| A | B |
|---|
| active collection | the use of devices such as solar panels to collect focus transport or store solar energy |
| anthracite | the cleanest burning coal which is almost pure carbon. |
| barrels | the unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels |
| bituminous | the second purest form of coal |
| crude oil | the form petroleum takes when in the ground |
| energy | the capacity to do work |
| fission | a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium splits into fragments releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of energy |
| fossil fuel | a hydrocarbon deposit such as petroleum coal or natural gas derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel |
| First Law of Thermodynamics | says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed it can only be transferred and transformed |
| fly ash | a waste product produced by the burning of coal |
| half-life | the amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to disappear |
| Hubbert peak/peak oil | an influential theory that concerns the long-term rate of conventional oil and other fossil fuel extraction and depletion |
| hydroelectric power | power generated using water |
| kinetic energy | the energy of motion |
| ignite | the least pure coal |
| nuclear fusion | the process of fusing two nuclei |
| passive solar energy collection | the use of building materials building placement and design to passively collect solar energy that can keep a building warm or cool |
| petroleum | oil is a hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized |
| photovoltaic cell (PV cell) | a semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy |
| potential energy | energy at rest or stored energy |
| proven reserve | an estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve |
| radiant energy | sunlight. |
| scrubbers | devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants air effluent |
| Second Law of Thermodynamics | says that the entropy (disorder) of the universe |
| subbituminous | the third purest form of coal. |
| wind farm | a group of modern turbines to harvest wind power |
