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APES Ch. 13 Vocab
Achieving Energy Sustainability - AP Environmental Science, Chapter 13
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Nonrenewable resources | Materials that are being depleted much faster than they can be replenished |
| Potentially renewable resources | Materials that can be regenerated rapidly and can be renewed as long as we don't consume them more quickly than they can be replenished |
| Nondepletable resources | Sources that cannot be depleted within a human lifespan, no matter how much we use them (solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal energy) |
| Renewable resources | Potentially renewable and nondepletable resources |
| Tiered rate system | Customers pay a low rate for the first increment of energy they use and pay higher rates as their use goes up |
| Peak demand | The greatest quantity of energy used at any one time - can be several times the overall demand, and electric companies often keep backup sources of energy available, primarily natural gas-fired generators |
| Passive solar heating | A technique that takes advantage of natural solar radiation to achieve desired temperatures |
| Thermal inertia | The ability of a material to retain heat or cold |
| Biofuels | Liquid fuels such as ethanol or biodiesel that are produced by processing or refining biomass - used in limited quantity because of the demands associated with their production |
| Carbon neutral | An activity that does not change atmospheric CO2 concentrations |
| Net removal | Removing more timber than is replaced by growth - can contribute to increased atmospheric CO2 levels because the CO2 released in burning is not balanced by the carbon fixation of trees |
| Ethanol | A biofuel and an alcohol that can be used as a substitute for gasoline, made by converting starches and sugars from plant material into alcohol and CO2 - 90% of U.S. production comes from corn and corn by-products |
| Biodiesel | A substitute for regular petroleum diesel, produced by extracting oil from algae and plants such as soybean and palm |
| Flex-fuel vehicles | Can run on either gasoline or E-85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) |
| Hydroelectricity | Electricity generated by the kinetic energy of moving water, the second most common form of renewable energy in the U.S. and the world - in the U.S., it accounts for 7% of the electricity generated, and over half comes from the West Coast |
| Siltation | The accumulation of sediments on the bottom of a reservoir |
| Photovoltaic solar cells | Capture energy from the sun as light and convert it directly into electricity, 12-20% efficient, make use of the fact that certain semiconductors generate a low-voltage electric current when exposed to light - this can be converted to higher-voltage AC |
| Geothermal energy | Heat that comes form the natural radioactive decay of chemicals deep within Earth - convection currents in the mantle bring hot magma toward the surface, heating groundwater when it comes close enough (the U.S., China, + Iceland are the largest producers) |
| Wind energy | Energy from the movement of the wind - Denmark obtains more than 21% of its energy through wind |
| Wind turbine | A device that converts the kinetic energy of moving air into electricity - produces electricity 25% of the time under average conditions and can produce 4.4 million kWh per year |
| Fuel cell | A device that operates much like a common battery, but reactants are added continuously |
| Electrolysis | A process in which an electric current is applied to water to split it into hydrogen and oxygen |
Created by:
emilyjane1221
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