Fossil Fuels
A solid blackish fossil fuel formed from organic matter that was compressed under very high pressure and with little decomposition, creating dense, solid carbon structures.
Coal
The splitting apart of atomic nuclei, drives nuclear power.
Nuclear fission
Mechanical assemblies that convert wind's kinetic energy, or energy of motion, into electrical energy. They are often placed in fields.
Wind turbines
A job resulting from an employment opportunity in a more sustainably oriented economy.
Green-collar jobs
Pollutant
Consists primarily of methane and lesser, variable amounts of other volatile hydrocarbons.
Natural gas
A facility within a nuclear power plant that initiates and controls the process of nuclear fission to generate electricity.
Nuclear reactors
Organic material derived from living organisms or organisms that have recently died, and it contains chemical energy that originated with sunlight and photosynthesis.
Biomass
Wood chips or pellets are combined with coal in a high efficiency boiler - easy and inexpensive way to expand the use of renewable energy.
Co-firing
Can disturb wildlife, fragment habitats, and pollute soil, air and water. Most common extraction method used for oil and natural gas.
Drilling
The process of separating molecules of the various hydrocarbons in crude oil into different sized classes and transforming them into various fuels and other petrochemical products.
Refining
An accidental melting of the uranium fuel rods inside the core of a nuclear reactor, causing a release of radiation.
Meltdown
A fuel produced from vegetable oil, used cooking grease, or animal fat; mixed with small amounts of ethanol and methanol in the presence of a chemical catalyst.
Biodiesel
A ratio that measure how much usable energy can be extracted from an energy source compared to the amount of energy required to extract, process, and distribute it; Energy delivered/energy used to deliver that energy.
EROI (Energy Return on Investment)
Destroys large swaths of habitat and causes soil erosion, results in chemical runoff. Most common extraction method for coal.
Strip mining
An ice-like solid consisting of molecules of methane embedded in a crystal lattice of water molecules.
Methane hydrate
A combination of mechanical failure and human error, radiation was released from the uranium fuel rods that started to melt in this nuclear disaster.
Three Mile Island
The heating of water, creating steam to turn turbines and generators thereby generating electricity.
Combustion
Psychology in which people object to the addition of new infrastructure in their area, while having no objections to developments elsewhere.
NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard)
Fracking fluids may lead into aquifers, consumes a lot of fresh water, and may cause earthquakes.
Hydraulic fracturing
Sedimentary rock filled with organic matter that can be processed into a liquid form of petroleum.
Oil shale
This country leads the world in attempts to establish a central repository for nuclear waste.
Sweden
Diverting a portion of rivers flow through a pipe or channel, passing it through a powerhouse and then returning it to the river.
Run-of-river
Pumps that harness geothermal energy from near-surface sources of earth and water to heat and cool buildings.
Ground source heat pump
The policy by which courts set aside private property rights to make way for projects judged to be for the public goods.
Eminent domain