unit 4 energy test questions with 100%
correct solutions graded A+
1.
Summarize the potential for greatly increased production of oil and natural gas in the United
States and describe two major problems to be overcome. - correct answer ✔✔ . There has been
an increase in production of oil ever since 2008, primarily due to high oil pries and improved
drilling and extraction technology. Oil has become more profitable to extract. If oil production
increases continuously, and oil prices remain at $50 a barrel or higher, the United States could
become the world's largest oil producer before 2020. There are two major problems to
overcome: 1. The large scale removal of natural gas and oil held tightly in shale rock requires
huge amounts of water and also produces heavily polluted wastewater. 2. By burning more
carbon-containing oil, natural gas and coal, we will continue to release growing amounts of CO2
and methane into the atmosphere faster than they can be removed.
Section 15-1
2.
What is the key concept for this section? What is net energy yield and why is it important in
evaluating energy resources? Explain why some energy resources need help in the form of
subsidies to compete in the marketplace, and give an example. - correct answer ✔✔ 2. KEY
concept: Energy resources vary greatly in their net energy yields—the amount of energy
available from a resource minus the amount of energy needed to make it available. Net energy
yield: Total amount of useful energy available from an energy resource or energy system over its
lifetime, minus the amount of energy used (the first energy law), automatically wasted (the
second energy law), and unnecessarily wasted in finding, processing, concentrating, and
transporting it to users. There is a rule to evaluate long-term economic usefulness of an energy
resource: 'an energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield can have a hard time
competing in the market place with other energy alternatives that have medium to high net
energy yields unless it receives financial support from the government (taxpayers) or other
outside sources". Some energy resources need financial support, subsidies, or subsidizing
because some subsidies help to hide the true cost of the nuclear power fuel cycle and violate
full cost pricing principle of sustainability. An example: electricity produced by nuclear power
has a low net energy yield because large amounts of high quality energy are needed for each
, step in the nuclear power fuel cycle to extract uranium ore, convert it into nuclear fuel, build
and operate nuclear power plants, safely store the resulting highly radioactive wastes for
thousands of years and dismantle each plant after its useful life and safely store its high-level
radioactive parts for thousands of years. Result low net energy yield for the whole nuclear fuel
cycle is one reason why governments throughout the world heavily subsidize nuclear power to
make it available to consumers at an affordable price.
Section 15-2
3.
What are the two key concepts for this section? What is crude oil (petroleum), and how are oil
deposits detected and removed? What percentages of the commercial energy used in the world
and in the United States are provided by conventional crude oil? What is the peak production
for an oil well and for the world oil deposits? What is refining? What are petrochemicals and
why are such chemicals important? What countries are the world's three largest producers of oil
and what countries are the three largest consumers? - correct answer ✔✔ 3. KEY concepts:
Conventional crude oil is abundant and has a medium net energy yield, but using it causes air
and water pollution and releases greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Unconventional heavy
oil from oil shale rock and tar sands exists in potentially large supplies but has a low net energy
yield and a higher environmental impact than conventional oil has. Crude oil (petroleum) is
Gooey liquid consisting mostly of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of compounds
containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Extracted from underground accumulations, it is sent to
oil refineries, where it is converted to heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, tar, and other materials.
Oil deposits are found by large machines that pound the earth, sending shock waves deep
underground, and measuring how long it takes for the waves to be reflected back. The info is
sent to computers and changed into 3-D seismic maps of the underground that show the
locations and sizes of various rock formations. Then oil companies drill holes and remove rock
cores from potential oil deposit areas to learn whether there is enough oil to be extracted
profitably. Coal supplies 52% of the electricity generated in the United States. Peak production:
Point in time when the pressure in an oil well drops and its rate of conventional crude oil
production starts declining, usually a decade or so; for a group of wells or for a nation, the point
at which all wells on average have passed peak production. For an oil well, it is usually a decade.
Refining: Complex process in which crude oil is heated and vaporized in giant columns and
separated, by use of varying boiling points, into various products such as gasoline, heating oil,
and asphalt. Petrochemicals: Chemicals obtained by refining (distilling) crude oil. They are used
as raw materials in manufacturing most i
correct solutions graded A+
1.
Summarize the potential for greatly increased production of oil and natural gas in the United
States and describe two major problems to be overcome. - correct answer ✔✔ . There has been
an increase in production of oil ever since 2008, primarily due to high oil pries and improved
drilling and extraction technology. Oil has become more profitable to extract. If oil production
increases continuously, and oil prices remain at $50 a barrel or higher, the United States could
become the world's largest oil producer before 2020. There are two major problems to
overcome: 1. The large scale removal of natural gas and oil held tightly in shale rock requires
huge amounts of water and also produces heavily polluted wastewater. 2. By burning more
carbon-containing oil, natural gas and coal, we will continue to release growing amounts of CO2
and methane into the atmosphere faster than they can be removed.
Section 15-1
2.
What is the key concept for this section? What is net energy yield and why is it important in
evaluating energy resources? Explain why some energy resources need help in the form of
subsidies to compete in the marketplace, and give an example. - correct answer ✔✔ 2. KEY
concept: Energy resources vary greatly in their net energy yields—the amount of energy
available from a resource minus the amount of energy needed to make it available. Net energy
yield: Total amount of useful energy available from an energy resource or energy system over its
lifetime, minus the amount of energy used (the first energy law), automatically wasted (the
second energy law), and unnecessarily wasted in finding, processing, concentrating, and
transporting it to users. There is a rule to evaluate long-term economic usefulness of an energy
resource: 'an energy resource with a low or negative net energy yield can have a hard time
competing in the market place with other energy alternatives that have medium to high net
energy yields unless it receives financial support from the government (taxpayers) or other
outside sources". Some energy resources need financial support, subsidies, or subsidizing
because some subsidies help to hide the true cost of the nuclear power fuel cycle and violate
full cost pricing principle of sustainability. An example: electricity produced by nuclear power
has a low net energy yield because large amounts of high quality energy are needed for each
, step in the nuclear power fuel cycle to extract uranium ore, convert it into nuclear fuel, build
and operate nuclear power plants, safely store the resulting highly radioactive wastes for
thousands of years and dismantle each plant after its useful life and safely store its high-level
radioactive parts for thousands of years. Result low net energy yield for the whole nuclear fuel
cycle is one reason why governments throughout the world heavily subsidize nuclear power to
make it available to consumers at an affordable price.
Section 15-2
3.
What are the two key concepts for this section? What is crude oil (petroleum), and how are oil
deposits detected and removed? What percentages of the commercial energy used in the world
and in the United States are provided by conventional crude oil? What is the peak production
for an oil well and for the world oil deposits? What is refining? What are petrochemicals and
why are such chemicals important? What countries are the world's three largest producers of oil
and what countries are the three largest consumers? - correct answer ✔✔ 3. KEY concepts:
Conventional crude oil is abundant and has a medium net energy yield, but using it causes air
and water pollution and releases greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Unconventional heavy
oil from oil shale rock and tar sands exists in potentially large supplies but has a low net energy
yield and a higher environmental impact than conventional oil has. Crude oil (petroleum) is
Gooey liquid consisting mostly of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of compounds
containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Extracted from underground accumulations, it is sent to
oil refineries, where it is converted to heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, tar, and other materials.
Oil deposits are found by large machines that pound the earth, sending shock waves deep
underground, and measuring how long it takes for the waves to be reflected back. The info is
sent to computers and changed into 3-D seismic maps of the underground that show the
locations and sizes of various rock formations. Then oil companies drill holes and remove rock
cores from potential oil deposit areas to learn whether there is enough oil to be extracted
profitably. Coal supplies 52% of the electricity generated in the United States. Peak production:
Point in time when the pressure in an oil well drops and its rate of conventional crude oil
production starts declining, usually a decade or so; for a group of wells or for a nation, the point
at which all wells on average have passed peak production. For an oil well, it is usually a decade.
Refining: Complex process in which crude oil is heated and vaporized in giant columns and
separated, by use of varying boiling points, into various products such as gasoline, heating oil,
and asphalt. Petrochemicals: Chemicals obtained by refining (distilling) crude oil. They are used
as raw materials in manufacturing most i
