ch 16-19 vocab
Terms
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- the principle that energy may not be created or destroyed but is always conserved
- 1st law of thermodynamics
- the energy always tends to go from a more usable form to a less usable form
- 2nd law of thermodynamics
- the ratio of actual amount of energy delivered to the amount supplied to meet a particular need
- energy efficiency
- the capture of waste heat
- cogeneration
- an abstract oncept referring to the ability or capacity to do work
- energy
- A tyoe of energy management that provides for reliable sources of energy while not causing environmental degration
- sustainable energy development
- forms of stored solar energy created from incomplete biological decomposition of dead organic matter
- fossil fuels
- solid, brittle carbonaceous rock that is one of the world's most abundant fuels
- coal
- naturally occuring petroleum, normally pumped from wells
- crude oil
- a white ie-like compund made up of molecules of methane gas trapped in "cages" of frozen water in the sediments of the deep sea floor
- methane hydrate
- naturally occuring gaseous hyrdocarbon produced in association with crude oil
- natural gas
- a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic material known as kerogen
- oil shale
- a process of removing sulfur from gases emited from power plants burning coal
- scrubbing
- sedimentary rocks or sands impregnated with tar oil
- tar sands
- approach to managing coal resources & reducing pollution through buying, selling & trading of allownaces to emit pollutants from burning coals
- allowance trading
- direct use of solar energy that requires that mechancial power
- active solar energy systems
- renewable & nonrenewable energy resources that are alternatives to the fossil fuels
- alternative energy
- amount of living material or amount of organic material conatained in living organisms, both as live and dead material
- biomass energy
- a device that produces electricity directly from a chemical reaction in a specially designed cell
- fuel cells
- the useful conversion of naturak heat from the interior of the earth
- geothermal energy
- a resource that is cycled so slowly by natural earth processes tht once used
- nonrenewable energy
- direct utilization of solar energy using part of a natural oceanic environment as a gigantic solar collector
- ocan thermal conversion
- direct use of solar energy through architecular design to enhance or take advantage of natural changes in the solar energy that occur throughout the year w/o requiring mechanical power
- passive solar energy systems
- technology that converts sunlight directly into electricityusing a solid semiconductor material
- photovolaics
- device used for collectin and storing solar energy
- solar collectors
- shallow pond filled with water and used to generate low-temp water
- solar ponds
- a systems of collecting solar energy that delivers the energy to a control location where the energy is used to produce electrical power
- solar power tower
- form of wtaer utilizing ocean tides in places where favorable topography allows for contruction of a power plant
- tidal power
- alternative energy source derived from flowering power
- water power
- alternative energy source that has been used by people for centuries
- wind power
- the energy of the atomic nucleus that, when releaseed, may be used to do work
- nuclear energy
- a type of nuclear reactor that utilizes b/t 40% and 70% of its nuclear fuel and converts fertile nuclei to fissile nuclei faster than the rate of fission
- breeder reactors
- a type of nuclear reactor that consumes more fissionable material than it produces
- burner reactors
- the splitting of an atom into smaller fragments with the release of energy
- fission
- combining the light elements to form heavier elements with the release of energ
- fusion
- extremely toxic nuclear waste such as spent fuel elements from commercial reactors
- high-level radio active waste
- waste materials that contain sufficiently low concentrations of wuantities of radioactivity so as not to present a significant enviroment hazard if properly handled
- low-level radioactivie waste
- refers to a nuclear accident in which the nuclear fuel forms a molten mass that breaches the containment of the reactor
- meltdown
- devices that produce controlled nuclear fusion
- nuclear reactors
- a form of a chemical element that spontaneously undergoes radioactive decay
- radioisotope
- processes involved with producing nuclear power from the mining & processing of uranium to control fission
- nuclear fuel cycle
- radioactive waste consisting of human-made radioactive elements heavier then uranium
- transuranic waste