chapter 20 vocabulary
Energy efficiency- a measure of energy produced compared to energy comsumed
Hybrid gasoline electric vehicles- the highest efficiency rating and lowest emissions available in the US
Net energy yield- based on the total useful energy produced during the lifetime of an entire energy system minus the energy required to make useful energy available
Cogeneration- the simultaneous production of both electricity and steam or hot water in the same plant
Passive heat absorption- using natural materials or absorptive structures with no moving parts to simply gather and hold heat
Active solar energy- generally pump a heat absorbing fluid medium through a relatively small collector rather than passively collecting heat in a stationary medium
Green pricing- allows utilities to profit from conservation programs and charge premium prices for energy from renewable sources
Photovoltaic cells- capture solar energy and convert it directly to electrical current by separating electrons from their parent atoms
Fuel cell- devices that use ongoing electrochemical reactions to produce an electric current
Reformer- or converter that strips hydrogen from fuels such as natural gas
Biofuel- a mixture of gasoline and ethanol
Low head hydropower- can extract energy from a small headwater dam that cause much less damage than larger projects
Run of the river flow- submerged projects that are small enough not to impede navigation
Micro hydro generators- operate on small flow of streams, can generate power for a home
Geothermal energy- naturally warm water is used in electric power production, and other industrial means
Tidal station- like a hydropower dam, turbines spin as tide moves through them
Ocean thermal electric conversion(OTEC)- heat from sun warmed upper ocean layers is used to evaporate a working fluid
chapter 19 Notes
· The huge blackout of 2003 reminded us of how reliant we are on energy
· 86% or all commercial energy is generated by fossil fuel, 40% is petroleum, next is coal with 23% then natural gas with 22%
· The united states consumes twice as much energy per person as countries like Switzerland who have the same standard of living.
· Largest share of energy use in the states is for industry, transportation comes in second with 27% of energy supply
· Coal is dirty and dangerous fuel, however some new techniques reduce emissions and contaminants. Coal combustion is major source of acid precipitation
· Natural gas burns clean, produces less CO2 than coal. Russia and the Middle East have the worlds highest amounts of gas
· Chernobyl is the reason for most concern when it comes to nuclear power. People think the technology is too risky to pursue
· Major problems with nuclear power are where to store the waste and how to ensure that it remains safely contained for thousands of years
chapter 19 review questions
1.) Energy is the capacity to do work. Power is the rate of flow of energy.
2.) The major sources of commercial energy are in order from greatest to least; oil, coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, and wind. Commercial energy is the most common use of this energy, it is directed towards all endeavors.
3.) Energy use exceeds most other countries, for having only 5 percent of the global population, it consumes one quarter of available energy.
4.) 10 trillion metric tons are the estimated amounts of total resource. 90% of reserves are in the US, Russia, China, India, and Australia.
5.) Coal bed methane is methane gas trapped under a layer of coal. The reason it is controversial is because it is highly explosive and leads to poisoning.
6.) Fossil fuel is the cause of serious loss of forests and soil. It degrades air quality, creates smog, and pollutes the water supply.
7.) Nuclear reactors start at fuel assembly, rods of uranium are bound together, put into a reactor and subjected to nuclear fission, where steam is created which powers a turbine. The danger of it is in the cooling process, if the reactor is not manually cooled it will burn up, if coolant leeks and doesn’t reach the reactor, serious problems occur, Chernobyl occurs.
8.) The four types of reactor designs are pressurized water reactors, using water as its coolant. European models use graphite, where the moderator and structural material for the reactor core are graphite. High temperature Gas Cooled Reactors, and Process inherent ultimate safety reactor which has a small core that cannot generate enough heat to become dangerous.
9.) The pros and cons of the breeder reactor are that it produces fuel rather than consumes it, creates fissionable plutonium and thorium isotopes from the abundant, but stable, forms or uranium. The cons are that the reactor core must be at a very high density to work, also liquid sodium must be used to cool it, which is very corrosive and difficult to handle.
10.) The past has shown that tossing nuclear waste into the ocean is a bad idea. Now we usually use land disposal, some using deep water filled pools to store them, others use containers deep under ground in stable rock formations, where vaults are built to hold the waste.
chapter 19 vocab
Work- the application of force through a distance
Energy- the capacity to do work
Power- the rate of flow of energy, or the rate at which work is done
Joule (J)- the amount of work done when a force of 1 newton is exerted over 1 meter or 1 amp per second flows through 1 ohm
Proven Reserves- coal that is mapped, measured, and shown to be economically recoverable
Black Lung Disease- inflammation and fibrosis caused by accumulation of coal dust in the lungs or airways
Secondary Recovery Techniques- methods for squeezing more oil up from an oil reservoir
Tar Sands- Liquid petroleum can be extracted from these sands with hot water, chemicals, or other stripping processes
Oil Shale- Fine grained sedimentary rock rich in solid organic material called kerogen. When heated it liquefies and oil can be extracted from the stone
Methane Hydrate- composed of small bubbles or individual molecules of natural gas trapped in a crystalline matrix of frozen water
Fuel Assembly- uranium pellets are stacked in hollow metal rods and bundled together
Nuclear Fission- splitting or releasing energy and more neutrons
Chain Reaction- once the fun starts its hard to stop
Control Rods- such as cadmium are inserted into spaces between fuel assemblies to shut down the fission reaction or are withdrawn to allow it to proceed
Breeder Reactor- produce fuel instead of consume it. Create fissionable plutonium and thorium isotopes from the abundant but stable forms of uranium
High-Level Waste Repository- place where intensely radioactive wastes are to be buried deep in the ground
Monitored, Retrievable Storage- alternative, holding wastes in underground facilities where was can be watched
Nuclear Fusion- energy is released when two smaller atomic nuclei fuse into one larger nucleus
Chapter 19 Web Exercise
Could not reach this website for the Canadian portion of the project.
http://ccrs-gad1.cgdi.ca/resources/EngNRAtlas.html
1.) Total U.S. energy use increased around sixty-seven quadrillions from 1949 to 2000.
2.) 9,600 billion dollars was the increase during that time.
3.) 73% change in energy, where money increased by 98%. A possibility is that money levels increase, we experience price inflation.
4.) The four ports in the US are Everett, Massachusetts; Lake Charles, LA; Elba Island Georgia; and Cove Point, Maryland.
5.) This is important because a lot of environmental disruption occurs at these sites.
6.) Our prices were considerably lower, increasing the incentive to use them. It put a price on the use of them so conservation was put on the back burner.
7.) United States, Central and South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the former USSR, China, Australia, Africa.
8.) The US ranks number one.
9.) More than 60 percent are thought to be in the United States.
10.) The United States come in second to China and close to Russia.
11.) The US, Venezuela, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.
12.) 3% is held by the US.
13.) We consume about 23% of the total.
14.) The countries with the highest oil reserves are US, Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emerites.
15.) 3% is held by the US.
16.) 25% is consumed by the US.
17.) We are the gluttons of the energy in the globe, we take what we surely cant replenish.
Chapter 18 notes
Water pollution control laws have greatly reduced the worst water pollution in most industrialized countries; in many developing countries, water pollution is getting worse, but access to safe drinking water is improving slowly, especially in urban areas.
Water pollution- any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects organisms or makes it unsuitable for other uses.
Major types of water pollution include infectious agents, oxygen demanding wastes, nutrients, inorganic salts, metals, acids and bases, organic chemicals, sediment, and thermal pollution
Eutrophication is caused by nutrient enrichment and warming
Oligotrophic lakes and streams are cold, and oxygen rich, but have low biological productivity
US Clean Water Act requires the EPA to monitor water quality and regulate discharge. Only 10 percent of water pollution in the US comes from point sources.
Groundwater can be contaminated by waste in recharge zones, through abandoned wells, and by buried waste. Leaking underground storage tanks release contaminants.
Ocean pollution comes from many sources, garbage, sewage, nutrients, and oil spills
Cheapest, best way to reduce water pollution is source reduction. Recycling, Land use planning.
Water legislation, Clean Water Act remains controversial; costs can be high and are largely borne by producers; it can be difficult to identify the best way to do things.
Chapter 18 Questions for Review
1.) Water pollution is any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses can be considered pollution.
2.) Eight major categories of water pollutants are infectious agents(bacteria, viruses), organic chemicals (pesticides, plastics), inorganic chemicals (acids, caustics), radioactive materials production (uranium, thorium), sediment (soil, silt), plant nutrients (nitrates, phosphates), oxygen demanding wastes (animal manure and plant residues), and thermal (heat).
3.) Sources for water pollution are human and animal excreta, industrial, farm and house use, industrial effluents, mining and processing of ores, power plants and weapons, land erosion, agricultural and urban fertilizers, paper mills, and industrial cooling.
4.) Pfiesteria is an extraordinarily poisonous dinoflagellate that only recently has been recognized as a killer of finfish and shellfish in polluted rivers and estuaries such as North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound. Under the right conditions, a population explosion can produce a dense bloom of these cells.
5.) Eutrophication is the increase in biological productivity and ecosystem succession caused by human activities.
6.) The origins of siltation are the runoff of sediment that build up and block normal flow of water. It is a literal roadblock for many natural processes.
7.) Primary treatment removes, strains, and settles out solids. Secondary treatment, including aeration, digestion, and chlorination, removes pathogens and organic material. Tertiary treatment removes inorganic nutrients and oxidizes remaining organics.
8.) Combining storm and sewer system is a problem because waste will be introduced into the environment condensed and will deteriorate that area rapidly; if these wastes are put through a treatment facility, clean water that is from the storm pipes will be cleaned, that means unnecessary energy was used. Whereas it is also a problem that they be separated, the amount of pipes for this digs into the natural environment twice as much as before.
9.) The Clean Water Act works to get specific “point” sources of pollution such as industrial discharge pipes or sewage outfalls, the act requires discharge permits and best practicable control technology.
10.) End to all dumping of industrial wastes, plastic trash and tank washing effluents into the ocean, designation of places to put toxic substances. Also the rules are to be tightened, they have been too lax.
Chapter 18 Vocabulary
Point Source- factories, power plants, sewage treatment plants, underground coal mines and oil wells, they discharge pollution from specific locations.
Non Point Source- scattered and diffused, runoff from fields, golf courses, ect.
Atmospheric Deposition- nonpoint pollution, carried by air currents and precipitated into watersheds or directly onto surface waters as rain, snow or dry particles.
Coliform Bacteria- any of the many types that live in the colon or intestines of humans and other animals.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)- The impact of wastes into water is expressed in terms of this. A standard test of the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by aquatic microorganisms over a five day period.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Content- using oxygen electrodes, the content of water depends on factors other than pollution (temp. and aeration) usually more directly related to whether aquatic organisms survive
Oxygen Sag- The oxygen decline downstream.
Oligotrophic- rivers and lakes that have clear water and low biological productivity
Eutrophic- waters that are rich in organisms and organic materials.
Cultural Eutrophication- An increase in biological productivity and ecosystem succession caused by human activities
Red tide- Bloom of deadly aquatic microorganisms called dinoflagellates
Thermal Plume- The water drawn from a river or lake that is used to cool hot industrial machines and is reintroduced back into the ecosystem, they can disrupt the environment
Total Maximum Daily Loads (LMDL)- The amount of a particular pollutant that a water body can receive from both point and nonpoint sources.
Primary Treatment- the first step in municipal waste treatment. It physically sperates large solids from the waste stream.
Secondary Treatment- Biological degradation of the dissolved organic compounds; an aeration tank, or sewage lagoon
Tertiary Treatment- Removes plant nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates from the secondary effluent.
Effluent Sewage- a hybrid between a traditional septic tank and a full sewer system.
Best Practicable Control Technology (BPT) and Best Available, Economically Achievable Technology (BAT)- set national goals to make all water fishable and capable of being swam in. For toxic substances and zero discharge for 126 priority toxic pollutants.
chapter 17 notes
Water shortages wand water stress affect at least a third of the worlds population. Water resources are expected to be a major source of regional and international conflict in coming decades.
Distribution of water around the globe depends mainly on climate factors, including high pressure zones and prevailing winds, and topography. Human activities such as deforestation, also affect regional water supplies.
The hydrologic cycle is the movement of water between the ocean, atmosphere, land, and living things. All water on land originates as evaporation, mostly from oceans, which produces rain and snow. Major water compartments involved in the hydrologic cycle include oceans; glaciers, ice, and snow; groundwater; lakes, rivers, and wetlands; and the atmosphere. Residence time in compartments ranges from thousands of years in the ocean to minutes or days in the atmosphere.
Aquifers are porous rock formations that hold water. Water enters aquifers through recharge zones. A confined aquifer is one whose saturated layers are capped (overlain) by impermeable rock layers.
Pumping water from an aquifer produces a cone of depression, often drying out shallower wells. Risks of overpumping aquifers- extracting water faster than it is recharged- include subsiding ground levels, sinkholes, and saltwater intrusion, as well as depletion of water supplies.
Water withdrawal refers to all water taken for use. Consumption refers to water lost to direct use, usually through evaporation or seepage in the ground. Degradation is water contamination by pollutants, salts, or heat, which reduces it utility for later uses.
Worldwide, two-thirds of water withdrawn is used for agriculture. Agriculture accounts for 85 percent of water consumption, mainly through evaporative losses and seepage from unlined canals. Improved irrigation methods are beginning to reduce some consumptive losses.
Industrial and domestic water uses are increasing, although not as fast as agricultural use. Consumption and degradation have fallen somewhat due to conservation and increased efficiency in households and industries.
Water stress occurs when consumption exceeds 20 percent of available, renewable water supplies. At least 45 countries have serious water stress and cannot supply minimum essential water needs for citizens.
Many strategies have been attempted to increase available water supplies. Desalination and water diversions are the principal methods that increase supplies in arid regions. Dams and reservoirs are controversial. They provide essential power and irrigation, but they also have great environmental, economic, and social costs, including ecosystem losses, displaced human populations, and water loss through evaporation.
Water conservation is often the cheapest and most effective way to increase water supplies. Watershed management involves coordinated planning to improve resource allocation and reduce water loss. Efficient household appliances, such as toilets, shower heads, and laundry machines, have greatly reduced per capita consumption in many cities. Dry landscaping is required in some southwestern communities of the United States. Drip irrigation and other agricultural practices can reduce irrigation demands. Water policy- laws regarding water rights and use- is a key factor in conservation.
chapter 17 questions for review
1.) Withdrawal is the total amount of water taken from a lake, river, or aquifer for any purpose. Consumption is the fraction of withdrawn water that is lost in transmission, evaporation, absorption, chemical transformation, or otherwise made unavailable for as a result of human use. Degrading is polluting or heating so that it is unsuitable for other uses.
2.) Withdrawal of water in each section increases as time increases. Agriculture does this on a much larger level than domestic and industry but they are all in proportion. Trends show that withdrawal levels never meet consumption, they are always way higher.
3.) Places with the highest water irrigation are those lining the Mississippi River, and the Midwest.
4.) Some problems with damming and water diversion techniques are that they flood areas above the dam, drowning communities and graveyards. Other problems with dams are that they restrict the migratory patterns of indigenous fish who mate upstream.
5.) Water molecules would move by transpiration, it would evaporate and turn into a gaseous form. When it becomes humid enough and there is enough pressure and water molecules in the air condensation will occur. The water molecules would then runoff into bodies of water that increased in size until it reached the ocean again.
6.) Starting at the largest river; the Amazon in Brazil and Peru; the Orinoco in Venezuela and Columbia; the Congo in the Congo; Yangtze in Tibet, China; and the Bramaputra in Tibet, India and Bangladesh.
7.) Mountains block some rainfall from reaching other places. They cause a rain shadow which creates a dry leeward side of the mountain. This doesn’t really affect my area, there aren’t many mountains.
8.) Three consequences of over-pumping aquifers are subsiding ground levels, sinkholes and saltwater intrusion as well as depletion of water supplies.
9.) 97 percent of water is salt water, 3 percent is freshwater.
10.)An aquifer is a porous layer of gravel, stone or sand that is below the water table. Water enters these aquifers by a seeping process and it stays there.
