Exam Questions Nonrenewable Energy Chapter.15

CHAPTER 15—NONRENEWABLE ENERGY

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. In order to get high-quality energy you must use high-quality energy. This rule is the result of which of the following?

2. The second law of thermodynamics dictates that ____.

3. What is the total amount of high-quality energy available after the energy needed to make it available is subtracted?

4. Currently, oil has a high net energy ratio because it ____.

5. Any energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield cannot compete in the open marketplace with other energy alternatives with high net energy yields unless it is ____.

6. Nuclear energy is only available to consumers throughout the world at an affordable cost because ____.

7. Which of the following countries is a member of OPEC?

8. Which country is projected to be the world’s largest producer of oil by 2017?

9. Using a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure to free tightly held oil and natural gas is known as ____.

10. The Earth Policy Institute estimates that by 2025, China will use how much more oil than the United States?

11. What do scientists use to show the locations and sizes of various rock formations that may contain oil?

12. Which country has the largest portion of the world’s light oil reserves?

13. The Arctic Circle holds enough technically recoverable crude oil to meet global oil demand for how long at high production costs?

14. Which of the following is true if the rate of global consumption continues to grow exponentially at 2% per year?

15. What percentage of the U.S. oil consumption was imported in 2012?

16. Oil sand is made up of all of the following except ____.

17. Almost 72% of the world's reserves of oil shale are found in ____.

18. The point at which pressure in a well begins to drop and production begins to decline is called the ____.

19. Approximately 75% of the world’s tar sand resources are located in which country?

20. If natural gas prices remain affordable, increased production would ____.

21. Which of the following is true of natural gas?

22. In what location would you most expect to find methane hydrate gas?

23. Between 2010 and 2050, the demand for natural gas in the United States is expected to ____.

24. Which of the following is the primary gas in natural gas?

25. Which of the following countries has the largest proven reserves of natural gas?

26. Conventional natural gas is often found in deposits above what other resource?

27. U.S. coal companies and coal-burning utilities have suggested that there is something called clean coal. Which statement is false about this product?

28. When compared to burning coal directly, producing synfuels has several disadvantages. What is not one of these?

29. Which of the following countries has the largest proven reserves of coal?

30. In the U.S., coal-burning power plants produce what percentage of the electricity?

31. In China air pollution causes as many as ____ deaths per year.

32. Coal can be converted to liquid fuels such as methanol and synthetic gasoline through a process called ____.

33. Which of the following statements does not apply to burning coal?

34. How is coal formed?

35. In the United States, fine-particle pollution, mostly from older coal-burning power plants, kills how many people each year?

36. According to the U.S. Energy Administration and the Worldwatch Institute, when the harmful costs of using coal are included in the cost of coal, it becomes the ____.

37. Burning coal, along with removing pollutants from the emissions, results in the accumulation of several substances. What is not one of these?

38. The slowest growing form of commercial energy in the world is

39. Waste from the production of nuclear weapons must be stored for how long before it is safe?

40. Which of the following is true of nuclear powered electricity generation?

41. Who assumes most of the financial burden for finding ways to store nuclear waste?

42. The major accident at the nuclear power plant in 2011 in Japan was caused by ___.

43. The worst nuclear power accident in the United States occurred in 1979 in what state?

44. By 2011, the growing supply of natural gas led to ____ in the United States.

45. If oil prices remain high, which country is projected to become the largest producer of oil?

46. The United States uses what percentage of oil to meet its energy needs?

47. Which of the following is not an advantage of using conventional crude oil as an energy source?

48. Oil shale and tar sand as energy sources have some disadvantages. What is not one of these?

49. Oil shale and tar sand as energy sources have some advantages. What is not one of these?

50. Nuclear power advocates contend that increased use of nuclear power decreases what type of emission that contributes to climate change?

1. Net energy is the amount of useful energy available from a source minus the energy necessary to get it to the consumer.

2. Any energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield cannot compete in the open marketplace with other energy alternatives with higher net energy yields unless it is subsidized by the government.

3. Nuclear power has a low net energy yield.

4. The 12 countries that make up OPEC have about 72% of the world’s proven crude oil reserves.

5. China and the United States are the two largest consumers of crude oil, and have about 20% of the world’s proven crude oil reserves.

6. To keep using conventional oil at the estimated increasing rate of consumption, we must discover proven reserves of oil equivalent to the current Saudi Arabia supply every seven years.

7. Extracting heavy oil releases less greenhouse gases per barrel than conventional oil.

8. Kerogen is the name given to a solid combustible mixture of hydrocarbons found in oil shales.

9. Digging up and processing shale oil releases more carbon dioxide and has a higher environmental impact than does producing crude oil.

10. Methane makes up the majority of natural gas.

11. The United States has more proven natural gas reserves than does Russia.

12. The long-term global outlook for conventional natural gas supplies is better than that for crude oil.

13. Coal is the world’s most abundant fossil fuel.

14. Coal is, by far, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.

15. The U.S. government has provided huge subsidies, tax breaks, loan guarantees, and accident insurance guarantees to the nuclear power industry.

1. The energy obtained per unit of energy used to obtain it is the ____________________.

2. The total amount of high-quality energy available from an energy resource minus the high-energy needed to make the energy available is referred to as ____________________.

3. Available deposits from which the oil can be extracted profitably at current prices with current technology are called ____________________.

4. Burning any carbon-containing fossil fuel releases ____________________ into the atmosphere.

5. Tar sand or oil sand, is a mixture of clay, sand, water, and a combustible organic material called ____________________ .

6. Seventy two percent of the world’s estimated ____________________ reserves are in the western part of the United States.

7. The biggest drawback to using tar sands is that developing this resource has major harmful impacts on the land, air, water, wildlife, and climate compared to developing conventional light oil and oil from ____________________.

8. A black gooey liquid consisting mostly of a mix of combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities is called ____________________.

9. Trapped in icy, cage-like structures of water molecules, ____________________ is buried in some areas of tundra and found on the ocean floor.

10. In 2012, Ohio shut down a fracking operation after thirteen ___________________ occurred in the vicinity of the well.

11. Natural gas, when burned completely, emits 50% less ____________________ than oil.

12. Solid coal can be converted into synthetic natural gas by a process called coal ____________________.

13. The most serious nuclear accident occurred in 1986 in ____________________, Ukraine.

14. The fuel for a nuclear reactor is ____________________, which is mined from the earth's crust.

15. The two most widely used energy resources in the United States are ____________________ and ____________________.

1. Which letter indicates the coal called lignite?

2. Which letter indicates the coal called anthracite?

3. Which letter indicates bituminous coal?

4. From the diagram above, correctly identify each of the items labeled from AJ.

1. What is global peak production? When will it be reached?

1. If we are to continue using conventional oil at the projected rate of increase, we will need to discover oil reserves equivalent to those of Saudi Arabia every seven years. Considering this is an unlikely reality: (A) what are our options, and (B) which option is likely to come about?

2. Oil that cannot be extracted at a profit is considered to be unavailable. What are the five factors that change over time and determine the availability?

3. Natural gas is a good alternative to other fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Switching to natural gas, though, has its own set of problems. What do you see as the largest problem of using natural gas? Explain.

4. The use of fracking to free oil and natural gas is increasing despite obvious environmental concerns. What are some of the environmental concerns with fracking and why is this practice increasing?

5. When nuclear power plants reach the end of their useful life, they must be decommissioned. It is estimated that 285 of the world’s 437 nuclear reactors will need to be decommissioned by 2025. Discuss the options for this process.