Environmental Science: BIO_104_

1. What is the difference between a renewable energy and a nonrenewable energy?

 

2. How can a scientist determine the net energy available in a fossil fuel deposit?

 

3. Which of the following is not a fossil fuel upon which humans rely on?

 

• ·      coal
• ·      oil
• ·      nuclear power
• ·      natural gas

 

 

 

 

4. Coal is derived from what type of organism?

 

• ·      marine organic material, anaerobic decomposition by bacteria
• ·      compressed organic material (woody plant material)
• ·      marine organic material without bacterial decomposition
• ·      not a fossil fuel

 

 

 

 

5. Which of the following countries has the largest reserve of oil?

 

• ·      USA
• ·      Russia
• ·      Iran
• ·      Venezuela
• ·      Saudi Arabia

 

 

 

 

 

6. Primary drilling is the initial extraction of oil or gas, while secondary extraction solvents are used to remove what’s left of the oil or gas. TrueFalse

 

7. Access to more oil would be an advantage to drilling offshore. TrueFalse

 

8. Not being able to handle emergency situations in regards to oil leaks would be a disadvantage of offshore drilling. TrueFalse

 

9. Describe two ways that developed nations are trying to make their use of fossil fuels more efficient

 

10. Which of the following would be considered an advantage of nuclear power? Choose all that apply.

 

• ·      No air pollution
• ·      disposal of wastes
• ·      public safety
• ·      fewer emission associated health problems

 

 

 

 

11. Were you aware that the global supply of fossil fuels is dwindling so quickly? How does that affect how you think about your day-to-day activities with regard to fossil fuel use?

 

12. Clean energy is from a source that isn’t finite and renewable energy doesn’t leave behind harmful products.  TrueFalse

 

13. Why is the combustion of biomass considered to add no net gain in atmospheric carbon dioxide?

 

14. When can biomass use as an energy source become nonrenewable?

 

 

15. Which of the following would be considered a disadvantage of co-firing as a means to generate electricity?

 

• ·      Carbon dioxide emissions
• ·      Sustainability
• ·      nutrients in soil
• ·      all of the above

 

 

 

 

16. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of growing corn for use in ethanol production.

 

17. Which of the following is not considered a major approach to using hydropower to generate electricity?

 

•   storage
•  run-of-river
• ·      pumped storage
• ·      none of these
• ·      all of these

 

 

 

 

 

18. How can solar radiation be used passively?

 

19. Describe the costs and benefits of using photovoltaic cells for the generation of electricity.

 

20. What are hydrogen fuel cells? Why are they thought to be an important storage unit for renewable energy?

 

21. Which of the following are part of the main categories of waste?

 

• ·      Municipal solid
• ·      Industrial solid
• ·      Hazardous
• ·      Waste Water
• ·      All of these
• ·      None of these

 

 

 

 

 

 

22. Waste stream is the flow of waste from a source to the appropriate disposal site. TrueFalse

 

23. What is the primary purpose of an industrial ecologist?

 

24. Which of the following types of wastes are considered hazardous? Choose all that apply.

 

• ·      Bleach
• ·      Orange Peel
• ·      Pesticides
• ·      Paint
• ·      All of these

 

 

 

 

 

25. Why is illegal dumping of hazardous waste common?

 

26. E-waste should be classified as hazardous because they contain heavy metals and toxic flame-retardants.  TrueFalse

 

27. What are some of the benefits and costs of incinerating waste before putting it into a landfill?

 

28. Which of the following is NOT one of the R’s discussed in this topic?

 

• ·       Reuse
• ·      Recycle
• ·      Reduce
• ·      Refurbish

 

 

 

 

29. Name an action that you can take for each of the three R’s described in the text/attend video.

 

30. Did the completion of this course change the way you view the environment and your impact on it? Explain