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Flashcards in Radical Technologies Deck (17)
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1
Q

What is a hydrogen fuel cell?

A

A device that converts chemical potential energy stored in molecular bonds of hydrogen into electrical energy

2
Q

Give four advantages of hydrogen fuel cells

A
  • replace petroleum for transport or natural gas for heating
  • only waste product is water
  • hydrogen is a gas that can be obtained from many stores (accessible and cheap)
  • fuel cells are more efficient that petrol or diesel
3
Q

Give four disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells

A
  • Has to be separated from other compounds (water, biomass, ethanol, methane)
  • separation requires large amounts of energy
  • separation emits large volumes of greenhouse gases
  • hydrogen is effective as an energy carrier but not a primary source of energy
4
Q

Give an example of hydrogen fuel cell use

A

Toyota developed the Mirai with had a range of 270 miles and went on sale in California in 2015

5
Q

Give four disadvantages of electric cars

A
  • Expensive to buy
  • So quiet they are a threat to pedestrians
  • Dependent on the country’s energy mix for electricity generation
  • Distances travelled are short before charging required
6
Q

Give four advantages of an electric car

A
  • best suited to urban environments
  • reduce air pollution
  • contain management systems that control most economical fuel source to run on
  • cheap to run
7
Q

Give examples of where electric cars are best and worst to run and why

A

Dependent on the energy mix so India and Australia are both dependent on coal so electricity generation is not geofriendly whereas Paraguay (HEP) and Iceland (geothermal) is more eco viable

8
Q

Why are electric cars controversial in the UK

A

There are only 3,919 charging locations to serve over 60,000 cars

9
Q

What is carbon capture and storage?

A

A storage system that collects CO2 emissions from fixed points such as industrial and power plants then compressed and transports the gas to a geological structure 800m below ground

10
Q

Describe CCS in Canada

A

In 2014, the first CCS opened at a cost of $1.3bn to reduce emissions by 90% by pumping it underground and selling it to Cenovus oil company for priming

11
Q

How can CCS be combined with bioenergy carbon capture and storage?

A

Capture CO2 during bioenergy production such as ethanol to create a net removal of CO2 during farming

12
Q

What did the IPCC report of 2014 say about BECCS?

A
  • Uncertain availability of such geo-engineering technology
  • only two BECCS in 2013
  • essential motivation to limit temp increase to under 2 degrees C by the end of the century
  • power generation without CCS must be phased out by 2100
13
Q

What are the concerns regarding CCS?

A
  • CO2 leakage affects environmental and human health
  • pressure underground causes earthquakes
  • requires water affecting natural environment
14
Q

What is nuclear fusion?

A

Where two or more atomic nuclei join together releasing energy in the process

15
Q

Give three advantages of nuclear fusion

A
  • no greenhouse gas emissions or radioactivity
  • common elements can be used
  • 35 countries working together on international thermonuclear experimental reactor
16
Q

What did the Chinese research team discover about nuclear fusion?

A

Managed to sustain a superheated plasma gas for over 1 and a half minutes though did this not create usable energy many regard it as critical in development

17
Q

Name four radical technologies

A

Hydrogen fuel cells
Electric cars
Nuclear fusion
CCS