accidental leaks would probably occur during that time, and we cannot guarantee that future generations will inspect and maintain the site.

Describe the environmental impacts of oil and natural gas.

Extracting, transporting, and burning oil and natural gas creates a variety of environmental problems. 1. As with coal, burning oil and natural gas produces carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. 2. Burning oil also leads to acid deposition and the formation of photochemical smog. Gasoline combustion contributes about half the nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere by human activities (coal combustion contributes the rest). 3. Natural gas rarely leaks but while rare, can lead to massive explosions 4. Oil spills create environmental damage, particularly in aquatic ecosystems were oil slicks can travel great distances.

Worldwide, nuclear power production is steadily _________________. Why?

In part, this is due to concerns about climate change, but it is primarily driven by an increasing demand for energy.

What is natural gas?

Methane that is a hydrocarbon phone near oil deposits.

Could the process of nuclear fission potentially create an explosion similar to that of a nuclear bomb?

No. Nuclear bombs make use of uncontrolled fission reactions. If the control mechanism and a nuclear power plant were to fail, bomb like nuclear explosion could not take place because nuclear fuel has such a low percentage of U-235 compared to bomb grade material.

Environmentalists and coastal industries such as fishing generally____________ opening the continental shelves for oil and natural gas exploration because why?

Oppose/because of the threat of a major oil spill.

What are the two basic types of coal mines?

Surface and subsurface

How did petroleum and natural gas form in the earth?

The originated when small organisms settled to the ocean floor millions of years ago. These organisms were buried under silt, and over long periods of time were subjected to pressure and temperature, altering the chemical makeup.

What is enrichment?

The process by which uranium or is refined after mining to increase the concentration of fissionable U-235.

What is one of the main difficulties that must be overcome if we are to realize the potential of nuclear energy in the 21st century?

The safe disposal of radioactive wastes.

In countries like the United States and Canada, where energy has been plentiful and inexpensive, more energy is used to achieve what?

The same standard of living experienced in other countries.

What do supporters of nuclear energy say?

They argue that we should generate more nuclear power plants because nuclear energy affects the environment less than fossil fuels such as coal. The combustion of coal to generate electricity is responsible for more than one third of the air pollution in the United States and contributes to acid precipitation climate warming. In comparison, nuclear energy emits few pollutants into the atmosphere. Nuclear energy can also provide power without producing climate altering carbon dioxide. Some supporters of nuclear energy assert that our dependence on foreign oil would be reduced if all oil burning power plants were converted to nuclear plants.

A goal of most developing countries is to improve the standard of living how?

Through economic development

Uranium ore contains what three isotopes?

U-238 (which makes up 99.28% of uranium), U-235 (0.71%), and U-234 (less than 0.01%).

Michigan governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed into law what legislation?

a legislation that calls for 10 percent of electricity in the state to be generated from renewable sources by 2015.

Coal is the most____________ fossil fuel in the world and is primarily found in the______________ hemisphere._

abundant/northern

As nuclear power plants age, certain critical sections, such as the reactor vessel, become what?

brittle or corroded

Compared to petroleum, natural gas contains only a___________ hydrocarbons which are what?

few/methane and smaller amounts of ethane, propane, and butane.

The world's hunger for oil is__________________.

insatiable

Because U-235, the isotope used in conventional fission reactions, is such a minor part of uranium or, uranium or must be _________________ after mining to increase the concentration of U-235 to about _________ percent.

refined/3

What are the types of coal?

1. Peat: Very soft, spongy plant material, very high water content, burns poorly. 2. Lignite: Soft, moist coal which produces little heat compared to other coals. 3. Bituminous: called soft coal, but is hard, bright light coal. Usually high in sulfur volatile's. 4. Anthracite: hard coal, shiny, blue/black coal. Highest heat producing capacity of the coals. Lowest volatile's.

Describe the environmental impacts of coal.

1. Prior to the 1977 surface Mining control and reclamation act, abandon surface coal mines were usually left as large open pits or trenches. Acid and toxic mineral drainage from such minds, along with removal of topsoil, which was buried or washed away by erosion, prevented most plants from naturally re-colonizing the land. Streams were polluted with sediment and acid mine drainage, which is produced when rain water seeps through iron sulfide minerals exposed in mine wastes. Dangerous landslides occurred on hills that were unstable due to the lack of vegetation. 2. Mountaintop removal. This is one of the most land destructive types of surface mining. According to environmental media services, mountaintop removal has level between 15 and 25% of the mountaintops in southern West Virginia. The valleys and streams between the mountains are gone as well, filled with mine tailings and debris. Mountaintop removal is also occurring in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. 3. Coal burning generally contributes more of the common air pollutants than burning either oil or natural gas. In the United States, coal burning electric power plants currently produce one third of all airborne mercury emissions. Some coal contain sulfur and nitrogen that, when burned are released into the atmosphere as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides and many of which form acids when they react with water. These reactions result in acid deposition, which is particularly prevalent downwind from coal burning electric power plants. 4. Because most of the energy and coal is stored in chemical bonds between carbon atoms, burning coal releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat, thereby increasing the temperature of the atmosphere burning coal causes a more severe carbon dioxide problem than burning other fossil fuels because coal releases more carbon dioxide per unit of heat energy produced then does burning either oil or natural gas.

Name and describe the four main parts of a nuclear power plant.

1. Reactor core: this is where nuclear fission occurs in the heat produced by fission is used to produce steam from liquid water. 2. Steam generator: the device that produces steam from liquid water from the heat produced by fission. 3. Turbine: a device that turns the generator to create electricity and is powered by steam. 4. Condenser: the device that cools the steam used to dry the turbine, converting it back into liquid water.

What are some problems associated with the existing power grid?

1. Reliability and power quality 2. Transmission and distribution bottlenecks 3. Environmental concerns 4. Utilities and their customers face a $70 billion investment to update the grid to modern standards.

What have been the United States major oil spills?

1. The largest oil spill in the United States took place over 100 years ago in Kern County, California. Drillers hit a pressurized pocket of oil that eventually poured out 9 million barrels of oil onto the surrounding land. 2. In 1989 the supertanker Exxon Valdez hit Bligh reef and spilled 260,000 barrels (10.9 million gallons) of crude oil into Prince William sound along the coast of Alaska, the largest oil spill from a tanker in US history. More than 30,000 birds and between 3550 500 sea otters died as result of the spill. The areas orca and harbor seal populations also declined, salmon migration was disrupted in the fishing season and the area was halted that year. Although Exxon declared the cleanup "complete" in late 1989, it left behind contaminated shorelines; continued damage to some species of birds, fishes, and mammals; and a reduced commercial salmon catch, among other problems. 3. In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded, spilling over 4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion itself killed 11 workers, and the oil that spread across the ocean floor and the coast of the sourthern United States killed wildlife and caused extensive ecological damage. The effect on residents of coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida was less direct, but included both economic and social harm. The immediate impact was the closing of beaches and fisheries due to contamination. This resulted in lost income, empty hotels, and idle boats, and loss of many service jobs. Daily life for thousands was disrupted and uncertain.

According to the world coal Association, known world coal reserves could last for more than____________years at the present rate of consumption. Coal resources currently too expensive to develop have the potential to provide enough cold last_______________ or more years at current consumption rates.

100/1000

Given current consumption, how many years of known oil and gas reserves remain in the US? International reserves are only expected to last how many years?

15/30-50 years.

Nuclear energy makes up___________ percent of Earth's electricity.

17

Hydropower provides nearly______ percent of the world's electricity.

18

Reserves of coal can last up to how many years?

200 years

The United States has_____________percent of the world's coal supply in its massive deposits.

25

With generators, since some energy is lost in the transmission of electrical energy, it takes ___________ units of primary energy to create one unit of ______________ power that is put to use

3/electrical

Thermal production of electricity has an efficiency of only ______________percent. _____________percent loss is due to what? Loss also occurs as electricity is transmitted to what?

30/heat loss and heat energy remaining in spent steam from the turbine/end users by connecting wires.

Natural gas vehicles emit_______ percent less carbon dioxide, _____ to _______ percent fewer hydrocarbons, ______ percent less carbon monoxide, ________ percent fewer toxic emissions, and almost no ____________.

33/80/93/70/90/soot

The Tarak mine in Xinjiang, China was recently extinguish after how many years of burning?

50

What is petroleum?

Also called crude oil, it is a liquid composed of hundreds of hydrocarbon compounds.

What is hydraulic fracturing?

Also called fracking, it is the use of pressurized water and chemicals to extract natural gas from deep layers of shale. It involves injecting pressurized water and chemicals to break apart natural gas trapped in deep layers of shale. The process is more expensive and environmentally disruptive than his extraction of more shallow deposits, typically in more porous sandstone. This technique generated seven times as much natural gas in 2010 as in 2005, a trend that is expected to continue.

What is cogeneration?

An efficient process in which natural gas is used to produce both electricity and steam; the heat of the exhaust gases provides energy to make steam for water and space heating.

Describe how fundamentally different nuclear processes are compared to chemical reactions.

As a way to obtain energy, nuclear processes are fundamentally different from the combustion that produces energy from fossil fuels. Combustion is a chemical reaction. In chemical reactions, atoms of one element do not change and atoms of another element, nor does any of their mass (matter) change and energy. The energy released in chemical reactions comes from changes in the chemical bonds that hold together the atoms. Chemical bonds are associations between electrons, and chemical reactions involve the rearrangement of electrons. Nuclear energy involves changes in the nuclei of atoms; small amounts of matter from the nucleus are converted into large amounts of energy. Nuclear reactions produce 100,000 times more energy per atom then is available from a chemical bond between two atoms.

Per-person energy consumption in such countries as Japan and Sweden is decreasing why?

Because the energy efficiency of appliances, automobiles, and home insulation, use less energy.

Although conventional nuclear power plants cannot explode like atomic bombs, what type of accident can still happen?

Dangerous levels of radiation can be released into the environment and resultant human casualties. At high temperatures, the middle encasing uranium fuel can melt, releasing radiation; this is called a meltdown. Also, the water used in a nuclear reactor to transfer heat can boil away during an accident, contaminating the atmosphere with radioactivity. The nuclear industry considers the probability that a major accident will occur low, but public perception of the risk is high for several reasons. Nuclear power risks are involuntary and potentially catastrophic. Both immediately and long after the actions have occurred.

What is the main disadvantage of natural gas?

Deposits of it are often located far from where the energy is used. Because it is a gas and less dense than a liquid, natural gas costs four times more to transport through pipelines than crude oil. To transport natural gas over long distances, it must first be compressed to form liquefied natural gas and then carried on's specially constructed refrigerated ships. After liquefied natural gas arrives at its destination, it must be returned to the gaseous state at regasification plants before being piped to work will be used. Currently, the United States has only for such plants, which severely restricts the importation of natural gases from other countries. American energy companies claim that the United States needs at least 40 regasification plants to keep costs down for natural gas and meet increasing demands.

Describe the concern about the link between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

Fission is involved in both the production of electricity by nuclear energy and the destructive power of nuclear weapons. Responsible world leaders are concerned about the consequences of terrorist groups and states of concern (such as a neuron and North Korea) building nuclear weapons. These concerns have caused many people to shun nuclear energy and seek alternatives that are not so intimately connected with nuclear weapons. Storing plutonium is security nightmare because it takes only several kilograms to make a nuclear bomb is powerful as the ones that destroyed the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and World War II. However, since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, security plutonium stockpiles and nuclear power plants has been increased substantially to reduce the chance that terrorist groups could still plutonium enriched uranium and use them to make nuclear weapons.

Describe surface mining.

If the coalbed is within 100 feet or so of the surface, surface mining is usually done. The extraction of mineral and energy resources near Earth's surface is done by first removing the soil, subsoil and overlying rock strata. The coal is then removed with heavy equipment. Strip mining is used to obtain approximately 60% of the coal mined in United States.

Describe the controversy around using Yucca Mountain as a place to permanently store radioactive wastes.

In 1982 the passage of the nuclear waste policy act put the burden of developing permanent sites for civilian and military radioactive wastes on the federal government and required the first site to be operational by 1998. The deadline was postponed several times. In a 1987 amendment to the nuclear waste policy act, Congress identified Yucca Mountain in Nevada is the only candidate for permanent underground storage site for high-level radioactive wastes from commercially operating power plants. Since 1983 the US Department of Energy has spent billions of dollars conducting feasibility studies on Yucca Mountain's geology. In 2002 Congress to approve the choice of Yucca Mountain as the US nuclear waste repository, despite controversy and opposition from the state of Nevada. In 2009 the Obama administration withdrew support for Yucca Mountain; as of 2012, a new setting process had not been announced. Transporting high-level waste from nuclear reactors and weapon sites is a major concern of opponents of the Yucca Mountain site. A typical shipment would travel an average of 2300 miles, and 43 states would have waste passing through them on their way to Yucca Mountain. Whether or not nuclear waste is eventually stored in Yucca Mountain, the scientific community generally agrees that storage of high-level radioactive waste in deep underground repositories is the best long-term option. Using an underground waste facility is far safer than starring high-level nuclear waste as we do now; storing this waste at many different commercial nuclear reactors poses a risk of terrorist attacks theft and possibly human health problems.

What was the Earth's largest oil spill?

In 1991 during the Persian Gulf War 6 million barrels of crude oil were deliberately dumped into the Persian Gulf. Many oil wells were set on fire, and lakes of oil spilled into the desert around the burning oil wells. In 2001 Kuwait began a massive remediation project to clean up its oil contaminated desert. Progress is slow, and it may take a century or more for the area to be completely recovered.

Describe subsurface mining.

It accounts for approximately 40% of the coal mined in the United States. It is where mineral and energy resources are extracted from deep underground deposits. When the coal is deeper in the ground or runs deep into the ground from an outcrop on a hillside, it is mind underground.

Describe uranium ore.

It is a mineral fuel used in conventional nuclear power plants, and is a nonrenewable resource present in limited amounts in sedimentary rock in the Earth's crust. Approximately 11% of the world's uranium deposits are located in the United States.

What is stripmining?

It is a type of surface mining word trenches dug to extract the coal, which is scraped out of the ground and loaded into railroad cars or trucks. Surface mining is used to obtain approximately 60% of the coal mine in the United States.

What are the drawbacks of hydropower?

It is limited to countries with adequate water resources, and it poses threats to local watersheds.

Describe acid mine drainage.

It is pollution caused one sulfuric acid and dangerous dissolve materials, such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium, wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams.

What happens to uranium ore after enrichment?

It is processed into small pellets of uranium dioxide; each pallet contains the energy equivalent of 1 ton of coal. The pellets are then placed in closed pipes, often as long as 12 feet, called fuel rods. The fuel rods are grouped into square fuel assemblies, generally made up of 200 rods each. A typical nuclear reactor contains 150 to 250 fuel assemblies.

What is carbon sequestering?

It is the process of carbon capture and storage, were carbon dioxide is removed from flue gases, such as in coal-fired power stations, and subsequently captured and stored in: underground reservoirs or into another form such as a liquid CO2 or limestone.

What is methane used for?

It is used to heat residential and commercial buildings, to generate electricity and power plants, and for a variety of purposes in the organic chemistry industry.

What pros and cons are there about surface mining vs. subsurface mining?

It is usually less expensive and safer for miners, and it generally allows more complete removal of coal from the ground. However, surface mining disrupts the land much more extensively than subsurface mining and has the potential to cause serious environmental problems.

What is breeder nuclear fission?

It is where U-238 is converted into Plutonium, Pu-239, a human-made isotope that is fissionable. Breeder reactors can use either U-235 or Pu-239 as fuel. Some of the neutrons that are emitted in breeder nuclear fission are used to produce additional plutonium from U-238. A breeder reactor thus makes more fissionable fuel that it uses.

How was coal formed?

It was formed millions of years ago, when the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was much higher than it is now. Ancient plants used energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into complex organic compounds, at the same time releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Many of these plants were buried when they did, storing carbon underground. Over a long period of time, pressure and high temperatures transformed the plant material into coal, forcing out water and increasing the energy content of the chemical bonds.

What are the best sites for the long-term storage of high-level radioactive wastes?

Many scientists recommend storing the wastes and stable rock formations deep in the ground. People's reluctance to have radioactive waste store near their homes complicates the selection of the sites. Meanwhile, radioactive wastes continue to accumulate. Commercially operated nuclear power plants store their spent fuel and huge indoor pools of water or in storage casks on-site. However none of these plans were designed for long-term storage of spent fuel.

Developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, rely on what types of energy sources?

More traditional sources of energy, such as firewood and dung.

What do critics of nuclear energy say?

Nuclear energy generates radioactive waste in the form of spent fuel. Nuclear power plants also produce radioactive coolant fluids and gases in the reactor. These radioactive wastes are extremely dangerous, and the hazards of their health and environmental impacts require that special measures be taken to ensure their safe storage and disposal. Some supporters of nuclear energy is certain that our dependence on foreign oil would be reduced of all oil burning power plants were converted to nuclear plants. However oil is responsible for generating only about 3% of electricity in the United States. Replacing electricity generated by oil with electricity generated by nuclear power would do little in the short term to lessen our dependence on foreign oil because we would still need oil for heating buildings and for gasoline. As electric heat pumps in hydrogen and electric motor vehicles become more common, however, nuclear power plants could provide a much larger fraction of heating and transportation energy demand, thus decreasing our reliance on foreign oil.

What is the biggest obstacle to increase nuclear power in the United States and abroad?

Nuclear waste management. None of the 31 countries that currently have nuclear power plants has decided where or how to dispose of their high level nuclear waste. Most countries expect in the long term to dispose of nuclear power underground, but as of 2012, no sites had been selected. It will probably be years, if not decades, before an underground high-level nuclear waste storage facility is established in the United States.

Economic development is a process usually accompanied by a rise in what?

Per person energy consumption

In addition to being used for fuel, oil is also used to produce what?

Petrochemicals. These are compounds that can be converted into products such as fertilizers, plastics, paints, pesticides, medicines, and synthetic fibers.

Where the drawbacks of nuclear energy?

Potential environmental risks and waste disposal issues.

What is primary recovery and secondary recovery?

Primary recovery is when oil is naturally under pressure due to anticline. Secondary recovery is when oil is not under pressure, because there is no anticline present.

Describe high-level radioactive wastes.

Radioactive solids, liquids, or gases that initially give off large amounts of ionizing radiation. These types of wastes are produced during nuclear fission and include the reactor metals (fuel rods and assemblies), coolant fluids, and air or other gases found in the reactor. High-level radioactive wastes are also generated during the reprocessing of spent fuel. Produced by nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons facilities, high-level radioactive wastes are among the most dangerous human made hazardous wastes.

Describe low-level radioactive wastes.

Solids, liquids, or gases that give off small amounts of ionizing radiation. Glassware, tools, paper, clothing, and other items contaminated by radioactivity. They are produced by nuclear power plants, university research labs, nuclear medicine departments and hospitals, and industries. Four sites, located in Washington state, South Carolina, Nevada, and Utah, currently store most of the country's low-level radioactive wastes.

How can you make burning coal cleaner?

Sulfur and particulate matter emissions associated with the combustion of coal can be reduced by using scrubbers that clean the exhaust of power plants. As polluted air passes through a scrubber, chemicals in the scrubber react with the pollution and cause it to precipitate, or settle out. Several advanced technologies allow power plants to produce less air pollution while burning coal. In fluidized bed combustion, crushed coals mixed with limestone particles and a strong air current during combustion this technology produces fewer nitrogen oxides and remove sulfur from the coal. It produces more heat from a given amount of coal, thereby somewhat reducing carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity produced. In the United States, several large power plants are testing fluidized bed combustion, and a few small plants are already using this technology.

More than half of the world's total estimated reserves are situated where?

The Persian Gulf region, which includes Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Major oilfields also exist in Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, Keswick Stan, Libya, and the United States in Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico. Large oil deposits probably exist under the continental shelves, the relatively flat underwater areas that surround continents and in deep water areas adjacent to the continental shelves.

Who has the largest coal deposits?

The United States, Russia, China, Australia, India, Germany, and South Africa.

What act provides incentives or utility companies to convert to clean coal technologies?

The clean air act amendments of 1990

What was one positive outcome of the Exxon Valdez disaster?

The passage of the oil pollution act of 1990. This legislation establishes liability for damages to natural resources resulting from a catastrophic oil spill, including a trust fund that pays to clean up spills when the responsible party cannot, and it requires, by 2015, double holes on all oil tankers that enter US waters.

What happens to nuclear power plants at the end of their operational usefulness?

They are not simply abandon or demolish because many parts have become contaminated with radioactivity. What a nuclear power plant is closed, it undergoes decommissioning. The International Atomic Energy Agency defines three options for decommissioning: storage, entombment, and immediate dismantling. If an old plant is put into storage, the utility company guards it for 50 to 100 years will some of the radioactive materials to K, making it safer to dismantle the plant later. Accidental leaks during storage are an ongoing concern.

What is done to the propane and butane during petroleum refining?

They are separated from the natural gas, stored in pressurized tanks as a liquid called liquefied petroleum gas, and then used primarily in rural areas in cooking.

As radioisotopes and spent fuel decay, what happens?

They produce considerable heat and are extremely toxic to organisms; they remain radioactive for thousands of years, and their dangerous level of radioactivity require special handling. Secure storage of these materials must be guaranteed for thousands of years, until the materials decay sufficiently to be safe.

How does U-235 create electricity?

U-235 is an isotope of Uranium which, in its purest form, is used as fuel for nuclear reactors and weapons. It will eventually degrade into stable Lead. U-235 Atoms can spontaneously undergo fission (or decay), releasing neutrons at high velocities. When enough U-235 Adams are placed near each other, a chain reaction can occur as each decay releases neutrons that cause at least one additional atom to undergo fission. Nuclear power generation requires careful control of the rate of this chain reaction. The fission of U-235 releases an enormous amount of heat, which is used to transform water into steam. Gamma radiation is also realeased which is the most powerful form of radioactivity and the most lethal. The steam, in turn, is used to generate electricity by spinning a turbine hooked to a generator. Operators of a nuclear power plant can start or stop an increase or decrease the fission reactions in the reactor to produce the desired amount of heat.

What is spent fuel?

Used fuel elements that were irradiated in a nuclear reactor.

What is coal used for?

Utility companies use coal to produce electricity, and heavy industries use coal for steel production.

Radioactive wastes are classified as either__________ level or ____________ level.

low/high

Protons and neutrons have approximately the same__________.

mass

Electrons, possess little ____________ compared to protons and neutrons, and orbit the nucleus and distinct _____________.

mass/regions

Our nations electrical grid is ______________ and __________________.

outdated/overburdened

Coal consumption has________________ in recent years, particularly in the rapidly growing economies of___________ and ___________.

surge/India/China

Oil and natural gas deposits exist on every continent, but their distribution is ____________.

uneven