APES Units 8 & 9 Study Guide

Transform Fault

An area where earth's lithospheric plates move in opposite parallel directions along a fault line

Biodiesel

An environmentally safe, low polluting fuel for most diesel internal combustion and turbine engines. Can be mixed with petroleum diesel fuel and stored anywhere petroleum is. Made from fresh or waste vegetable oils (triglycerides) that are a renewable energy source. Both commercially and privately made around the world.

Mineral

Any naturally occurring inorganic substance found in the earth's crust as a crystal- line solid.

ANWR

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a wilderness area in Alaska

Convergent Plate Boundary

Area where earths lithospheric plates collide (are pushed together)

Divergent Plate Boundary

Areas where earths lithospheric plates are pushed away from each other in opposite directions

Core

Center of the earths layers; consists of a solid inner core and a liquid outer core

Petrochemicals

Chemicals obtained by refining (distilling) crude oil. They are used as raw materials in manufacturing most industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fibers, paints, medicines, and many other products.

Passive Solar Energy

1) Solar energy collected by non active systems e.g. windows, atria, black drapes, etc 2)a system of putting the sun's energy to use without requiring mechanical devices to distribute the collected heat.

Active Solar Energy

1) Solar radiation used by special equipment to provide space heating, hot water or electricity. 2)a system of putting the sun's energy to use in which a series of collectors absorbs the solar energy, and pumps or fans distribute the collected heat

Strawbale House

1) The walls of these superinsulated houses are made by stacking compacted bales of low cost straw (an agricultural waste) and then covering the bales on the outside and inside with plaster or adobe. 2)Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both.

Hybrid Vehicle

1) an example of an energy-efficient vehicle; uses a small, efficient gasoline engine most of the time, but also uses an electric motor when extra power is needed 2)A hybrid vehicle is defined as having more than one power source. In the case of a hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle, the primary source of power is a gasoline engine (commonly referred to as a "combustion engine," as fuel is exploded inside one or more cylinders) supplemented by a powerful electric motor.

Tidal Energy

1) electricity created through capturing the kinetic energy of moon-driven tides; has relatively few environmental impacts and is predictable, but has a low capacity and geographical limits 2) a form of renewable energy that relies n the eff and flow of the tides to generate electricity

Biomass Energy

A new name for the oldest fuel used by humans, that is also called Biomass Fuel. Biomass Energy is organic matter, such as plant material and animal waste, which can be used as a fuel.

Switchgrass

A promising candidate for producing bioethanol. A tall grass native to North American prairies that grows faster and needs less fertilizer than corn. It can also be grown on land unfit for crops and helps remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Chain Reaction

A self-sustaining series of reactions, in particular those of nuclear fission in which the particles released by one nucleus trigger the fission of at least as many further nuclei.

Yucca Mountain, Nevada

A site on, and adjacent to, the Nevada Test Site that is being examined to determine whether it is suitable for use as a geologic repository for the Department's high-level wastes and spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors.

Mineral Resources

Concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material in or on the earth's crust in a form and amount such that extracting and converting it into useful materials or items is currently or potentially profit- able. Mineral resources are classified as metallic (such as iron and tin ores) or nonmetallic (such as fossil fuels, sand, and salt).

CAFE Standards

Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards enacted into law in 1975, established fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks. The Fuel economy ratings for a manufacturer's entire line of passenger cars must currently average at least 27.5 mpg for the manufacturer to comply with the standard

Oil Sand

Deposit of a mixture of clay, sand, water, and varying amounts of a tar-like heavy oil known as bitumen. Bitumen can be extracted from oil sand by heating. It is then purified and upgraded to synthetic crude oil.

Photovoltaic Solar Cell

Device that converts radiant (solar) energy directly into electrical energy. Also called a solar cell.

Solution Mining

In the solution mining method of extraction, water is forced under pressure into a cavity which forms in the underground salt bed, as the salt dissolves. This turns the water into brine containing about 30% salt. The saturated raw brine is pumped to the purification plant where calcium, magnesium and other impurities are removed, prior to the evaporation process.

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear change in which the nuclei of certain isotopes with large mass num- bers (such as uranium-235 and plutonium-239) are split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by a neutron. This process releases more neutrons and a large amount of energy.

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear fission is the main process generating nuclear energy. Radioactive decay of both fission products and transuranic elements formed in a reactor yield heat even after fission has ceased.

Quarries

Open pits where stone or marble is extracted

Lithosphere

Outermost shell of the earth containing the crust the outermost rigid layer of the mantle outside of the asthenosphere; materials found in earths plates

Ore

Part of a metal-yielding material that can be economically extracted from a mineral; typically containing two parts: the ore mineral, which contains the desired metal, and waste mineral material (gangue).

Energy Efficiency

Percentage of the total energy input that does useful work and is not converted into low-quality, generally useless heat in an energy conversion system or process

Weathering

Physical and chemical processes in which solid rock exposed at earth's surface is changed to separate solid particles and dissolved material, which can then be moved to another place as sediment.

Smelting

Process in which a desired metal is separated from the other elements in an ore mineral.

Cogeneration

Production of two useful forms of energy, such as high-temperature heat or steam and electricity, from the same fuel source

Fossil Fuels

Products of partial or complete decomposition of plants and animals; occurs as crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils as a result of exposure to heat and pressure in he earth's crust over millions of years.

Energy Conservation

Reducing or eliminat- ing the unnecessary waste of energy.

Open Pit Mining

Removing minerals such as gravel, sand, and metal ores by digging them out of the earth's surface and leaving an open pit behind.

Tailings

Rock and other waste materials re- moved as impurities when waste mineral material is separated from the metal in an ore.

Igneous Rock

Rock formed when molten rock material (magma) wells up from the earth's interior, cools, and solidifies into rock masses.

Metamorphic Rock

Rock produced when a preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures (which may cause it to melt partially), high pressures, chemically active fluids, or a combination of these agents.

Sedimentary Rock

Rock that forms from the accumulated products of erosion and in some cases from the compacted shells, skeletons, and other remains of dead organisms.

Tectonic Plate

Sections of Earths Lithosphere that shift slowly around the mantle's atmosphere. Generally, volcanos occur in these sections.

OPEC

a cartel that aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.

Pebble Bed Modular Nuclear Reactor

a design for a graphite-moderated, gas-cooled nuclear reactor. It is a type of very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR), one of the six classes of nuclear reactors in the Generation IV initiative. The basic design of pebble-bed reactors features spherical fuel elements called pebbles.

Ethanol Fuel

a fuel made from corn and wheat that is used like gasoline but is a renewable resource

Control Rod

a rod of a neutron-absorbing substance used to vary the output power of a nuclear reactor

Fuel Rod

a rod-shaped fuel element in a nuclear reactor

Lignite

a soft brownish coal showing traces of plant structure, intermediate between bituminous coal and peat

Weather Stripping

a strip of material to cover the joint of a door or window to exclude the cold

Multi-Paned Windows

a window that is divided into sections known as panes. Originally, the meaning pertained to sectioned glass windows in walls.

Oil Refinery

industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas.

Fractional Distillation

separation of a liquid mixture into fractions differing in boiling point (and hence chemical composition) by means of distillation, typically using a fractionating column.

Uranium

the chemical element of atomic number 92, a gray, dense radioactive metal used as a fuel in nuclear reactors

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell

1) An electrochemical device in which hydrogen and oxygen combine in a controlled manner (in contrast to combustion or explosion) to directly produce an electric current and heat. 2)takes energy to produce H2 from H2O; need to get that energy from renewable source so no pollution. in compressed gas storage tanks above or below ground, as a liquid (-250oC), as a solid (costs a lot and requires E to get H2 back out).

Biogas

1) It is possible to convert biomass to this, which is usually composed of a mixture of gases and can be stored and transported easily like natural gas. 2)any gas fuel derived from the decay of organic matter, as the mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by the bacterial decomposition of sewage, manure, garbage, or plant crops.

Tankless Hot Water Heater

1) only heat water when a hot water valve is being used. Conventional water heaters store a tank of hot water at all times "on standby" so that users receive hot water as soon as they turn a hot water valve on. Keeping this water heated when the valves are not in use requires energy and heat that is lost through the walls of the storage tank. Tankless water heaters are activated by the flow of a hot water valve and instantly heat the hot water as it is being used. 2)Tankless water heaters heat water directly without the use of a storage tank. When a hot water tap is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. Either a gas burner or an electric element heats the water. As a result, tankless water heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water. You don't need to wait for a storage tank to fill up with enough hot water. However, a tankless water heater's output limits the flow rate.

Geothermal Heat Pump

1) pumps that can tap into geothermal energy with pipes and transfer energy. 2)they take the advantage of the high thermal inertia of the ground; cycles fluid through pipes buried underground, fluid is compressed to make it hotter, its distributed through the house, and then expands so it will cool

Hydroelectric Power

1) water moves through a dam and turns a turbine to create electricity 2)Power that relies on the flow of water through turbines through gravity

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb

1). a light bulb that fits standard light fixtures but uses a phosphor coating to transform ultraviolet energy into visible light 2.)A compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) is a fluorescent light bulb that has been compressed into the size of a standard-issue incandescent light bulb

Peak Oil

1). aka 'Hubberts Peak' after the US geologist who came up with the idea, is the point at which global oil production has reached a maximum rate; by some estimates, Peak Oil is already past 2).the point when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached and at which the rate of production continues to decline

Windpower

1)Alternative energy source that has been used by people for centuries. More recently thousands of windmills have been installed to produce electric energy. 2)uses the wind to turn a turbine to create electricity

Super Insulation

???House that is heavily insulated and extremely airtight. Typically, active or passive solar collectors are used to heat water, and an air to air heat exchanger prevents buildup of excessive moisture and indoor air pollutants.

General Mining Law of 1872

A United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals, such as gold, platinum, and silver, on federal public lands.

Anthracite Coal

A hard, shiny coal that has a high carbon content. It is valued as a fuel because it burns with a clean flame and without smoke or odor, but it is much less abundant than bituminous coal.

Moderator

A material used in a nuclear reactor to slow neutrons.

Estimated Reserves

Estimated quantities of oil and gas which are not supported by geological or engineering data and are simply an educated estimation.

Subsurface Mining

Extraction of a metal ore or fuel resource such as coal from a deep under- ground deposit.

Oil Shale

Fine-grained rock containing various amounts of kerogen, a solid, waxy mixture of hydrocarbon compounds. Heating the rock to high temperatures converts the kerogen into a vapor that can be condensed to form a slow- flowing heavy oil called shale oil.

Gamma Rays

Form of ionizing electromagnetic radiation with a high energy content emitted by some radioisotopes. It readily penetrates body tissues

Surface (strip) Mining

Form of surface mining in which bulldozers, power shovels, or stripping wheels remove large chunks of the earth's surface in strips.

Crude Oil

Gooey liquid consisting mostly of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of compounds containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Extracted from underground accumulations, it is sent to oil refineries, where it is converted to heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, tar, and other materials.

Geothermal Energy

Heat transferred from the earth's underground concentrations of dry steam (steam with no water droplets), wet steam (a mixture of steam and water droplets), or hot water trapped in fractured or porous rock.

High-Level Radioactive Waste

High-level radioactive wastes are the highly radioactive materials produced as a byproduct of the reactions that occur inside nuclear reactors. High-level wastes take one of two forms: Spent (used) reactor fuel when it is accepted for disposal. Waste materials remaining after spent fuel is reprocessed

Chernobyl, Ukraine

In April 1986 there was an explosive leak, caused by overheating, from a nonpressurized boiling-water reactor, one of the largest in Europe. The resulting clouds of radioactive material spread as far as the UK. Thirty-one people were killed in the explosion, and thousands of square kilometers of land were contaminated by fallout. By June 1992, seven times as many children in the Ukraine and Belarus were contracting thyroid cancer as before the accident, and the incidence of leukemia was rising; it was estimated that more than 6,000 people had died as a result of the accident, and that the death toll in the Ukraine alone would eventually reach 40,000.

Rock Cycle

Largest and slowest of the earth's cycles, consisting of geologic, physical, and chemical processes that form and modify rocks and soil in the earth's crust over millions of years.

Overburden

Layer of soil and rock overlying a mineral deposit. Surface mining removes this layer.

LED Lightbulb

Light Emitting Diode- No bulb, no filament (no heat) and no gases! It produces light electronically with a semiconductor that regulates electric current to produce the different colors. Uses very little electric energy, to produce a lot of light!

Low-Level Radioactive Waste

Low-level waste (LLW) is nuclear waste that does not fit into the categorical definitions for intermediate-level waste (ILW), high-level waste (HLW), spent nuclear fuel (SNF), transuranic waste (TRU), or certain byproduct materials known as 11e(2) wastes, such as uranium mill tailings.

Liquified Natural Gas

Natural gas con- verted to liquid form by cooling it to a very low temperature.

Solar Thermal Plant

Solar thermal power plants use the sun's rays to heat a fluid to high temperatures. The fluid is then circulated through pipes so that it can transfer its heat to water and produce steam. The steam is converted into mechanical energy in a turbine, which powers a generator to produce electricity. Solar thermal power generation works essentially the same as power generation using fossil fuels, but instead of using steam produced from the combustion of fossil fuels, the steam is produced by heat collected from sunlight. Solar thermal technologies use concentrator systems to achieve the high temperatures needed to produce steam.

Crust

Solid outer zone of the earth. It consists of oceanic crust and continental crust.

Coal

Solid, combustible mixture of organic compounds with 30-98% carbon by weight, mixed with various amounts of water and small amounts of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. It forms in several stages as the remains of plants are subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years.

Synfuel

Synthetic gaseous and liquid fuels produced from solid coal or sources other than natural gas or crude oil.

Bauxite

The raw material mined from the earth we use to make aluminum.

Reclamation

The restoration of land and environmental values to a mining site after the coal is extracted. Reclamation operations are usually underway where the coal has already been taken from a mine, even as production operations are taking place elsewhere at the site. This process commonly includes recontouring or reshaping the land to its approximate original appearance, restoring topsoil and planting native grasses, trees and ground covers.

Green Roof

This is when the roof of the building is covered in vegetation because it save energy, improves air quality and provides habitat for birds among other things -- also called a living roof.

Peat

a brown, soil-like material characteristic of boggy, acid ground, consisting of partly decomposed vegetable matter

Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania

Three Mile Island is the location of a U.S. nuclear power plant that, on March 28, 1979, suffered a partial core meltdown. The accident unfolded over the course of five tense days, as a number of agencies at the federal, state, and local level attempted to diagnose the problem (the full details of the accident were not discovered until much later), and decide whether or not the on-going accident required a full evacuation of the population. In the end, the reactor was brought under control. No identifiable injuries due to radiation occurred (a government report concluded that "the projected number of excess fatal cancers due to the accident ... is approximately one."), but the accident had serious economic and public relations consequences, and the cleanup process was slow and costly. It also furthered a minor decline in the public popularity of nuclear power, exemplifying for many the worst fears of nuclear technology, and until the Chernobyl accident seven years later was considered the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.

Mountaintop Removal

Type of surface mining that uses explosives, massive shovels, and large machines called draglines to remove the top of a mountain to expose seams of coal underneath a mountain

Natural Gas

Underground deposits of gases consisting of 50-90% by weight methane gas (CH4) and small amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds such as propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10).

Mantle

Zone of the earth's interior between its core and its crust.

Proven Reserves

an estimated quantity of all hydrocarbons statistically defined as crude oil or natural gas, which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

Bituminous Coal

black coal having a relatively high volatile content. It burns with a characteristically bright smoky flame.

NIMBY

not in my back yard; a phrase showing the public's reluctance to support issues that affect them negatively

Light Water Nuclear Reactor

type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator - furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel.

Solar Power Tower

uses a central receiver system with huge arrays of computer-controlled mirrors called heliostats that track the sun and focus sunlight on a central heat collection tower.

Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle

vehicles with hybrid gasoline-electric engines adapted with a larger battery array and a plug-in to recharge the batteries from a standard electric outlet

Energy Crisis

when OPEC raises price of oil too high, demand decreases and production of oil from alternative sources is profitable; most energy supplied from burning oil