Name: Abby Telenko

6.1 Study and Lecture Guide

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1. Which country is wasting the most energy and what is the percentage
of the waste?
The United States
2. Name 3 things that individuals can do to reduce energy consumption.
Using mass transit
Turning off unneeded lights
Stop buying plastic water bottles
3. Name 6 benefits to reducing energy waste.
Makes non-renewable fossils fuels last longer.
Gives us more time to phase in renewable energy
resources.
Decreases dependence on oil imports
Reduces local and global local and global environmental
damage
It is the cheapest and quickest way to slow projected
global warming
Saves more money, provides more jobs, improves
productivity, and promotes more economic growth per
unit of energy than other alternatives
4. How much of our energy comes from fossil fuels?
90%
5. Name 2 reasons why we should not use fossil fuels.
~Many energy sources, and especially fossil fuels and nuclear
fission, produce a lot of pollution which damages our
ecosystem

~The present energy resources will not be enough to provide

for continued use and a growing human population
6. Explain the difference between passive and active solar energy.
Passive solar energy is not used to produce energy while
Active solar energy is used to produce energy
7. What are 3 benefits to using solar energy?
Energy from the sun is free and plentiful
Using solar energy reduces the need to use non-renewable
resources thereby reducing greenhouse gases
Solar energy is nonpolluting that means you are not
contributing to greenhouse gasses
8. Why are more people not using solar energy?
The demand for solar panels is not high, thus they are not
being mass produced at this time. This is why the initial setup
is expensive
9. If wind farms can meet the electric needs of North Carolina then why is
coal our #1 source of electricity?
Environmentalists and scientists agree that if we put money
into the project by building the infrastructure to transport the
electricity then N.C. could be a leader in the country by
supplying 100% of the states electrical needs
10.

11.

List the steps it takes to make electricity from hydroelectric dams.

Water behind a dam is directed at the blades of huge
turbines
When water pushes against the turbine blades, the energy
in the moving water is transferred to the turbine causing
it to turn
The motion of the spinning turbine is transferred to coils
of wire located within generators
The coils spin through a magnetic field producing
electricity

What are 3 disadvantages to hydroelectric production?

Altering the depth and flow of rivers can alter the natural
plant life, which affects the entire ecosystem

 There may be flooding of the land behind the dam and

erosion
Fish can get caught in the blades of turbines, and the dam
is a barrier to fish who must return upstream to spawn
(ex. Salmon)
12.
Although biomass adds to greenhouse gases, why is it considered
renewable?
Because the plants/trees can be replaced in a human lifetime
13.
How is ethanol produced?
It comes from fermenting the starches from plants
14.
What is the maximum amount of ethanol that can be added to
gasoline?
15%
15.
Fuel cells could replace all gasoline engines in the future. What
would be required for this to happen?
Hydrogen cars would have to be allowed in the United states
16.
Why is geothermal not a viable alternative to supplying all the
electric needs of the country?
Because geothermal does release some greenhouse gases