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Definition
| a decrease in energy used based primarily on reducing unnecessary waste of energy |
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| the measure of how much work we can get from each unit of energy we use |
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| 4 widely used devices that waste large amounts of energy unnecessarily |
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Definition
- incandescent lightbulb
- a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine
- a nuclear power plant
- a coal-fired power plant |
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Term
| cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP) |
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Definition
| 2 forms of energy (like steam and electricity) are produced from the same fuel source. ex: the steam used could heat the plant or other nearby buildings |
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Term
| How we can save energy and money |
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Definition
| using cogeneration, or CHP systems; replace energy-wasting electric motors; recycle materials; switch from low-efficiency incandescent lighting to higher-efficiency fluorescent and LED lighting. |
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Term
| passive solar heating system |
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Definition
| absorbs and stores heat from the sun directly within a well-insulated structure without the need for pumps of fans to distribute the heat |
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Term
| active solar heating system |
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Definition
| absorbs energy from the sun by pumping a heat-absorbing fluid (like water or antifreeze solution) through special collectors usually mounted on a roof or on special racks to face the sun. some of the collected heatcan be used directly. The rest can be stored in a large insulated container filled with gravel, water, clay, or a heat-absorbing chemical for release as neded. |
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| Photovoltaic (PV) cells or solar cells |
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Definition
| convert solar energy into electrical energy. most solar cells are thin wafers of purified silicon with trace amounts of metals that allow them to function as semiconductors to produce electricity. a typical solar cell has a thickness ranging from less than that of a human hair to a sheel of paper. when sinlight strikes these transparent cellls, they emit elections, and many cells wired together in a panel can produce electrical power. |
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Definition
| heat stored in soil, underground rocks, and fluids in the earth's matle. we can tap into this stored energy to heat and cool buildings and to produce electricy. |
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Term
| super efficient and ultralight cars |
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Definition
| cars that could eventually get 34-128 kpl; or 80-300 mgp |
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Term
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Definition
| energy efficient, gasoline-electric. invented by Feridand Porsche in 1900. it has a small traditional gasoline-powered motor and an electric motor used to provide the energy needed for acceleration and hill climbing. |
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| plug-in hybrid electric vehicle |
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Definition
| a hybrid with a second and more powerful battery that can be plugged into a standard outlet and recharded. |
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| energy-efficient diesel car |
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Definition
| accounts for 45% of new passenger car sales in Europe |
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Definition
| are at least twice as efficient as internal combustion engines, have no mobing parts, require little maintenance, and use hydrogen gas as fuel to produce electricity without emitting CO2 and other air pollutants. |
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Definition
| based on energy-efficient and money-saving designs, makes use of natural lighting, passive solar heating, geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling, cogeneration, solar hot water heaters, solar cells, fuel cells, natural ventilation, recycled building materials, energy-efficient appliances and lighting, cycled waste water, waterless urinals, conposting toilets, and nontoxic paints, blues, and building materials. |
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Term
| Ways to retrofit buildings to save energy |
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Definition
| insulate and plug leaks, use energy-efficient windows, stop other heating and cooling losses, heat houses more efficiently, heat water more efficiently, use energy-efficient appliances, use energy-efficient lighting |
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Definition
| some people might start using more energy if they save money by improving energy efficieny. |
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Definition
| concentrate and transform energy from the sun into high-temperature thermal energy, which can then be used directly or to heat water and produce steam to generate electricity. |
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Definition
| huge arrays of computer controlled mirrors that track the sun and focus sunlight on this central heat collection tower |
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Definition
| Water flowing from higher to lower elevations in rivers and can be controlled by dams and reservoirs and used to produce electricity. It is an indirect form of solar energy because it is based on the evaporation of water, which is deposited at higher elevations where it can to lower elevations in Rivers as part of the earth's solar powered water cycle. |
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Term
| Micro-hydropower generators |
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Definition
| May become an increasingly important way to produce electricity. It uses the power of flowing water water to turn a rotor with blades that feed up and he's got have generators to produce electric current. |
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Definition
| biomass consists of plant materials and animals wastes that can be burned directly as a solid fuel or converted into gaseous or liquid biofuels. |
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Term
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Definition
| consists of plant materials and animals wastes that can be burned directly as a solid fuel or converted into gaseous or liquid biofuels. It is an indirect form of solar energy because it consists of combustible organic compounds prudced by photosynthesis. is burned mostly for heating and cooking, but also for industrial processes and for generating electricity |
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Definition
| supply nearly hald of the heat for residential and commercial buildings in Sweden. |
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Definition
| is prodiced from vegetable oil extracted from soybeans, rapeseeds, sunflowers, oilpalms, and jatropha shrubs, and fats such as used vegetable oils from restaurants |
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Term
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Definition
| can be made through the fermentation and distillation of sugars in plants such as sugarcane, corn, and switchgrass, and from agricultural, forestry, and municipal wastes. This process involves converting starch in plant material to simple sugars that are fermented by yeast into a slurry that is distilled to remove its ethanol. |
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Term
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Definition
| gasoline miixed with 10-23% pure ethanol, which can be burned in conventional gasoline engines. |
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Definition
| a residue produced when sugarcane is crushed |
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Term
| geothermal heat pump system |
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Definition
| can heat and cool a house by ecploiting the temperature differences between the earth's surface and underground, almost anywhere in the world at a depth of 3-6 meters. in winter, a closed loop of buried pipes circulates a fluid, which extracts heat from the grounf and carries it to a heat pump, which transfers the heat to a home's heat distribution system. in the summer, the system works in revers, removing heat from a home's interior and storing it in the ground. |
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Term
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Definition
| wells are drilled into these reservoirs to extract their dry steam, wet steam, or hot water, which are used to heat buildings, provide awuaclture ponds, and spin turbines to produce electricity. cool water left over can be pumped back into the reservoirs to be reheated. |
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Term
| supply-side of hard-path approach |
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Definition
| fossil fuel and nuclear power interests generally favor this. it is built around scouring a country tp find more nonrenewable oil, natural gas, and coal, and building more energy-wasting coal-burning and nuclear power plants. |
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Term
| demand-side or soft-path approach |
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Definition
| many environmental scientists and economists favor this. this emphasizes reducing energy waste and depending more on a mix of renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. proponents see this energy path as more sustainable than relying on nonrenewable fossil energy and nuclear energy resources |
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