Chapter 16

Question 1

How much does Persian oil cost today?

Answer 1

$47.00/barrel

Question 2

How many barrels of oil are spilled annually on average?

Answer 2

about 32 million gallons

Question 3

How much coal does a typical power plant burn each day?

Answer 3

8,000 tons

Question 4

How much co2 and so2 is released each day?

Answer 4

20,000 tons of co2 and 800 tons of so2

Question 5

Fracking

Answer 5

a well is drilled with protective casing, and turned horizontally when it reaches a shale deposit. Pressurized fluids fracture the rock and sand is lodged in the cracks, holding them open for natural gas to flow in.

Question 6

Oil shale

Answer 6

fine sedimentary rock containing a mixture of solid, waxlike hydrocarbons called kerogen.

Question 7

oil sands

Answer 7

sedimentary material containing bitumen. Bitumen can be melted out and refined like crude oil.

Question 8

Is oil supply limited? If so, what will be the source of our energy in the future?

Answer 8

Yes, and solar, wind, water power, hydrogen powered vehicles, bioconversion, geothermal power.

Question 9

What is nuclear energy?

Answer 9

it comes from splitting atoms in a reactor to heat water into steam, turn a turbine and generate electricity.

Question 10

How is electricity generated from nuclear fission?

Answer 10

a large atom of one element is split to produce two different, smaller atoms. The heat produced is used to boil water, turn a turbine, and power a generator.

Question 11

Isotope

Answer 11

different (mass number) forms of the same element with a different amount of neutrons.

Question 12

How many protons and neutrons does Uranium 238 have?

Answer 12

92 protons and 146 neutrons

Question 13

How many protons and neutrons does Uranium 235 have?

Answer 13

92 protons and 143 neutrons.

Question 14

Fuel rods

Answer 14

rods full of U235 pellets

Question 15

Moderator

Answer 15

fluid (water) coolant that slows down neutrons, so that more reactions occur.

Question 16

Control rods

Answer 16

control rods control the chain reaction by absorbing neutrons (more control rods slow reactions)

Question 17

A nuclear reactor is designed to

Answer 17

sustain a continuous fission chain reaction, prevent a nuclear explosion, and consist of an array of fuel and control rods

Question 18

Radioisotopes

Answer 18

unstable isotopes of the elements resulting from the fission process

Question 19

radioactive emissions

Answer 19

subatomic particles, high-energy radiation, alpha, beta, and gamma rays.

Question 20

radioactive wastes

Answer 20

materials that become radioactive by absorbing neutrons from the fission process

Question 21

Is nuclear energy cleaner than using fossil fuels?

Answer 21

Nuclear power requires 30 tons of raw material, emits no co2 or acid-forming pollutants, and produces 250 tons of radioactive waste

Question 22

What happened at chernobyl?

Answer 22

An engineering experiment gone wrong. A reaction between steam and graphite produced free hydrogen and carbon oxides, combined with oxygen created an explosion

Question 23

What negative impacts are possible with nuclear energy?

Answer 23

incidents, accidents, doubt of safety, power plants may become targets of terrorist attacks, and disposal concerns.

Question 24

Briefly describe how solar power works

Answer 24

energy is absorbed by solar panels and creates electrical charges that move in response to an electrical field causing energy to flow

Question 25

Active

Answer 25

moves water or air with pumps and blowers

Question 26

Passive

Answer 26

moves water or air with natural convection currents or gravity

Question 27

Photovoltaic solar power generates electricity directly by using the sun - how does that work?

Answer 27

via electronic processes that occur naturally in certain types of material called semiconductors

Question 28

solar powered satellite

Answer 28

uses microwave transmission to beam solar power to earth. it has an unobstructed view of the sun, isn't affected by day or night, and power is available to any location on earth

Question 29

What are artificial trees?

Answer 29

boxed shaped extractors lined with lye. lye is an absorbent of co2

Question 30

briefly describe how wind power works

Answer 30

wind turbines harness the kinetic energy of moving air. it turns a generator and creates electricity

Question 31

briefly describe how hydro power works

Answer 31

turbines and generators are used to convert the motion of water into electricity

Question 32

Impoundment

Answer 32

stores water in a reservoir. When its released, this energy is used to turn a turbine.

Question 33

Diversion

Answer 33

Channels a portion of a river through a canal or pipe into a turbine and generator.

Question 34

pumped storage hydropower

Answer 34

water is pumped back into a reservoir during periods of low energy use, then released again when needed.

Question 35

Solar thermal heating systems that move water or air with natural convection currents or gravity are:

Answer 35

Passive

Question 36

A device in which electrons flow from one layer to another through a circuit creating an electrical current is:

Answer 36

A photovoltaic cell

Question 37

feed-in tariff

Answer 37

Pays you for energy you produce at home via solar panels, and send on to the national grid.

Question 38

Passive solar energy

Answer 38

an approach in which buildings are designed to maximize absorption of sunlight and keep it cool in summer.

Question 39

Active solar energy collection

Answer 39

an approach in which technological devices are used to focus, move, or store solar energy.

Question 40

Concentrated solar power

Answer 40

generating electricity by focusing sunlight from a large area onto a smaller area.

Question 41

PV cells

Answer 41

when light strikes the metal plates in the cell, electrons are released, and are attracted by the electrostatic forces to the opposing plate. This creates an electrical current.

Question 42

Thin-film solar cells

Answer 42

a pv material compressed into a lightweight sheet that can be used in various surfaces to generate power.

Question 43

Net-metering

Answer 43

the value of the power the homeowner provides is subtracted from the homeowners utility bill.

Question 44

geothermal energy

Answer 44

the radioactive decay of elements deep in the interior of our planet generates heat that rises to the surface

Question 45

ground-source heat pumps

Answer 45

provides heating by transferring heat from the ground in winter and cooling in the summer.

Question 46

enhanced geothermal systems

Answer 46

we drill deeply into dry rock and inject cold water. The water becomes heated and is then drawn back up

Question 47

Tidal energy

Answer 47

energy harnessed by erecting a dam across the outlet of a tidal basin.