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123 Cards in this Set
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- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
Tiered rate system |
Billing systems used by electric companies where customers pay higher rates as usage increases |
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What are 3 examples of sustainable design? |
Passive solar, Green roof, thermal mass |
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What is a passive solar design? |
Construction designed to take advantage of solar radiation w/out use of solar panels |
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What is thermal mass? |
Property of building materials that allows to maintain cold/heat |
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What is green roof? |
Cool and shade, improves air quality |
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What are the 2 types of renewable energy? |
Potentially renewable/ non-depletable |
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What is potentially renewable energy? |
Energy source that can be regenerated indefinitely as it is not overharvested |
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What is a non-depletable energy source? |
An energy source that cannot be used up |
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What % of global energy use do renewable resources make up? |
13% worldwide |
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How much of energy use in the US consists of renewable resources? |
7% |
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What does biomass energy include? |
Wood/charcoal, animal products/manure, plant remains, municipal solid waste, and biofuels like ethanol |
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What is modern carbon (in relation to biomass)? |
Carbon in biomass that was recently released into atmosphere |
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What is fossil carbon? |
Carbon in fossil fuels (lasts in atmosphere for millions of years) |
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Does burning modern carbon result in a net increase in CO2? |
No, because it has just recently been released into the atmosphere |
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What is carbon neutral? |
An activity that does not change the atmospheric CO2 concentrations |
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How many people rely on firewood as a source of fuel worldwide? |
2-3 Billion |
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Net removal |
Removing more than is replaced by growth - leading to CO2 increase |
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What happens when you burn animal manure? |
Burning releases particulates and pollutants |
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T/F Charcoal production sometimes strips land of all trees. |
True |
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Who is the world leader in ethanol production? |
US |
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T/F Ethonal is NOT usually mixed with gasoline. |
False, it is often. It is known as (gasohol 10% ethanol) |
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E85 |
Produced from Midwest corn 85% |
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Flex fuel vehicle |
Runs on gasoline E-85 |
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What are the two disadvantages of ethanol biofuels? |
1) less efficient than gasoline (lower mpg) 2) growing corn to produce ethanol uses a lot of fossil fuels |
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What is biodiesel? |
Direct substitute for petroleum based diesel fuel (20% biodiesel) |
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What does most biodiesel come from? |
Soybean oil or processed vegetable oil |
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T/F Any diesel vehicle can be modified to run on 100% straight vegetable oil (SVO) |
True |
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T/F Algae has no potential in the biodiesel field of fuel. |
False |
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What is the environmental carbon effects of biodiesel? |
Contains modern carbon (might have carbon transfer through soil in land requirements) |
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What is hydroelectricity? |
Generated by the kinetic energy of moving water |
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What is the 2nd most commonly used form of renewable energy? |
Hydroelectricity |
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What % of electric power comes from hydroelectricity in the US? |
7% |
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What % of electricity worldwide comes from hydroelectricity? |
20% |
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How is hydroelectricity generated(run of river systems)? |
Water is held behind a low dam and runs through a channel before returning to the river |
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How much can 8 bushels of corn give you? (biofuels) |
Feed a person for a year or 21.6 gallons of ethanol fuel |
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What are advantages of hydroelectricity centered around generation w/out a reservoir and just looking at the natural flow of a river? |
1) little flooding upstream 2) seasonal flow is protected |
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What are disadvantages of hydroelectricity centered around generation w/out a reservoir and just looking at the natural flow of a river?
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1) slow 2) unreliable flow during times of low river flow |
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What are water impoundment systems? |
storing water in a reservoir behind a dam this is most common and on the rise |
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What is the largest dam in the US? |
The Grand Coulee Dam in WA |
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What is the largest dam in the world? |
The 3 Gorges Dam in China |
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What is the tidal systems for of electric generation? |
Electricity driven by the movement of water caused by thegravitational pull of the moon |
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T/F Tidal systems could become a major energy source. |
False, because it requires significant water level difference btwn low & high tide |
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What are advantages of hydroelectricity? |
1) Minimal amount of fossil fuel torun 2) No air pollution, CO2, wasteduring energy production 3) Less expensive for consumer 4) Reservoir provides recreation,economic opportunities, floodcontrol |
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What are disadvantages of hydroelectricity? |
1) $$$ to build 2) Flooding to create reservoir 3) Relocation/displacement 4) Alter species diversity 5) Impact fish migration 6) Construction of dam releasesgreenhouses gases 7) Anaerobic decomposition offlooded organic materialreleases methane 8) Accumulation of sediment |
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What is active solar energy? |
capture energy from the sun using tech |
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What is solar water heating? |
capture energy from the sun asheat Heating water in homes/businesses, swimming pools |
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What are photovoltaic systems? |
Capture energy from the sun as light not heat and directlyconverts to electricity (ex. solar panels) |
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What is CST? |
Concentrating Solar Thermal Electricity Generation or Large scale application of solar energy |
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What is a disadvantage of CST? |
Disadvantage: large amount of land, no electricity generated atnight. |
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What are advantages of active solar energy? |
1) No CO2 production or airpollution produced 2) Produce electricity at peak need(hot/sunny days), reduces needto build more fossil fuel plantsto meet demand 3) More economic for homes thatare not close to a grid 4) Tax breaks/rebates make it moreaffordable |
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What are disadvantages of active solar energy? |
1) $$ to manufacture and install 2) Manufacturing photovoltaic cellsrequires a lot of energy & water 3) Manufacturing photovoltaic cellsrequires toxic metals andindustrial chemicals 4) Some systems use batteries forstorage- disposal/recycling? 5) End of lifereclamation/recycling is apossible source onenvironmental contamination |
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What is wind energy? |
energy generated from the kineticenergy of moving air
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What is the fastest growing major source of electricity in theworld? |
wind energy |
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What % of US electricity comes from wind? |
6 |
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Fastest growing source of electricity in the US? |
wind |
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What is 26% of electricity in Denmark generated from? |
Wind |
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What are wind turbines? |
convert kinetic energy of moving airinto electricity |
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What are advantages of wind energy? |
1) Nondepletable resource 2) Clean 3) No fossil fuels required afterturbines are built 4) No pollution of greenhouse gases 5) Land can be shared whileproducing electricity (ex. cattle) |
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What are disadvantages of wind energy? |
1) Relies on batteries to storeelectricity, $$ and hard todispose of/recycle 2) Bird/bat death from collisionwith blades 3) Possible habitat fragmentation 4) Noise pollution 5) Aesthetic concern
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What is geothermal energy? |
Heat energy that comes from the radioactive decay ofelements within the Earth |
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What are the largest geothermal energy producers? |
US, China, Iceland |
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What are ground source heat pumps? |
transferheat from the ground to a building |
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What are advantages of geothermal energy? |
1) non-depletable 2) after initial investment no cost to harvest 3) can be installed anywhere (ground source heat pump) |
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What are disadvantages of geothermal energy? |
1) emits hazardous gases and steam 2) geographically limited |
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What is true about energy use country by country? |
Every country uses energy at different rates and uses different sourcesdepending on availability, affordability and environmental impact |
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T/F Fossil fuels supply most of the world's energy. |
True |
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What are the fastest growing energy sources by projection? |
nuclear and renewable |
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T/F 20% of world pop uses 70% of the energy
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True |
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What is the world use of energy? |
World = 75 GJ per person per year |
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What is the US use of energy per person compared to the world? |
5X more |
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What are the top 3 sources of energy in the US? |
1) Oil 2) Nat Gas 3) Coal |
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What are the top used energy sources based on location in the US? |
MW and S = coal W & NE = nuclear, nat gas, hydro |
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What is energy efficiency? |
The efficiency of the process we use to obtain the fuel and the efficiency ofthe process that converts it into work that is needed |
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What is the 2nd law of thermodynamics? |
when energy is transformed some energy is lost |
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T/F Not every energy source requires an expenditure of energy to be used |
False |
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What is EROEI? |
(EnergyReturnOnEnergy Investment) : the amount of energy we get out of anenergy source, ERoEI= energy gathered/energy invested |
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T/F A smaller EROEI is more efficient energy use. |
False |
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How energy use in the US is for electricity? |
about 40% |
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What are the the steps of the electric generation process? |
1) Fuel is delivered to a boiler and burned 2) Heats water to steam 3) Steam turns the blades of a turbine 4) Turbine turns a generator 5) Generator generates electricity 6) Electricity is transported along the electrical grid |
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What is a coal-fired plant? |
Energy from coal combustion converts water intosteam, which turns a turbine. The turbine turns a generator, whichproduces electricity. |
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What is capacity (when talking about electric plants)? |
max electrical output |
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What is capacity factor (electric plants)? |
The fraction of time a plant is operating in a year |
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What is cogeneration? |
Combined Heat and Power: The use of a fuel to generate heatand electricity |
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What is coal? |
Formed from the remains of organic material that was preserved 280-360 mya |
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What is the most commonly used source of electric power in the US? |
coal |
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What is the precursor to usable coal? |
peat |
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What are the 3 types of coal? |
1) lignite (brown coal): low heat content, low sulfur, limited supply 2) Bituminous (soft coal): high heat, high sulfur, high supply and most commonly used 3) Anthracite (hard coal) high heat, low sulfur, low supply |
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Where are the largest coal reserves? |
US, Russia, China, India |
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Who produces the most coal? |
China, US, India, Australia |
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What are advantages of coal? |
1) Energy dense 2) Plentiful 3) Usually easy to access• Inexpensive to mine 4) Not much refining needed 5) Many ways to transport |
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What are disadvantages of coal? |
1) Env. consequence of tailings 2) Subsurface mining requiresmore technology & isdangerous 3) Burning of impurities lead to airpollution 4) Chemical compounds neededto wash coal can leak 5) Coal ash 6) C02 pollution from combustion |
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What is petroleum? |
Crude Oil is a mixture ofhydrocarbons along withimpurities like sulfur andnitrogen, Formed from remains ofphytoplankton (microscopicalgae) that died 50-150 mya |
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What is crude oil? |
petroleum that is removed from the ground |
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What are some examples of compounds petroleum can be refined into? |
Tar, Asphalt, Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene |
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What are advantages of Petroleum? |
1) Easy and convenient totransport 2) Energy dense 3) Cleaner burning than coal 4) Releases 85% as much CO2as coal when burned |
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What are disadvantages of petroleum? |
1) Contains toxic metals that arereleased when burned 2) Potential for leak from well orspill during transport 3) Exxon, Deepwater Horizon 4) Habitat destruction (ANWR) 5) Human health? |
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What is natural gas? |
Exists as a component of petroleumand in separate gaseous deposits, 80-95% methane (CH4), Mainly used for electricity generationand industrial processes |
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What is LPG? |
liquified petroleum gas (Able to be transported by train/truck andstored & used in place of natural gas) |
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What are advantages of natural gas? |
1) Contains fewer impurities thancoal and oil 2) Emits almost no sulfur dioxideduring combustion 3) Emits less CO2 than coal 4) Easy to transport (pipeline) orLPG |
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What are disadvantages of natural gas? |
3) Unburned natural gas (methane)that escapes into the atmosphereis a potent greenhouse gas (25xmore so than CO2 2) Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) |
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What is hydraulic fracking? |
a process that involvesblasting high-pressure jets of water intounderground oil and gas deposits so wecan flush out more of Earth’s resourceslocated in hard to reach places. |
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What do meltdowns at nuclear power plants do? |
prevent overheating |
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What is the biggest fuel source for nuclear energy? |
Uranium 235 |
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What is nuclear fission? |
a nuclear reaction where a neutron hits anucleus which then splits that atom, releasing moreneutrons and energy (heat)→ chain reaction |
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How much of US electricity comes from nuclear? |
20% |
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What are fuel rods? |
A containment structure encloses the fuel, which iscontained in fuel rods, and the steam generator (uranium converted into pellets and put inside fuel rods) |
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What are control rods? |
device used to slow/stop the fission reaction, used during meltdown and maintence |
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What are advantages of nuclear energy? |
1) No air pollution (“clean energy”) 2) Independence from foreign oil |
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What are disadvantages of nuclear energy? |
1) Construction of plants is $$ 2) Public concerns 3) Radioactive waste disposal 4) Nuclear accidents 5) Nuclear weapons? |
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What are the 3 types of radioactive waste? |
1) High level = used fuel rods 2) Low level = contaminated clothing, tools, etc. 3) Mine tailings |
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What is a commercial energy source? |
an energy source that is bought & sold |
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What is a subsistence energy source? |
an energy source gathered by individuals for their own immediate needs |
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What is bitumen? |
A degraded petroleum that forms when petroleum migrates to the surface of Earth and is modified by bacteria. |
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What is CTL (coal to liquid)? |
the process of converting coal into liquid fuel |
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What is energy intensity? |
energy use per unit of GDP |
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What is the Hubbert curve? |
A bell-shaped curve representing oil use and projecting both when world oil production will reach a maximum and when the world will run out of oil. |
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What is Bq? |
Unit that measures the rate at which a sample of radioactive material decays; 1 Bq = decay of 1 atom or nucleus per second. |
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What is peak oil? |
The point at which half the total known oil supply is used up. |
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What is a Curie? |
A unit of measure for radiation; 1 curie = 37 billion decays per second |
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What is nuclear fusion? |
A reaction that occurs when lighter nuclei are forced together to produce heavier nuclei. |
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What is water impoundment? |
The storage of water in a reservoir behind a dam. |
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What is electrolysis? |
The application of an electric current to water molecules to split them into hydrogen and oxygen. |
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What is Smart grid? |
An efficient, self-regulating electricity distribution network that accepts any source of electricity and distributes it automatically to end users. |
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