Term
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Definition
| miners sift through material in modern or ancient riverbed deposits. using running water to separate minerals of value.
washes large amounts of debris into streams making in uninhabitable for for fish and other life for miles downstream. erosion in riparian zone |
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Term
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Definition
whole mountain top is blasted off while waste is dumped into valleys.
degrades or destroys immense areas of habitat and pollutants or clogs streams and rivers. erosion intensifies, causing more mudslides |
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Term
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Definition
vacume up sand and gravel with hydraulic dredges
really hard to do so doesnt have much impact but would destroy benthic region |
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Term
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Definition
| not very effective because of acid drainage and soil erosion are severe and long lasting and do not regain natural biotic communities. |
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Term
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Definition
| encourages prospecting for minerals on federal land minerals extracted require no payment to the public |
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Term
| process ore to get metals out |
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Definition
make steel by adding carbon to iron by smelting
most methods are water and engery intensive, emit air pollution soil and water can be polluted by the leftover ore which may have heavy metals and chemicals present |
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Term
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Definition
highly combustible substances formed from the remains of or organisms from past geological ages
oil coal and natural gas |
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Term
| fossil fuels are produced |
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Definition
| only in anaerobic conditions with little or no oxygen environments such as bottoms of lakes swamps and shallow streams. |
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Term
| coal:hard blackish substance from organic matter that teh was compressed under high pressure most fossil fuel from 300-400 million years ago when the world was mostly swamps |
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Definition
peat:organic material that is near the surface still and wet.
mined:strip mining and subsurface mining
provides:over half electricity for us and china |
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Term
Natural Gas
biogenic gas:created at shallow depths by bacteria
thermogennic:from compression and heat deep in the earth |
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Definition
cleaner then coal, mostly thermo is what we use, found along with oil and coal deposits.
gets harder over time, mostly used up easy fields now frackign is how its done |
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Term
| crude oil: drill to extract it |
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Definition
40 more years
peak oil and then the decline |
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Term
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Definition
has 1-20% oil
strip mined |
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Term
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Definition
sedimentary rock w kerogen strip mined and subsurface mined.
40% global reserves is in US |
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Term
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Definition
| seafloor sediment icelike solids that has methane imbeded in water molecules |
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Term
| impacts of fossil fuel use |
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Definition
pollute air and drive climate change
contaminate groundwater and alters environments
dependance on foreign oil |
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Term
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Definition
| energy that holds together protons and neutrons with the nucleus of and atom. |
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Term
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Definition
reaction that drives the realease of nuclear energy by splitting apart of atomic nuclei
was we harness nuclear energy and turn it into thermal energy which we use to produce electricity |
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Term
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Definition
no greenhouse gases
less air pollution then fossil fuels
less ecosystem disturbance from mining
less accidnets from mining |
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Term
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Definition
radioactive emissions and waste
meltdowns are catisrophic |
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Term
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Definition
Saudi Arabia
Russia
US
iran
China |
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Term
| natural gas producers and consumers |
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Definition
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Term
| coal producers adn consumers |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
powerplants:Valmy, Tracy and fort churchill produce 43% of NV energy
rest is imported |
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Term
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Definition
converting biomass to biomass energy
examples are wood from tree cow poop
Two liquid kinds
ethanal:for gas engines
Biodiesal:deisal engines
cofireing:add biomass to coal burnign plants |
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Term
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Definition
use of kinetic energy of movign water to turn turbines and generate electricity
dams: resevoir water stored and turns turnbines |
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Term
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Definition
passive: capture of sunlight to heat something
active:technological devices focus move or store solar energy
photovoltaic:electrons move from phosphorus side of silcon plate to boron side. creatign an electric current
good because it is renewable
bad because not everywhere is sunny and its expensive to startup |
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Term
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Definition
wind turbines harness wind kenitic energy
pros:renewable no emissions local low cost
cons:wind varies, far from pops means power lines, ugly, blades chop up critters, high start up cost |
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Term
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Definition
readioactive decay of elements deep in earth core creates heat that rises toward the surface.
very localised. |
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Term
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Definition
kinetic engergy from motion of ocean water to generate electrical power.
thermal energy from warm ocean water |
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Term
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Definition
kinetic engergy from motion of ocean water to generate electrical power.
thermal energy from warm ocean water |
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