ESE 200 Midterm 3 Exam Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2026/2027

ESE 200 Midterm 3 Exam Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2026/2027 Identify energy sources that we use - Answers oil, gas, coal, and uranium 80% of US primary energy comes from fossil fuels 10% of US primary energy comes from nuclear Describe the nature and origin of coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Evaluate their extraction and use - Answers -Coal: carbon from ferns in a freshwater bog- buried, time heat and pressure changes the carbon into coal. -Petroleum and Natural Gas: Animals fall to the sea floor and are buried. Time heat and pressure again Worldwide fossil use has... - Answers More than doubled in the last 50 years Big oil producers - Answers Middle East (Saudi, Iraq, Iran), Russia, Canada, US, Venezuela Extraction of oil from new sources, Alaska's North Slope - Answers ? Explain the key disadvantages of fossil fuels - Answers -carbon pollution -unsustainable use Key advantages of fossil fuels - Answers -cheap -high-energy density -power-on-demand *Explain why these features are important for modern transport systems How much coal remains? - Answers Hundreds of years at current rate of use Describe nuclear energy and evaluate fuel extraction and use - Answers nuclear reactions generate heat which is used in steam turbines to produce electricity Advantage of nuclear energy - Answers -doesn't produce CO2 pollution -creates small amount of waste Disadvantages of nuclear power - Answers -cost -proliferation -fuel supplies and sustainability -pollution Nuclear waste... - Answers suffers from high, long-term toxicity and there are few places to store it NIMBY - Answers Not In My Back Yard Evaluate the political, social, environmental, and economic impacts of non-renewable fuel use - Answers ! conventional energy - Answers oil, gas, coal peak oil - Answers the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum is reached, after which it is expected to enter terminal decline energy return - Answers EROI (Energy return on investment) key determinant on price of energy: ration of the amount of usable energy acquired from a particular energy resource to the amount of energy expended to obtain that energy source How many years of current production are estimated (of oil) - Answers 40 -past peak oil predictions have been wrong because more oil has been discovered Peak whale oil and peak uranium production in France - Answers -we adapt and find better solutions- peak oil is not necessarily a problem Future oil will have energy returns that.. - Answers are low- it will be more difficult to extract and process: current oil energy returns is over 10 future many be at 5 and below Renewable Energy - Answers energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale: wind, solar, tides, geothermal Key advantages of renewable energy - Answers -sustainability -security -non-pollution Key disadvantages of renewable energy - Answers -low energy density, poor for collection and transport -insufficient sources and there may not be enough renewable energy to meet current needs -intermittent power generation -prices are currently higher than conventional alternatives Major sources of renewable energy and their potential for growth - Answers -hydroelectric power is most significant renewable energy source in the US but wind power and solar are growing Describe hydroelectric, solar, and wind energy and the ways they are harnessed. Be able to evaluate disadvantages and advantages. - Answers Hydroelectric: using a dam- using gravitational force of falling water to turn a motor into a generator. Dis: expensive, environmental concerns (flooding) Wind: converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power by turning a motor. Dis: Bats! NIMBY, intermittent Solar: radiant light and heat from the sun harnessed through photovoltaics... Dis: expensive, intermittent, space Describe how the policy measures of research subsidies, generation subsidies, and regulations have been used to encourage renewable energy adoption - Answers - subsidies have been given to fund the development of renewables -must pollute less