Chapter 15 Review Questions

What is Deepwater Horizon? - Deadly explosion in the drilling rig that resulted in oil spill which polluted water, beaches marshes, shut down fisheriss, ruined tourism and killed countless animals. What is the special designation of the 1002 area? - Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in recognition of the areas potentially enormous oil and gas resources and its importance as wildlife habitat How many gallons in a barrel of oil? - 2000 gallons per minute. 4.9 million barrels (230 million gallons) What are the two main sides of the debate? Who are the stakeholders in the debate & what are their respective positions on the issue (for & against) Trans-Alaska Pipeline - built as a means of transporting crude oil from the oilfields at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope to the marine and northern most ice-free port in Valdez Inupiat - people of Alaska's Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region. Gwichin - Gwich'in means 'people of the caribou," an apt name for a cultural group that largely relies on this mammal for a major part of its economic sustenance across northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada The area where those indigenous people live Porcupine Caribou - rely on the caribou to meet both their subsistence and spiritual needs. The hunting and distribution of caribou meat also enhances their social interaction and cultural expression Oil? Middle East Natural gas? Russia Coal? United States What are fossil fuels & how are they formed? (In other words, what is the recipe?) - Fossil fuels form only after organic material is broken down over millions of years in an anaerobic environment, with little or no oxygen. Anaerobic Little or no oxygen Global distribution? - In the US, fossil fuels supply 89% of energy needs. Net energy & EROI - Energy returned Energy invested. Energy returned / Energy invested Major advantage & major disadvantage of fossil fuels? - Fossil fuels provide most of the energy that our economy buys, sells, and consumes, because their high energy content makes them efficient to ship, store, and burn. They are non-renewable that it would take thousands of years to generate organic matter to be buried again. Electricity secondary form of energy that is easier to transfer over long distances and apply to a variety of uses. Coal hard blackish substance formed from organic matter compressed under high pressure. How is it extracted/mined? - For near the surface deposits, we use strip mining. For deposits deep underground, we use subsurface mining. For mountains, we use mountaintop removal mining.

Natural Gas gas of methane that includes volatile carbons. Formed in the bottom. Top producer of natural gas? United States Top consumer of natural gas? United States Oil sludge liquid containing a mix of various hydrocarbon molecules Extraction - First drill small holes that descend to great depths, then primary initial extract of available oil or gas begins, then secondary extraction flushed with water or steam. Refining - make multitudes of products (lubricants, plastics, fabrics, pharmaceuticals). Technically recoverable vs. economically recoverable - Oil gets harder to retrieve from a deposit over time because it becomes difficult and costly as oil or gas is removed, so companies will not find it profitable to extract the entire amount. M. King Hubbert, petroleum geologist, peak oil/ Hubberts Peak - 1956 predicts US oil production will peak in 1970; 1974 predicts global production peak in 1995. (In fact, discoveries of new oil fields peaked 30 years ago! ` Global demand continues to rise, particularly as China & India industrialize rapidly. How much US oil is imported? - Global oil consumption rose 15% and 750 L (200 gal) of oil annually Nuclear energy that olds together protons and neutrons within the nucleus of an atom How is it derived? By converting it to thermal energy which can then be used to generate electricity Advantages/Disadvantages? Nuclear power poses fewer health risks from pollution and uranium generates far more power so less needs to be mined. Small risks of large accidents - There are Mile Island in the United States, Chernobyl, the words severe accident, and the Fukushima Daiichi US produces more electricity from nuclear than any other country. How much of our electricity is from nuclear? Nuclear power produced 807.1, Number of reactors 104, Percentage of electricity from nuclear power 19.6 Why nonrenewable? Uranium-containing minerals and uncommon and uranium ore is finite so its considered as a nonrenewable energy How many plants in US? Worldwide? US = World = 441 Where do we put radioactive waste? In CA? Storing over 60,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste

Ch 16: Renewable Energy Alternatives

What is energy conservation (ch 15, pp 343-345)? U.S. history w/ respect to it? OPEC embargo, CAFE standards. - Describes the practice of reducing energy use. What are two (2) routes to conservation? What is cogeneration? What is the significance of Iceland? - In which excess heat produced during electricity generation is captured and used to heat nearby workplaces and homes and to produce other kinds of power. What are the seven (7) alternative energies from this chapter? Define each of them. Explain how they work. Biomass, biopower, biofuels bioenergy - Energy obtained from biomass, Biomass - consists of organic material derived from living or recently living organisms, that contains chemical energy that originated with sunlight and photosynthesis. Biopower - harness bio power by generating heat or electricity,waste products are used for bio power, bioenergy crops. Biofuels-liquid fuels are used primarily to power automobile. Ethanol and biodiesel are two main biofuels Hydropower Solar - Renewable energy from the sun that can be stored and used. Active solar makes use of technology to focus, move, or store solar energy, such as panels and mirrors. Passive solar are the smaller things such as building design and materials used specially chosen to maximize direct absorption of the suns light. Wind Derived from the movement of air, Harness power from wind turbines, Kinetic into Electrical Energy Geothermal the heat from the Earth.. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. Ocean Tides,Waves and Currents Tidal Energy harnessed by establishing a dam across the outlet of a tidal basin. When tidal currents pass through the dam, the water turns the turbine to generate electricity. Wave energy Kinetic energy exists in the moving waves of the ocean. Thermal Energy derived from the temperature differences of the ocean. Sunlight warms the surface of the water but below the surface, the ocean gets very cold. Hydrogen - Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas. It does not exist on earth by itself; hydrogen tends to combine with other molecules to make up everything from water to other organic compounds. Split through Electrolysis What are the advantages/benefits, disadvantages/limitations of each of them? (hint: you may want to check your classmates work against the information provided in the text) Biomass, biopower, biofuels Advantages - Biopower enchances energy efficiency by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, Reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, Capturing landfill gas reduces emissions of methane.Biofuels - Emit less pollution than fossil fuels, Add jobs to the economy, Reduce GHGs and Reduce our foreign oil dependence. Disadvantages biopower - nutrients are deprived from soil, soil becomes depleted. Biofuels - Most biodiesels come from crops specifically grown for the purpose environmental impacts, loss of tropical forests, and it takes up large areas of land Hydropower Advantages - Emits no harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. Cheapest of renewable energy 95% of energy into electricity.

Disadvantages - Damming rivers alters habitat. 30- 60% of enriched sediments are left behind. Earthquake vulnerability Solar Advantages - Solar technologies use no fuel, are quiet , safe, contain no moving parts and do not require turbine or generator. Low maintenance, the sun always gives off light so you dont have to wait for fossil fuels Disadvantages - The Earth has uneven distribution of sunlight Weather conditions can affect the efficiency of the way solar energy is absorbed to develop and be extracted. Its the most expensive way to produce energy Wind Advantages - Green energy source, Enormous potential & benefits, Space efficient Disadvantages - Unpredictable, Threat to wildlife, Noisy & unappealing look Geothermal Advantages - harnessed directly from its source heat and energy can be transferred from place to place rather then being created less emissions it is 50-70% more efficient to heat a house using geothermal70% less emission then conventional electric heating. Disadvantage - it can release dissolved gasses like carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfate It runs out!as plate tectonics occurs the sources move, is restricted to regions. Gases are released during the process. Ocean Tides, Waves and Currents Advantage - Wave energy is clean, nonpolluting and environmentally friendly. Arrival time at the wave power facility may be more predictable andreliablethanwind.Unlimited source of free energy. Produces electricity. Does not require fuel to run. Does not produce greenhouse gases. Disadvantage - Renewable energy from the ocean has had little attention and research done on compared to other forms of renewable energy. Waves could vary in sizes and may not always be able to generate electricity. Not many people have tried to generate electricity using this method yet because equipment and construction of facilitiesare expensive. There are very few ideal locations for construction of facility and are too localized to coastal regions only. Hydrogen and algae Advantage - There is an abundant supply. Virtually clean and non toxic.When used it may produce less greenhouse, gases (non pollutant). The only p waste produced from its use is water and heat.Gas trucks are just as dangerous as hydrogen that is kept at the right pressure.When used properly its efficiency is at 90%.With the right technology hydrogen can become an option for powering automobiles Disadvantage - It would be expensive to begin production because our facilities are for fossil fuels. As a result we lack the necessities to produce, store, transport and sale hydrogen. If hydrogen were to leak it would destroy the stratospheric Ozone and strengthen the greenhouse gas, methane. This substance is flammable and explosive.