Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- Compact fluorescent produce 4 times as much light as an incandescent bulb of the same wattage, and last up to ten times as long.
- LED's also are even more efficent cosuming 90% less energy and lasting hundreds of times as long as ordinary lightbulbs.
- Homes
- reducing air infiltration is usually the cheapest way to save energy
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- a measure of energy produced compared to the energy consumed
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- the simultaneous production of both electricity and steam or hot water in the same plant.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- US 1billion trips/ day
- 1973 - 13mpg
- 1988 - 25mpg
- 2006 - 22mpg
|
|
|
Term
| Hybrid gasoline - electric engines |
|
Definition
- offer the best fuel economy and lowest emissions of any currently available vehicles.
- during most city driving, they depend mainly on quiet, emission-free, battery-powered electric motors.
- a small gas engine kicks in to help accelerate or when the batteries need recharging.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- even greater savings
- recharging the batteries from ordinary household current at night can allow these vehicles to travel up to 64km(40mi) on the electric motor alone.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- simplest and oldest use of solar energy
- using natural materials or absorptive structures with no moving parts to simply gather and hold heat
- ex: stone, adobe dwelling
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- pump a heat-absorbing, fluid medium(air,water, or an antifreeze solution) through a relatively small collector, rather than passively collecting heat in a stationary medium like masonry. Active collectors can be located adjacent to or on top of buildings rather than being built into the structure. Because they are relatively small and structurally independent, active systems can be retrofitted to existing buildings
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- parabolic mirrors- focus light on tube -> generate heat
- Edison solar II power tower
- 2000mirrors follow the sun & focus energy far 5,000 hours
- land can not be used for other purposes
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- distributional surcharges - in which a small per kWh charge is levied on all utility customers to help renewable energy finance research and development
- renewables portfolio - standards to require power suppliers to obtain a minimum percentage of their energy from sustainable sources
- green pricing - allows utilities to profit from renewable sources.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- capture solar energy and convert it directly to electrical current by separating electrons from their parent atoms and accelerating them across a one-way electrostatic barrier formed by the junction between two different types of semiconductor material
|
|
|
Term
| Amorphous silicon collectors |
|
Definition
- Photovoltaic cells that collect solar energy and convert it to electricity using noncrystalline(randomly arranged) thin films of silicon.
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- devices that use ongoing electrochemical reactions to produce an electric current.
- all fuel cells consist of a positive electrobe(the cathode) and a negative electrobe(the anode) seperated by an electrolyte, a material that allows the passage of charged atoms, called ions, but is impermeable to electrons.
- the fuel cell provides direct-current electricity as long as it is supplied with hydrogen and oxygen
- on pure oxygen and hydrogen produces no waste products except drinkable water and radiant heat.
- when coupled w/ reformer some pollutants are released(most commonly carbon dioxide)
|
|
|
Term
| Several types of fuel cells |
|
Definition
- commercially available
- phosphuric acid in porous ceramic matrix platinum electrobe
- hundreds around the world for decades Japan - small town
- central park police station
|
|
|
Term
| PEM(Protron Exchange Membrane) |
|
Definition
- vehicles
- thin organic polymer
- platnium catalyst, light weight, low temp
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- problem w/ air pollution: ash, soot, CO2, hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
- colorado rockies: 80% of pollution on winter days are from wood burning stoves
- vail, aspen{banned wood burning stoves}
- in poor countries wood burning is 95% of all energy
- 2x109 people depend on wood & charged as fuel source
- daily struggle: 25% total income cooking fuel, walking to find wood
- Deforestation
- High efficent & clean wood burning stoves are expensive bricked-lined fire boxes "after chamber" -burns hydrocarbons
- inside stove pipes -> catalytic converters burn CO2 hydrocarbons
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| organic material produced by plants, animals, microorganisms that can be burned directly as a heat source or converted into a gaseous or liquid fuel. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| crops that can be used to make ethanol or diesel fuel |
|
|
Term
| low imput high diversity biofuels |
|
Definition
| mixed polycultures of perennial native species that dont required minimal amounts of cultivation, fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides when grown as energy crops |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| small scale hydro technology that can extract energy from small headwater dams; causes much less ecological damage |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ordinary river flow not accelerated by dams, flumes, etc. Small modern, high-efficiency turbines can generate useful power with run-of-the-river flow or with a current of only a few kilometers per hour |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Small power generators that can be used in low-level rivers to provide economical power for four to six homes, freeing them from dependence on large utilities on foreign energy supplies |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- expressed in the form of hot springs, geysersm and fumaroles.
- pumping water through buried pipes can extract enough heat so that a heat pump will operate more efficiently. Similary, the relatively uniform temperature of the ground can be used to augment air conditioning in the summer. This can cut home heating costs by half in many areas, and pay for itself in five years
|
|
|
