Question: natural gas
Answer: a mixture of gases of which 50-90% is methane (CH4). It also contains smaller amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbons such as ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), and butane (C4H10), and small amounts of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
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Question: nuclear fusion
Answer: a nuclear change in which two isotopes of light elements, such as hydrogen, are forced together at extremely high temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy in the process.
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Question: oil sand, or tar sand
Answer: a mixture of clay, sand, water, and a combustible organic material called bitumen—a thick and sticky, heavy oil with a high sulfur content that makes up about 10% of the gooey mixture.
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Question: petrochemicals
Answer: Some of the products of oil distillation, called petrochemicals, are used as raw materials in industrial organic chemicals, cleaning fluids, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fibers, paints, medicines, and many other products.
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Question: petroleum, or crude oil
Answer: (oil as it comes out of the ground), is a thick and gooey liquid consisting of hundreds of different combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities.
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Question: shale oil
Answer: Oily rocks are another potential supply of heavy oil. Such rocks, called oil shales, contain a solid combustible mixture of hydrocarbons called kerogen. It can be extracted from crushed oil shales by heating them in a large container, a process that yields a distillate called
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Question: synthetic natural gas (SNG)
Answer: Solid coal can be converted into s______by a process called coal gasification and into a liquid fuel such as methanol or synthetic gasoline by coal liquefaction.
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Question: coal
Answer: a solid fossil fuel that was formed in several stages out of the remains of land plants that were buried 300-400 million years ago and subjected to intense heat and pressure over many millions of years.
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Question: commercial energy
Answer: energy sold in the marketplace
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Question: refining
Answer: a technological marvel based on complex chemistry and engineering but decreases its net energy yield
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Question: bitumen
Answer: a thick and stick, heavy oil with a high sulfur content that makes up about 10% of the gooey mixture
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Question: kerogen
Answer: a complex fossilized organic material, found in oil shale and other sedimentary rock, that is insoluble in common organic solvents and yields petroleum products on distillation.; combustible mixture of hydrocarbons
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Question: oil shales
Answer: organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons
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Question: liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
Answer: Mixture of
liquefied propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10) gas
removed from natural gas and used as a
fuel.
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Question: liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Answer: Natural gas converted
to liquid form by cooling it to a very low
temperature
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Question: methane hydrate
Answer: methane trapped in icy, cage-like structures of water molecules
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Question: coal bed methane gas
Answer: found in coal beds near the earth's surface across parts of the United States
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Question: light-water reactors
Answer: (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator - furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel.
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Question: fuel rods
Answer: a rod-shaped fuel element in a nuclear reactor.
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Question: fuel assemblies
Answer: grouped together fuel rods
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Question: coolant
Answer: a liquid or gas that is used to remove heat from something.
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Question: nuclear fuel cycle
Answer: This cycle includes the mining of uranium, processing and enriching the uranium to make fuel, using it in a reactor, and safely storing the resulting highly radioactive wastes until their radioactivity falls to safe levels
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Question: decommissioned
Answer: make (a nuclear reactor or weapon) inoperative, and dismantle and decontaminate it to make it safe.
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Question: high-level radioactive wastes
Answer: consist mainly of spent fuel rods and assemblies from commercial nuclear power plants and assorted wastes from the production of nuclear weapons, must be stored safely for 10,000-240,000 years depending on the radioactive isotopes present
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Question: Primary oil recovery
Answer: involves drilling a well and pumping out the oil that flows by gravity into the bottom of the well
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Question: secondary oil recovery
Answer: occurs when water is injected into nearby wells to force some of the remaining heavy oil to the surface
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Question: tertiary/enhanced oil recovery
Answer: injection of steam or CO2 to force some of the remaining heavy oil into the well cavity
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Question: Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking)
Answer: natural gas extraction technique. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected, under high pressure. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well
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