| A | B |
|---|
| fossil fuel | fuel formed hundreds of millions years ago from the remains of dead plants and animals |
| hydrocarbons | substance containing the elemens hydrogen and carbon |
| combustion | burning |
| solar energy | energy from the sun |
| photovoltaic cell | device that converts sunlight directly into electricit |
| solar power plants | uses mirrors to reflect sunlight and heat water |
| hydroelectric | use of mechanical energy of falling water to generate electricity |
| nuclear fission | splitting of an atomic nucleus releasing energy |
| nuclear fusion | combining two atomic nuclei to produce one larger nucleus |
| chain reaction | process in which the splitting of one atomic nucleus leads to the splitting of additional nuclei |
| geothermal | energy produced from the heat energy (water) within the earth |
| biomass | any material that comes from living things and can be used as fuel |
| wind energy | using moving air to produce electricity |
| turbine | wheel that is driven by steam, water, or wind |
| uranium | fuel used in nuclear reactors |
| neutron | atomic particle used as the bullet in a fission reaction |
| thermal pollution | increase in temperature caused when cold water used to cool the reactors in nuclear power plants is heated and discharged back into lakes and rivers |
| renewable resource | any resource that can be replaced by nature, |
| nonrenewable resource | any resource that cannot be replaced by nature |
| petrochemical | any useful substance derived from oil or natural gas |
| radioactive waste | waste produced by the production of energy in nuclear power plants |
