Botkin & Keller: Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet- 8th Ed.

Guided Reading: Chapter 16: Alternative Energy and The Environment

Name: _______________________________________________________
Read: Using Wind Power in New Ways for an Old Application
1: How was the voyage of the Beluga SkySails different than traditional industrial ship voyages?
the beluga skysails didnt fixed masts
Introduction to Alternative Energy Sources
2: Fossil fuels supply approximately __90___% of the energy consumed by people
3: What are the two types of non-renewable alternative energy sources? Why are they
considered to be non-renewable?
nuclear and geothermal, because once you boil the water you wont get it back and nuclear
cant be reused
4: What is low-density, near-surface geothermal energy?
renewable energy
5: What are biofuels made from?
Biomass
6: What is the definition of renewable energy? Solar Energy
energy that can be used over and over again
7: How much solar energy is equal to the energy stored in a all known reserves of coal, oil and
natural gas on Earth?
the amount of energy you get in 10 weeks is equal
8: What are passive solar energy systems? Give an example.
systems that dont use mechanical pumps to move water it moves by itself
9: What are active solar energy systems? Give an example.
It needs mechanical pumps ti circulate the water
10: What are solar collectors? What are they used for? How do they work?
They collect the suns heat they are used to heat any type of fluid
11: What are photovoltaics? What are they made out of? Explain how they work.
they are solar cells made out of silicon and they create electrons when they are hit by the sun
12: What are solar thermal generators? How do they work?
They heat up water or other fluid containers and they create steam turning a turbine
13: What are some of the environmental concerns of solar energy?
we have to mine to get the silicon and if there isnt enough sun the energy wont work
14: What are fuel cells? How are they created?
It is fuel and oxygen together, they are created electrodes
Water Power
15: Water power has been around since when?
Roman Empire
16: How much power in the United States is currently powered by hydroelectricity?
80,000 mw
17: What is microhydropower? Where is this helpful?
small hydrogen systems it is helpful in homes
18: What are the environmental benefits of hydroelectricity?
electricity can be cheaper
19: What are the environmental consequences of hydroelectricity?
waste of water and can destroy habitats with dams
Ocean Energy
20: Explain how we can harness tidal power.
building dams
21: What are some of the environmental impacts of tidal power?
can affect the wildlife in the area
Wind Power
22: What is the major problem with using wind power?
the wind changes all the time and that affects wind power
23: How are winds produced?
they are created with the water currents
24: How does topography influence winds? Explain.
it affects the winds direction mountains will slow it down
25: Which regions in the United States have the greatest potential for wind power
development?
The northeastern of the unites states
26: Which country has the largest wind energy capacity installed?
The U.S
27: Modern wind turbines are big- as much as __70__ m high, as tall as a _23__ story
building, and have a generating capacity of more than 1 million_ watts. This is enough
electricity for _500___ modern U.S. homes.
28: What are the disadvantages to wind power for the environment?
the wind turbines can kill birds
29: What is the future outlook for wind energy generation?
it can supply more energy than it does now
Biofuels
30: What are the 3 categories of biofuels?
firewood, crops, and organic waste
31: How many people worldwide still use wood as their primary source for energy?
1 billion
32: What are some of the benefits of using biofuels?
it has low emissions
33: What are the environmental concerns with the using of biofuels?
needs fertilizers and pesticides
Geothermal Energy
34: What are the two types of geothermal energy and how do they differ?
deep earth and shallow earth deep earth uses earths energy and shallow earth uses solar
energy
35: How many people worldwide depend on geothermal as their energy source?
40 million
36: What type of location is ideal for high-density geothermal energy? Give an example.
an area with hot water transfers like geysers
37: Where is low-density geothermal energy mostly found? Why?
groundwater because its cold
38: What are the PROS and CONS of using geothermal energy?
Pro-renewable and doesnt pollute a lot
Con-thermal pollution
39: What types of government incentives might encourage use of alternative energy sources?
Would their widespread use affect our economic and social environment?
making things cheaper and having more of them around so that people could see how
effective they are
Chapter #17- Nuclear Energy and the Environment
1: How much of the worlds electricity do nuclear power plant provide?
17%
2: In the United States, nuclear power plants produce about _20__% of the countrys
electricity and about __8__% of the total energy used.
3: The nuclear power plants in France provide __80_% of the countrys total energy.
What is Nuclear Energy?
4: What is nuclear energy?
energy that is created when you cool uranium making steam and then the steam turns a
turbine
5: What is the difference between fission and fusion?
fissions splits and fusion combines
6: Nuclear reactors use _fission (fusion or fission?) and which product as a source of
radioactivity? ____Uranium_____
7: Which type of Uranium is used for nuclear power plants?
uranium- 235
8: What does it mean that the Uranium is enriched?
it is high in concentration
9: What is a nuclear meltdown?
a accident in a nuclear power plant
10: Reactors that use ordinary water as the coolant are called: ___moderators___
11: Draw and label a diagram below to explain the nuclear power plant set-up:

A Closer Look: Radioactive Decay
12: What is a radioisotope?
chemical element that goes through
radioactive decay
13: What is radioactive decay?
when an isotope change to a different one
14: What is a half-life? What is the half-life of Uranium 235?
the time it takes for half of it to decay, Uranium is 700 million years
15: Define the following types of nuclear radiation: (Explain the safety measures needed when
using each) * Alpha Particle: two protons and neutrons best to stay away from it
* Beta Particle: electrons that travel can be blocked with metal
* Gamma Rays: radiation, thick shielding
16: Uranium goes through a radioactive decay chain to finally become which element?
lead-206
Nuclear Energy and the Environment
17: What are the major problems associated with the nuclear fuel cycle?
its radioactive and it harms anybody that goes near it
Nuclear Radiation in the Environment, and its Effects on Human Health
18: How does nuclear radiation effect ecosystems? Explain and give an example.
it can affect a food chain by harming one animal and that can harm the rest of the animals
19: Radiation is found naturally in what kind of materials? Give 2 examples.
rock and soil granite and shale
20: Where in the United States are background radiation levels higher?
Florida
21: In what ways are people exposed to radiation in their every day lives?
x-rays and probably drinking water
A Closer Look: Radiation Units and Doses
22: What is the commonly used unit for radioactive decay? Who is it named after?
curie after marie curie
23: What is the SI unit for radioactive decay?
becquerel
24: When dealing with the environmental effects of radiation, we are most interested in the
actual dose of radiation delivered by radioactivity. This dose is commonly measured in
terms of _rads__ and _rems__. In the international system (SI), the units are _sieverts__
and ___grays__.
25: For gamma rays, the unit commonly used is the ____roentgen____ or in SI units,
___coulombs___
26: What is the LD50 dose of radiation in humans?
5 sieverts
27: What happened to the women who worked in the watch factories in the early 1900s?
they died of bone cancer
28: What are the health effects for workers in uranium mines?
lung cancer
Nuclear Power Plant Accidents
29: What is the current risk of a nuclear meltdown in the U.S. according to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission?
1 in 10 thousand
Three-Mile Island
30: When did the event on Three-Mile Island occur?
march 28, 1979
31: Where is Three-Mile Island located?
Pennsylvania
32: What were some of the societal issues associated with the incident at Three-Mile Island?
people were scared of another meltdown
Chernobyl
33: Summarize the events at Chernobyl, Soviet Union
the cooling system failed releasing toxic particles causing deaths in the area
34: How many people died and how many people were diagnosed with acute radiation
sickness?
31 dead, 237 were sick
35: How many people were exposed to radiation in the days following the accident?
3 million
36: What was the most common type of illness that resulted from the Japanese A-bomb
survivors?
leukemia
37: What was the most common type of illness that resulted from the Chernobyl accident?
thyroid cancer
38: What happened to the ecosystem around the affected area following the meltdown?
the vegetation and wildlife around there died
Radioactive-Waste Management
39: What is low-level radioactive waste? Where it is stored?
radioactive waste that is at a very low level that it doesnt affect the environment, stored
underground
40: What is transuranic waste? How is it created?
waste that is contaminated created by industrial waste
41: What is high-level radioactive waste? Where is it stored?
waste that is highly contaminated in stored almost in every state
42: What and where is Yucca Mountain? What was the plan with it?
It is a storage facility for nuclear waste located in Nevada its plan was to store it with nuclear
waste
43: What are the safety hazards associated with using Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste?
changes in the environment and volcanic activity
The Future of Nuclear Energy
44: How much Uranium stores do we have left?
104
45: What are the PROS and CONS of using Nuclear Power?
Pro- great fuel source, not a lot of emissions
Con- if it spills it can be very dangerous, takes a long time to decay

46: What are breeder reactors?
reactors to make new nuclear fuel