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31 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Hydropower
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Tides, waves, and temperature differences: dams or underwater turbines can be built in locations with large tidal fluctuations
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Liquid Biofuels
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Produced from plants and plant wastes, used for fuel for automobiles. includes ethanol, biodiesel, and methanol
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Positives about biofuels
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- growing large monocultures may not be sustainable, as they can degrade land, increase air and water pollution, and add greenhouse gases
- They decrease biodiversity as some South American countries are cutting down rainforests to grow biofuels - Competition for growing biofuels with growing plants for food |
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Ethanol
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- Comes from corn in the U.S.
- Gas can be up to 10% ethanol - Brazil uses residue from sugar cane - Switchgrass is promising because it has a higher net yield than the ethanol from corn and is easier to grow |
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Biodiesel
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- Made from combining alcohol with vegetable oil extracted from renewable resources (soybeans, rapeseed, sunflowers) and used vegetable oil from restaurants
- In the U.S., it is highly subsidized and made from soybean crops |
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Methanol
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Made mostly from natural gas
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Geothermal Energy
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- Stored in the Earth's mantle
- Used to heat and cool buildings and to produce electricity |
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Geothermal Heat Pump
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- Uses a piping system filled with water or antifreeze solution
- In the winter, the water is piped down into the Earth to get heat and distribute to the home - In the summer, heat from the house is piped down and distributed into the earth - No air pollutants and no CO2 emissions |
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Hydrothermal Reservoirs
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- Can contain dry or wet steam or hot water
- If close to the surface, wells can be drilled to extract the heat source - Heat homes or turn turbines for electricity production |
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A Sustainable Energy Strategy
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Making our lives more energy efficient will help to decrease reliance on energy sources (especially non-renewable)
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Nuclear Fusion and Solar Energy
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- Two light elements fused together to create heavier element while energy and neutron are released
- Only get energy from sun, not radioactive waste - Smallest wavelength of light is most dangerous - Sun sends down energy and about half is absorbed by land and ocean - Plenty of solar energy to provide for humans, but widely scattered (season, location, etc.) |
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Problems w/ Solar Energy
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- Not cost-effective
- Not concentrated constant energy |
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More Solar Energy Facts
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- Need to collect, convert, and store with low cost
- Solar space heating - Solar water heating - Photovoltaic cells - Landscaping and architecture - Concentrated solar power |
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Indirect Solar Energy
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- Hydropower (Turns water into steam: evaporation)
- Wind Power (Pressure changes from uneven global temperatures) - Biofuels - Hydrogen - Biomass Energy |
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Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
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The use of the large difference in temperature between different levels of the ocean to produce electricity
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Passive Solar Heating System
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Absorbs and stores heat from the sun directly within a structure without the need for pumps or fans to distribute the heat
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Photovoltaic Cells
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Can convert solar energy directly into electrical energy
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Plug-in Hybrids
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A hybrid automobile that has a second battery that can be plugged in and recharged when the vehicle is not in use. Could easily get 100 mpg
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Power Tower
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A type of solar thermal system, also known as a central receiver system, that uses computer-controlled mirrors called heliostats to track the sun and focus sunlight on central heat collection tower.
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Sewer Power
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Large heat pump systems extract heat from raw sewage to heat buildings and produce electricity
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Solar Cells
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Can be mounted on many different structures and convert sunlight into electricity
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Solar Cookers
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Can focus and concentrate sunlight to cook food (especially in rural villages in sunny areas)
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Solar Thermal Plant
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Sunlight collected and focused on oil-filled pipes running through large area of curved solar collectors. This concentrated sunlight can generate temperatures high enough to produce steam for running turbines and generating electricity.
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Solar Thermal Systems
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Collect and transform energy from the sun into high-temperature thermal energy, which can be used directly or converted into electricity
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Strawbale Houses
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Unconventional form of "superinsulating" homes with an agricultural waste
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Superefficient and Ultralight Cars
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Automobiles that can get 80-300 miles per gallon
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Superinsulated House
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A home so heavily insulated and airtight that heat from direct sunlight, appliances, and human bodies can warm the whole house with little or need for a backup heating system
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Switchgrass
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A possible alternative to corn for producing ethanol in that grows faster and requires less fertilizer
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Wet Steam
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A mixture of steam and water droplets found in a type of hydrothermal reservoir
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Wind
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The difference in solar heating of the Earth between the equator and the poles, together with the Earth's rotation, set up air flows called wind.
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Wind Farms
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Wind turbines located in clusters on land and at sea
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