Of the five countries shown, ________ have essentially no domestic oil production.
Japan and Germany
The country with the greatest differential between domestic production and total consumption is ________.
United States
The world’s most abundant fossil fuel is ________.
Coal
All of the following are fossil fuels except ________.
Uranium
For the United States, the primary fuel that we use for our energy is ________.
Oil
Coal continues to be the main fuel used to generate electricity in the United States. This is partially because ________.
the country has such large reserves of coal
U.S. oil production ________.
falls far short of U.S. oil consumption
The United States and other industrialized nations devote the greatest proportion of their oil use to __________.
transportation
When assessing energy resources, it is helpful to use a measure called EROI, which is ________.
Energy Returned divided by energy invested
The process of __________ turns crude oil into the type of gases that can be used for cooking, in cars, and for other human purposes.
Refining
What is bitumen?
a thick type of petroleum formed in clay and sand
Plant-based organic matter that is compressed under high pressure to form solid carbon structures is known as __________.
Coal
Which fossil fuel is produced as a by-product that occurs when bacteria decompose organic material under anaerobic conditions?
Methane
When did the use of coal for cooking, heating, and other purposes begin?
thousands of years ago, by Native Americans (and other ancient cultures)
Secondary extraction of petroleum ________.
uses solvents, water, or steam
Natural gas is ________.
often associated with coal and petroleum deposits
Why are we so eager to find clean coal technologies?
because coal is the most abundant of the fossil fuels in the United States
What occurs when coal mining exposes rock surfaces to weathering?
acid drainage
Where does the United States keep an emergency stockpile of oil?
Louisiana
Which of the following countries exports the most oil to the United States?
Canada
How does the burning of coal contribute to acid rain?
Burning coal releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Scientists currently assessing the environmental impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico report that ________.
it may take years or decades before the full impacts are known
Of the available policy options regarding eventual conversion to renewable energy sources, environmentalists would probably prefer that ________.
we encourage, with subsidies, tax rebates, and grants, the rapid development and widespread use of renewable alternative energy resources
Energy conservation in the United States ________.
can be improved as individuals make conscious choices to reduce personal consumption
Energy can be conserved by ________.
cogeneration in power plants, fuel efficient transportation, reengineered appliances
The energy bill passed by the U.S. Congress in 2007 ________.
raised the CAFE standard to 35mpg for vehicles by the year 2020
The average miles per gallon rating of U.S. vehicles has ________.
made no improvement the past two decades
Organizations like OPEC have formed ________.
in order to take maximum advantage of developed nations dependence on imported oil
Carbon sequestration ________.
is an unproven technology only begun in 2008
Which of the following characterizes U.S. nuclear power plants?
Highly subsidized
All of the following are advantages of nuclear power except ________.
Safe disposal of nuclear wastes
The heavy levels of soot from the electrical plant upwind of Soweto, along with dust from gigantic mine dumps from gold and coal mines, created particulate pollution more than three times the recommended level. This resulted in ________.
increased incidence of lung disease
Along with many other governmental reforms that began in 1994, the electrical plant just outside Soweto was closed in 2000 and other plants were brought into use. Some parts of Soweto were then wired for electricity. It is estimated, however, that only about 30% of the more than 1 million black inhabitants have electricity in their homes; the remainder cannot afford the costs involved or live in areas that have no electrical access. So, they probably use ________ for fuel.
Wood and coal
What is energy intensity?
the energy use per dollar of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Which of the following elements is the starting material for nuclear fission reactions?
Uranium
What disabled the emergency power generators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan and led to the reactor meltdowns?
Tsunami
Karl Grossman suggests that a return to building nuclear power plants will have disastrous impacts. Which of the following impacts does he discuss in his essay?
Terrorist Attack
John Ritch suggests that nuclear power is the only option for clean energy on a massive scale. Which of the following statements represents one of his pro-nuclear arguments?
We have several centuries supply of uranium available for use as nuclear fuel
Which of the following is true regarding carbon capture the way it is being done at Boundary Dam?
It requires a lot of energy
Which of the following industries would most like to see an increase in carbon capture, as it uses the waste product captured at Boundary Dam?
oil industry
According to the data in Step 1, by how much would solar have to grow to match the current level of hydroelectric power?
about 60 times
According to the data in Step 2, which source represents 32% of renewables?
None of them
Which energy source’s annual growth rate is about four times greater than that of tidal power?
solar
Assuming that renewable energy sources will contribute more and more to power generation in the future, do you expect the growth rates for these renewable energy sources to increase or decrease over the next 30-year period (2000 to 2030)?
These growth rates are relative to small absolute numbers. They will most likely decrease as the total contribution by renewables increases.
Which projection has nonrenewables comprising roughly 50% of our energy production in 2050?
Projection 2
Assume that the depletion of nonrenewables requires renewables to account for more than 30% of our energy production by 2040. What annual growth rate of renewables must be achieved in order to meet that goal?
at least 15% annual growth rate
The United States generates more electricity from ________ than from any other renewable energy source.
hydroelectric
What this figure does not tell you is ________.
NOT the relative amount of solar energy used to generate electricity compared to the other renewable sources or what proportion of each renewable or the relative amount of elecricity produced from geothermal energy compared to other renewable sources
Of the following, ________ represent proper ranking of the U.S. total primary energy consumed from the greatest to least used.
Fossil fuels, nuclear, bioenergy, hydroelectric, new renewables
How is the sun’s energy production different from the process in which energy is produced in current nuclear power plants?
The sun releases energy through nuclear fusion, whereas our current nuclear power technology releases energy through
Which of the following is one of the three current major drawbacks of solar energy?
This resource is intermittent in nature.
Designing buildings to maximize absorption of sunlight during winter and to keep the interiors cool during summer is referred to as ________.
passive solar energy collection
Harnessing energy by designing buildings to maximize or minimize the absorption of incident solar radiation are ________.
passive solar energy collection
Which of these statements is NOT true of wind power?
Wind turbines take up large amounts of land that is then unsuitable for other purposes.
What sort of threat does wind energy pose to certain kinds of wildlife?
Flying creatures such as birds and bats are killed when they fly into wind turbine blades.
_______ built the first offshore wind farm in 1991.
Denmark
More and more wind farms are being located ________ because winds are stronger there.
offshore
What is the ultimate source for geothermal energy?
the radioactive decay of elements deep within Earth
Which of the following statements is NOT accurate regarding geothermal power?
Geothermal power generators are one of the true fully sustainable energy sources.
The form of energy delivered to an electrical generating turbine in a geothermal facility is in the form of ________.
hot water or steam
What is the process behind tidal energy?
The difference between high and low tides
The only energy source(s) from ocean water so far put into commercial production are ________.
Not tidal and OTEC generators, or tidal and ocean wave generators
Hydropower uses the __________ energy of water
Kinetic
________ strongly influences the amount of energy generated from hydropower.
The volume of water released and the height of the fall
________ leads the world in percentage of its electricity derived from hydropower.
Norway
U.S. hydropower dam construction was greatest during the ________.
1930s to 1960s
Which of the following statements about ethanol is true?
Growing corn for ethanol requires substantial inputs of fossil fuel energy.
How is cellulosic ethanol different from traditional corn-based ethanol?
It can be made from the nonfood portions of plants and from wood.
Worldwide, the most widely used renewable energy resource is ________.
bioenergy
The first stage in generating power from a hydrogen fuel cell is to ________.
split hydrogen atoms into hydrogen ions (H+) and electrons
Corn-based ethanol production has a number of drawbacks, including ________.
all of the above are drawbacks of corn-based ethanol production
Ethanol produced from bioenergy starts with ________ produced by ________.
starch; corn and sugar cane
Corn-produced ethanol ________.
results in higher food prices for corn and corn products
Bagasse and sugar cane-based ethanol are major items in the energy resources of ________.
Brazil
Vegetable oil ________.
Can be burned as a fuel
B20 represents ________.
a ratio of biodiesel to petrodiesel in alternative vehicular fuels
What is the basis for the use of hydrogen fuel cells?
It is extremely energy-efficient.
What is electrolysis?
the splitting of water into component hydrogen and oxygen
Which of the following categories comprises the greatest proportion, by weight, of solid waste before recycling in the United States today?
Paper
The largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste
Paper
The second-largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste
Yard debris
Often the primary contributor to solid waste in developing nations
Food scraps
Waste that has taken up a substantially greater share of the waste stream since 1970
Plastic
Most rapidly growing new component of hazardous municipal waste
E-waste
Include mercury, lead, cadmium, and chromium
Heavy metals
What is the term that refers to the reduction of the amount of waste entering the waste stream?
Source Reduction
__________ is the process of recovering organic waste through decomposition.
composting
What are the goals of waste management?
disposing of waste safely as well as effectively, minimizing the amount of waste generated, and increasing recovery
As of 2008, the average American generates about ________ pounds of solid waste per day.
4.4
What is the difference between the amount of paper within the waste stream before and after recycling/composting?
11.2%
Which of the following represents the largest waste disposal practice in the United States?
landfills
How can consumers decrease waste generation?
by choosing minimally packaged goods
The conversion of organic waste to mulch or humus usable for enriching soil by encouraging natural biological processes of decomposition in a controlled manner is called __________.
composting
What is the largest component of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream?
paper and paper products
Which of the following is an example of a product found in a “throwaway society,” such as the United States?
paper napkins
As recycling and composting efforts have grown, what has occurred with the annual amount of waste sent to landfills?
it has proportionally decreased
Why does the average U.S. citizen create more waste today than 50 years ago?
Higher rates of consumption
The average American produces how much trash per day?
4.4 pounds
What prevents the contamination of groundwater in landfills?
locating them at least 6 meters above the water table
Which of the following conditions results from the operation and subsequent use of old landfills built before 1976?
Leachate from old landfills can contaminate groundwater.
What is one problem associated with the incineration of solid waste?
hazardous chemicals are often created and released into the atmosphere
How can solid waste incineration be of benefit?
the heat from waste combustion can be used to generate energy
How is compost used?
It is used to enrich soil.
Which of the following actions is required for the recycling loop to be successful?
Consumers and businesses must purchase products made from recycled materials.
From the 1960s to the present, the trend has been that ________ over time.
more overall waste was produced
The year ________ demonstrated the greatest volume of recycling.
2008
Volume of waste recovered by composting was insignificant until ________.
the late 1980s
What sort of waste is predominantly generated by U.S. industrial facilities?
wastewater
Which type of analysis is performed by industrial ecologists when they examine a product from its beginning as a raw material until its disposal?
life-cycle analysis
Which of the following statements about current U.S. waste disposal is true?
We landfill half of our trash and recycle a third of it.
How can an engineered cover on landfills reduce decomposition of the trash?
The cover keeps the landfill dry, which decreases the ability of bacteria to decompose trash.
Which of the following statements about U.S. landfills is true?
More than three-fourths of the landfills in the United States have been closed since 1988.
What is the goal of an industrial ecologist?
reduce the waste in industrial systems
Why do industries tend to produce so much waste even though it is not the most efficient way to do business?
In most cases, there is no financial incentive for becoming efficient.
Which of the following types of hazardous waste are unstable and pose dangers when in contact with other compounds?
reactive
Which of the following sectors produces the most hazardous waste?
industry
Which of the following choices best describes a surface impoundment used for hazardous waste disposal?
used to store and concentrate dilute liquid hazardous waste before it is moved to a permanent disposal option
Substances that degrade the metals that make up storage tanks or equipment are called __________.
corrosives
What is an abandoned waste site that poses a direct threat to health and the environment, designated to have U.S. government funds applied to its cleanup?
Superfund site
Which statement about e-waste is accurate?
E-waste contains toxic heavy metals that can leach into the environment.
What do chromium, mercury, copper, and tin have in common?
They are heavy metals.
What is a potential, and likely, drawback to the deep-well injection of hazardous wastes?
Well casings can corrode leaking hazardous waste into soil, rock, and gravel.
Of the following, ________ produce(s) the largest amount of hazardous waste.
industry
To safeguard against groundwater contamination, sanitary landfills are ________.
lined with plastic and clay
Deep inside landfills, bacteria decompose organic wastes in a low oxygen environment. This anaerobic decomposition results in a mix of gases called landfill gas, which consists of about 50% ________.
methane
The best solution to the solid waste problem is to ________.
reduce the amount of material that enters the waste stream
The second step in the recycling loop is ________.
the use of recyclables by industry to manufacture new products
The Fresh Kills Landfill ________.
site will be converted into a public park
________ is the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus.
Composting
The earthworms, fungi, and bacteria in your compost pile will NOT be happy if you give them ________.
plastic
RCRA is a U.S. law enacted in the 1970s to ________.
regulate how hazardous waste is handled
The Trash Track project ________.
monitors the movement of trash items to improve efficiency of management processes
Approximately ________% of all U.S. residents are served by curbside recycling programs, and the part of the U.S. waste stream that is recycled is currently about ________%.
50; 25
Recycling aluminum cans saves ________% of the energy needed to make the same amount of aluminum from virgin bauxite.
95%
In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, glass is ________.
recycled into reflective paint and signs
Industrial ecologists ________.
redesign industrial systems to minimize physical inefficiency and maximize economic efficiency
Life-cycle analysis ________.
examines the life cycle of products for ecological efficiency
All of the following are considered to define types of hazardous waste except ________.
inert
Of the following, ________ represent criteria for classifying hazardous waste.
ignitable, corrosive, reactive, toxic
Heavy metals ________.
bioaccumulate in animal tissues
________ represent(s) the largest source of unregulated hazardous waste.
Households
Of the following, ________ are classified as hazardous heavy metals.
lead, mercury, cadmium
E-wastes are a source of ________.
heavy and precious metals
As of 2014, under the jurisdiction of the EPA, approximately ________% of hazardous sites identified under CERCLA as a national priority have been cleaned up.
30
Deep-well injection ________.
injects mostly liquid hazardous wastes into porous rock isolated by impervious clay deep beneath human water supplies
The EPA is charged with cleaning up brownfields, which are ________.
lands whose reuse or development is complicated by the presence of hazardous materials
The current state of e-wastes is that ________.
although recycling is improved, the rate of e-wastes going into landfills and incinerators is rising
The best way to reduce plastic in landfills is to ________.
buy products produced locally with minimal packaging
Closing the recycling loop refers to ________.
purchasing items made from recycled materials
________ are wastepaper contaminants that cannot effectively be recycled.
Cereal boxes
Paper and plastic waste share the following characteristics: ________.
their increased consumption leads to increased waste
LDPE is ________.
the plastic used to make grocery bags
The ________ drives the move to the suburbs from cities.
desire to live in less stressful, more peaceful park-like conditions
The greatest general problem with suburbs is ________.
that they spread environmental impact over a larger area
The world’s urban populations are ________.
growing faster than the population as a whole
In developing nations, such as India and Nigeria, ________.
rural people are moving to the cities in large numbers
American cities in the northern United States, such as Chicago, Illinois, ________.
have steadily lost population over the past 40 years
Around the world, most major cities are situated ________.
along rivers, oceans, roads, or train routes
Over the past 50 years, most U.S. citizens who could afford to do so ________.
left the cities for the suburbs
How does an urban growth boundary attempt to limit sprawl?
by limiting future growth into already urbanized areas
What is the greatest negative environmental impact that occurs when people live in suburbs instead of living in cities?
Suburbanites take up many times as much space as city dwellers.
What is true about the importance of location for cities that were founded over 100 years ago versus the cities that are rapidly growing today?
Older cities were founded along waterways or rail hubs so that goods could be easily transported.
Air travel, the Internet, cheap fossil fuels and television all have allowed people to ________.
live in less centralized communities
Any consideration of the true costs of sprawl must include ________.
increased use of fossil fuels
One of the things that contribute to sprawl is ________.
the trend toward increasing land area per capita
Which of the following would be characteristic of sprawl?
widely spaced homes spread evenly across a vast tract of land
What are two components of sprawl?
human population growth and per capita land consumption
What occurs as sprawl increases in, or adjacent to, a city?
the need for cars increases
Oregon’s strong policy of enforcing UGB’s (urban growth boundaries) to create livable cities has been exemplary for many years, but between 2004 and 2007, voters ________.
passed a bill giving property owners the right to ignore UGB’s
Then, in 2010, Metro Portland made a historic agreement between landowners and citizens which ________.
included a regional plan to identify exactly where urban growth would be allowed
A city planner needs to consider ________ as a first priority.
optimal land use strategies for different areas of the city
The practice of classifying areas for different types of development and land use is referred to as ________.
zoning
L’Enfant’s 1791 Plan of the U.S. capital represented the first ________.
thorough city planning program
One group proposes to convert the base to a new city suburb, with low-cost housing for several thousand of the current inner-city residents. A possible major problem with this might include ________.
the lack of jobs and lack of transportation to jobs
A development group wishes to turn the area into a recreational facility, including an RV resort, a major-league sports arena, a small-craft harbor for water sports, a hunting lodge, and off- road activities, including motocross racing and dune buggy areas. An important concern ecological about this proposal would be ________.
the impacts on the woodlands, wetlands, and waterways
Members of several local environmental groups propose that nearly all of the buildings be removed and the area turned into a regional hiking and camping area, with very limited vehicle access. This will preserve the natural areas while providing recreation for the city dwellers. One issue that is raised by opponents is ________.
will revenue generated from users pay for the changes and the maintenance of such a facility
As an ecological resource manager, your preliminary environmental studies should include inquiry into whether ________.
the wetlands include oyster beds and shallow estuaries that are habitats for shrimp, crabs, and fish which are supporting many local industries
Which of the following follows the philosophy of “building up, not out”?
smart growth
Which of the following types of transportation consumes the most energy (in BTU per passenger mile)?
automobiles
Which of the following consume the bulk of the electricity used in the United States?
buildings
What are green buildings?
buildings constructed out of sustainable materials, which limit the use of energy and water, minimize health impacts, control pollution, and recycle waste
Which of the following approaches best helps congested cities deal with the problems related to transportation?
provide access to rail and bus transportation in the inner city or other high-density areas
What is the goal of “new urbanism”?
to create functional neighborhoods in which most of a family’s needs can be met close to home without the use of a car
Of the following, ________ is a method that governments use to improve urban transportation.
constructing light rail and expanded bus systems
The original purpose of parks in eastern U.S. cities was to ________.
provide a European style experience of the beauty and intimacy of formal landscapes
A resource sink is ________.
an area that produces almost none of the things that it needs
People who live entirely within an urban environment ________.
may become disconnected from nature and from the true costs of their needs and activities
LEED-certified buildings could be described by all of the following, except ________.
construction costs much less than for conventional buildings
The urban heat island effect is caused by ________.
heat-generating buildings and dark, heat-absorbing surfaces
How does the existence of densely-packed cities help preserve wilderness and rural areas?
The fact that populations are unevenly distributed across the face of the Earth allows for areas that are basically empty to exist.
Which of the following is a positive effect that cities have on the environment?
Cities give people places to live with smaller land use.
From where does the food that most city-dwellers consume originate?
farms surrounding the suburbs and from long distances away from the city
While Kayla is driving along a busy highway just outside a major city, she suddenly comes to a standstill in traffic. For the first time ever, she notices that alongside the highway are stretches of forest and wetland. She hears the noise of frogs and insects and birds that she never would have noticed if not trapped in traffic. Why does Kayla never notice these natural wonders on her route?
noise pollution
The shift from rural to urban living
Urbanization
Residential/commercial communities that ring cities just outside city limits
Suburban communities
The spread of low-density urban or suburban development outward from an urban center
Sprawl
Designing neighborhoods on a walkable scale
New urbanism
The practice of classifying areas for different types of development and land use
Zoning
Broad land use studies that may include several cities and adjoining non-urban areas
Regional planning
Includes public systems of buses, trains, subways, and light rail
Mass transit
