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

Guided Reading: Chapter 16: Alternative Energy and The Environment

Name: _____________Chau Vu______________________________

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?
->
Use of traditional wind power to propel cargo vessels had been pretty much abandoned due to
expense and difficulty maintaining equipment as opposed to the general reliability of a diesel
engine. A modern cargo ship, the Beluga SkySails, has successfully integrated modern
machinery and a modified sail/kite to save money and environmental resources.

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?
-> Nonrenewable alternatives include nuclear and deep-earth geothermal

4: What is low-density, near-surface geothermal energy?

5: What are biofuels made from?
-> Biofuel is from the energy recovered from biomass. This can take a number of forms ranging
from direct combustion of biomass to fermentation of alcohol, which can be mixed with
gasoline. Biofuels can be vegetable oil, vegetation, waste, and even algae.

6: What is the definition of renewable energy?
-> The renewable alternatives are low quality energy in the sense that the energy is not
concentrated and neither easily portable nor economical compared with fossil fuels (for now),
but the total energy available from renewable sources is extremely large.

Solar Energy

7: How much solar energy is equal to the energy stored in a all known reserves of coal, oil and
natural gas on Earth?
-> 10 weeks of solar energy equivalent to all known fossil fuel reserves

8: What are passive solar energy systems? Give an example.
-> Promotes cooling in hot weather and retaining heat in cold weather.

9: What are active solar energy systems? Give an example.
-> Energy systems that require mechanical power

10: What are solar collectors? What are they used for? How do they work?
-> Provide space heating or hot water. Flat Plate Collector: Flat, glass covered plates over a
black background where absorbing fluid is circulated through tubes. Evacuated tube collector:
Each tube filled with absorbing fluid pass through a larger tube.

11: What are photovoltaics? What are they made out of? Explain how they work.
-> Converts sunlight directly into electricity. Made from thin layers of semiconductors and solid-
state electronic components with few or no moving parts. Worlds faster growing source of
energy.

12: What are solar thermal generators? How do they work?
-> Focus sunlight onto water-holding containers. Traditionally built using solar power towers.
Water boils and is used to run conventional steam-driven electrical generators. Built with very
large output.

13: What are some of the environmental concerns of solar energy?
-> Variety of metals, glass plastics, and fluids used in the manufacture and use of solar
equipment. Production and accidental spills could release toxic materials.

14: What are fuel cells? How are they created?
-> Hydrogen as power separates water into hydrogen and oxygen. When H recombined with O,
electrons flow between positive and negative poles. An electric current. H can be transported in
pipeline. Combustion product is water. Clean fuel.

Water Power

15: Water power has been around since when?
-> A form of stored solar energy. Long history. Waterwheels convert water power to mechanical
energy. Todays hydroelectric power plants. Use water stored behind dams. Also produced
through the process of pump storage.

16: How much power in the United States is currently powered by hydroelectricity?
-> Todays hydroelectric power plants. Use water stored behind dams. Also produced through
the process of pump storage.

17: What is microhydropower? Where is this helpful?
-> Hydro-electricity is fundamentally the combination of water flow and vertical drop
(commonly called head).

18: What are the environmental benefits of hydroelectricity?
-> Water power is clean and efficient power. No burning of fuel, no radioactive waste.

19: What are the environmental consequences of hydroelectricity?
-> Flood large tracts of land. Block fish migration. Trap sediment that would replenish beaches.
Evaporative loss of water from reservoirs.

Ocean Energy

20: Explain how we can harness tidal power.
->Tidal power can be harnessed in several ways. In areas of extreme tide range, such as the Bay
of Fundy, which has a 15 m tide, a dam constructed across the estuary would let water enter on
the incoming tide, then release the water through turbines at low tide. (

21: What are some of the environmental impacts of tidal power?
-> Changes hydrology of bay. Restricts passage of fish. Changes habitat for birds and other
organisms.

Wind Power

22: What is the major problem with using wind power?
-> Wind highly variable in time, place, and intensity. Wind velocity often increases over hill tops
or funneled through a mountain pass.

23: How are winds produced?
-> Wind produced when differential heating of Earths surface create air masses with differing
heat contents and densities.

24: How does topography influence winds? Explain.

25: Which regions in the United States have the greatest potential for wind power development?
-> California has about 17,000 windmills

26: Which country has the largest wind energy capacity installed?
-> California.1,400 MW

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?
-> Kills birds. Use large areas of land. May degrade areas scenic resources.

29: What is the future outlook for wind energy generation?
-> Growing at approximately 30% per year. Nearly 10 times the growth rate of oil use. Created
thousands of jobs and investment opportunities. Technology producing more efficient wind
turbines.

Biofuels

30: What are the 3 categories of biofuels?
-> Firewood, Organic waste, and Crops grown to be converted into liquid fuels.

31: How many people worldwide still use wood as their primary source for energy?
-> 1 billion peope

32: What are some of the benefits of using biofuels?
-> Biofuels can be vegetable oil, vegetation, waste, and even algae

33: What are the environmental concerns with the using of biofuels?
-> Biofuels produced from crops grown specifically for this purpose are being held responsible
for increasing food prices worldwide and have many environmental side effects such as
increased use of water and fertilizer. While burning natural biofuels may cut pollution, burning
waste may increase it.

Geothermal Energy

34: What are the two types of geothermal energy and how do they differ?
-> Deep earth high density.
Energy from interior of earth. Mined and used to heat buildings and generate electricity. May be
considered nonrenewable when rates of extraction are greater than rates of natural replenishment.
-> Shallow earth low density
Solar energy that has traveled to shallow depths.

35: How many people worldwide depend on geothermal as their energy source?
-> 40 million people

36: What type of location is ideal for high-density geothermal energy? Give an example.
-> Areas of high heat flow occur at plate boundaries.

37: Where is low-density geothermal energy mostly found? Why?
-> Shallow-earth, low-density geothermal energy originates in sunlight that then warms surface
materials (both solids and water), then transmit usable energy into the ground. This is valuable
for heating buildings and pools. Most groundwater can also be a source of heat regulation, for
both cooling and heating.

38: What are the PROS and CONS of using geothermal energy?
-> Wastewater from deep-earth, high-density sources is both corrosive and a cause of thermal
pollution. Land use and the destruction due to facility construction and exploration are further
concerns.

39: What types of government incentives might encourage use of alternative energy sources?
Would their widespread use affect our economic and social environment?
-> The potential for geothermal energy to contribute more than a minor contribution to world
energy use is slim, but the quantities available are very useful.
-> Geothermal: Could produce 10% of the electricity needed for the western US.
-> Geohydrothermal: Could potential provide four times that (1% of US total)


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 __78___% of the countrys total energy.

What is Nuclear Energy?

4: What is nuclear energy?
-> Energy contained in the atoms nucleus. There are two kinds of nuclear processes: nuclear
fission and nuclear fusion.

5: What is the difference between fission and fusion?
-> Fission is the splitting and fusion is the fusing of the nuclei of atoms. Both reactions release
an enormous amount of energy, but fusion reactors have not yet been made energy efficient.

6: Nuclear reactors use ___fission______ (fusion or fission?) and which product as a source of
radioactivity? ___Uranium oxide_______

7: Which type of Uranium is used for nuclear power plants?
-> 235 U

8: What does it mean that the Uranium is enriched?
-> Processing to increase concentration of U235

9: What is a nuclear meltdown?
-> A nuclear meltdown refers to a nuclear accident in which the coolant system fails.

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?
-> An isotope of a chemical element that spontaneously undergoes radioactive decay.

13: What is radioactive decay?
-> Radioactive decay is the spontaneous disintegration of unstable atomic nucleus, and as a result
leads to release of energy. It also leads to the emission of ionized particles, which are very
hazardous. Radioactive decay is a very random process, hence it cannot be predicted

14: What is a half-life? What is the half-life of Uranium 235?
-> The radioactive half-life for a given radioisotope is the time for half the radioactive nuclei in
any sample to undergo radioactive decay. After two half-lives, there will be one fourth the
original sample, after three half-lives one eight the original sample, and so forth.
-> Uranium-235 has a half-life of 703.8 million years


15: Define the following types of nuclear radiation: (Explain the safety measures needed when
using each)

* Alpha Particle: a helium nucleus emitted by some radioactive substances, originally regarded
as a ray.

* Beta Particle: a fast-moving electron emitted by radioactive decay of substances. (The emission
of beta particles was originally regarded as a ray.).

* Gamma Rays: penetrating electromagnetic radiation of a kind arising from the radioactive
decay of atomic nuclei.

16: Uranium goes through a radioactive decay chain to finally become which element?
-> goes through radioactive decay to become lead-206

Nuclear Energy and the Environment

17: What are the major problems associated with the nuclear fuel cycle?
-> The mining operation produces radioactive tailings and exposes workers to rather high doses
of radiation; waste is also produced by enrichment and assembly fabrication. Site selection of
power plants is extremely important, as in the chapter introduction regarding
Indian Point, NY. Nuclear power plants are vulnerable to catastrophic accidents.


Nuclear Radiation in the Environment, and its Effects on Human Health

18: How does nuclear radiation effect ecosystems? Explain and give an example.
-> Nuclear radiation can affect materials and by entering pathways of mineral cycling and
ecological foodchains, because the radioactive particles are moved around by winds. An example
is the Atomic fallout in 1950s and 1960s when the U.S were testing nuclear weapons.

19: Radiation is found naturally in what kind of materials? Give 2 examples.
-> Radiation is found naturally in soils and rocks. Examples are 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?
-> through x-rays, flying planes and cosmic rays.

A Closer Look: Radiation Units and Doses

22: What is the commonly used unit for radioactive decay? Who is it named after?
-> The used unit for decay is curie, named after Marie Curie.

23: What is the SI unit for radioactive decay?
-> The SI unit for radioactive decay is the 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?
-> LD50 dose of radiation is 5 sieverts.

27: What happened to the women who worked in the watch factories in the early 1900s?
-> Died of anemia or bone cancer from radium.

28: What are the health effects for workers in uranium mines?
-> High rates of 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?
-> One in ten thousand.

Three-Mile Island

30: When did the event on Three-Mile Island occur?
-> March 28, 1979

31: Where is Three-Mile Island located?
-> Near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

32: What were some of the societal issues associated with the incident at Three-Mile Island?
-> Fear of another meltdown, revealed problems to nuclear power.

Chernobyl

33: Summarize the events at Chernobyl, Soviet Union
-> Occurred April 26, 1986 in Cherbobyl, Soviet Union
Worst accident in history of nuclear power generation
Failure in cooling waters
Reactor overheated melting the uranium fuel
Explosions removed top of building
Fires produced a cloud of radioactive particles

34: How many people died and how many people were diagnosed with acute radiation sickness?
-> 237 people were diagnosed with acute radiation and 31 died.

35: How many people were exposed to radiation in the days following the accident?
-> 3 million people were exposed.

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?
-> Trees and vegetation damaged

Radioactive-Waste Management

39: What is low-level radioactive waste? Where it is stored?
->Low enough concentrations that it does not present a significant environmental hazard
If handled properly
Includes variety of residual and solutions from processing
Solid and liquid waste, sludge, and acids
Slightly contaminated equipment and materials
-> Buried in near-surface burial areas
Where geologic and hydrologic conditions thought to limit migration
Three of the six closed due to leaks & finances
Creation of new sites met with controversy
Question remains as to whether low-level radiation can be disposed of safety

40: What is transuranic waste? How is it created?
-> Composed of human-made radioactive elements heavier than uranium
Plutonium, americum, and einsteineum
Most is industrial trash that has been contaminated
Generated from production of nuclear weapons or cleanup of former nuclear weapon facilities
-> Now being transported and stored in Carlsbad, NM salt beds
Salt is 225 million years old and geologically stable
No flowing groundwater and salt is easy to excavate
Rock salt flows slowly into mined openings, naturally sealing the waste in 75 to 200 years

41: What is high-level radioactive waste? Where is it stored?
-> Consists of commercial and military spent nuclear fuel
Uranium and plutonium derived from military reprocessing
Other nuclear weapons material
-> Extremely toxic
Sense of urgency surround its disposal
Total volume of spent fuel accumulating
-> A comprehensive geologic disposal development program should have the following
objectives:
Identification of sites that meet broad geologic criteria
Intense subsurface exploration of possible sites
Predictions of future changes to sites
Evaluation of risk associated with various predictions
Political decision making based on risks acceptable to society

42: What and where is Yucca Mountain? What was the plan with it?
-> Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
Initiated high-level waste disposal program
Department of Energy investigated several sites
To be disposed of underground in deep geologic waste repository
Yucca Mountain only site being evaluated
Use of site begins in 2010
-> Extensive scientific evaluations of Yucca Mountain carried out
Remain controversial
Concerned that natural processes might allow radiation to escape
Major question as to how accurate long-term predictions are
43: What are the safety hazards associated with using Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste?

The Future of Nuclear Energy

44: How much Uranium stores do we have left?
-> We have 104 uranium stores left.

45: What are the PROS and CONS of using Nuclear Power?
-> PRO- Good for the environment because it doesn't contribute to global warming, doesn't emit
gases and would greatly increase availability of fuel.
-> CON- Nuclear power unlikely to have real impact on environmental problems, can be used for
weapons, uranium ore to fuel conventional nuclear reactors limited.

46: What are breeder reactors?
-> Breeder reactors
Designed to produce new nuclear fuel
Transform waste or low-grade uranium into fissionable material
Future of nuclear power if sustainability of fuel an objective