15.5
Study Guide for Test on Renewable Energy &Nuclear Energy (Chap. 16 &15.5)
- Know the metric prefixes kilo, mega, giga and tera.
- Review: Know the formula: power = energy/time (and energy = power x time).
- Be able to distinguish between energy conservation and energy efficiency. Know what percentage of energy in the US is unnecessarily wasted. Know ways to improve the energy efficiency of a home.
- Know how to determine the net energy efficiency of a system.
- Be able to define cogeneration (combined heat and power or CHP).
- Be able to explain the difference between passive solar heating and active solar heating. Be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of passive or active solar heating.Be able to name three ways to cool houses naturally.
- Be able to explain that there are two way to produce electricity from solar energy: photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar thermal.
- Be able to explain what a photovoltaic cell (solar cell or PV cell) does. Be able to explain the major advantages and disadvantages of producing electricity using solar cells.
- Be able to explain the basic process of concentrated solar thermal and know the major advantages and disadvantages.
- Be able to explain the basic process of producing electricity using hydropower. Be able to explain the major advantages and disadvantages of hydropower.
- Be able to explain the basic process of producing electricity from tidal energy or wave energy. Be able to explain the major advantages and disadvantages of tidal and wave energy.
- Be able to define wind turbine. Know the major advantages and disadvantages of using the wind to produce electricity. Know some areas in the US that have a high potential for wind energy.
- Be able to define geothermal energy.
- Be able to explain how a geothermal heat pump can be used to heat and cool a home. Know that this is possible in a wide range of areas due to the fact that the ground temperate at a depth of 10-20 feet is very consistent.
- Be able to explain how a geothermal reservoir can be used to produce electricity. Know the major advantages and disadvantages of geothermal energy. Know that Iceland gets the highest percentage of its power from geothermal energy. Know that the US and the Phillipines produce the greatest amount of geothermal energy. Know regions that have the greatest potential for electricity production from geothermal energy.
- Be able to explain the two main types of liquid biofuels are biodiesel and ethanol. Know that IF biofuels are not used faster than they can be replenished, there is no net increase in CO2 emissions.
- Be able to name some of the crops that can be converted to biodiesel. Know which countries produce the greatest percentage of biodiesel. Know that oil palm has a 5 times higher biodiesel yield than rapeseed or soybean, but that it grows primarily in tropical areas so that the clearing of tropical rainforests causes it to increase CO2 emissions and decrease biodiversity. Be able explain the major advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel.
- Be able to explain the three main sources of ethanol. Be able to name the major advantages and disadvantages of ethanol fuel including specific advantages and disadvantages of the various ethanol sources.
- Be able to define hydrogen fuel cell. Know that H2 fuel does not exist in nature and requires energy from some other source to produce. Know the major advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells.
- Understand the basics of America’s transmission grid system and the problems with an aging infrastructure and an increased demand for power.
- Be able to define isotope. Be able to explain that different ratios of protons to neutrons in the nucleus of an atom may be either stable or unstable (radioactive). Be able to define nuclear fission. Understand that energy is released in the process.
- Be able to define half-life. Be able to calculate the fraction of an isotope that will remain, given the half-life of the radioactive isotope. Be able to explain the shape of a graph of time versus percentage of a radioactive isotope remaining.
- Be able to define alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. For gamma rays, be able to explain where it falls on the electromagnetic spectrum (relative frequency, energy and wavelength). Be able to explain which type of ionizing radiation can be blocked by a sheet of paper, by a piece of wood and which can only be blocked by thick concrete or lead. Be able to define ionizing radiation. Be able to explain the effect of distance on radiation intensity (know basic relationship and shape of graph).
- Know the primary sources of radiation for human exposure and what the typical annual dose is for Americans. Know the shape of the graph for distance from source vs. radiation.
- Be able to define nuclear chain reaction. Be able to name the 2 main isotopes used for nuclear power. Be able to describe the basic process of producing electricity in a nuclear power plant. Know the key parts of a nuclear power plant
- Know about the major nuclear power plant accidents (Fukushima Dai-chi in Japan, Three Mile Island in the US and Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union) and issues of nuclear weapons production at Hanford.
- Know the Price-Anderson Act.—see attached sheet
- Know about current usage of nuclear power. Who gets the highest percentage of electricity from nuclear power? Who produces the largest amount of electricity from nuclear power? Who produces the most waste from nuclear power? What is the history of nuclear power production in the US?
- Be able to explain the difference between short-term and long-term radioactive nuclear waste and the issues with storage of each. Know what countries like France are doing to reprocess waste and the limitations and dangers of this approach.
- Be able to explain the issues surrounding the Yucca Mountain Repository, including the controversies behind the site selection, the advantages and disadvantages of having a large scale repository for most of the countries’ nuclear waste and considerations for site selection.
- Be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power.
- Be able to define nuclear fusion. Be able to explain where nuclear fusion occurs and possibilities for fusion as a future energy source.