NonRenewable resources
The cleanest-burning fossil fuel is primarily composed of methane (CH4)
What is Natural Gas?
This law of thermodynamics explains why energy is always lost as low-quality heat during conversion.
What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
This energy source uses the heat of the Earth's interior but can sometimes release hydrogen sulfide gas.
What is Geothermal Energy?
A 60-watt bulb runs for 100 hours. This is the total energy consumed in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
What is 6 kWh?
A major drawback of oil is the risk of these during transport, which can devastate marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
What are Oil Spills?
The specific "rank" of coal that has the highest energy density and lowest sulfur content
What is Anthracite?
This practice involves using one fuel source to generate both electricity and useful heat simultaneously
What is Cogeneration?
These devices use semiconductors (like silicon) to convert sunlight directly into a DC current.
What are Photovoltaic (PV) Cells?
If a laptop uses 50 Watts and electricity costs $0.20 per kWh, this is the cost to run it for 10 hours.
What is $0.10? (0.5 kWh $\times$ $0.20)
Geothermal energy is limited by this drawback, meaning you can only build plants in specific tectonic regions.
What is Geographically Limited?
These chemical products, such as plastics, medicines, and synthetic fibers, are derived from petroleum
This term describes electronics that draw power even when they are turned "off."
Vampire Applicance
This is the specific process of splitting a large nucleus into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy.
What is Nuclear Fission?
This is the standard unit of power, equivalent to one Joule per second.
What is a Watt?
Between Coal and Natural Gas, this one is much more difficult and dangerous to transport over land without a pipeline.
What is Natural Gas?
This process separates crude oil into components like gasoline and heating oil based on their boiling points.
What is Fractional Distillation
These U.S. government regulations were designed to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks.
What are CAFE standards
Siltation and the disruption of fish migration are major disadvantages of this renewable energy source.
What is Hydroelectric Power (Dams)?
As a country undergoes this 4-stage transition, its per capita energy consumption typically increases.
What is the Demographic Transition?
Governments use these financial "carrots" to make renewable energy more affordable for homeowners.
What are Tax Breaks (or Subsidies)?
This ratio compares the energy released by a resource to the energy required to extract and process it.
What is EROI (Energy Return on Investment)?
A home with large south-facing windows and a concrete floor for heat storage uses this specific design.
What is Passive Solar Heating?
Large-scale wind farms are often criticized for causing these two types of animal fatalities.
What are Bird and Bat collisions?
If a heater uses 2,000 watts and runs for 5 hours a day at $0.10 per kWh, this is the daily cost.
What is $1.00? ($2kW \times 5h \times \$0.10$)
This is the primary advantage of fossil fuels; they provide a large amount of energy per unit of mass.
amount of energy per unit of mass.What is High Energy Density?